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Home » Culture and Criticism

The straw that broke the questionable-wisdom camel’s back

Submitted by on September 19, 2007 – 9:06 PM20 Comments

Not that Kid Nation isn’t a perfect storm of WTF? already, but on top of everything else — a Vagisil ad during the broadcast? Really, ad sales team? You’re sure about that?   Don’t want to move that placement to Cold Case?

No?   All righty then.

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20 Comments »

  • Bright Phoenix says:

    Hahaha! Maybe they were going for ironic, but got off the bus at ill-conceived?

  • Scarlett says:

    Maybe it’s a suggestion for when they have the STDs?

  • Adam875 says:

    Oh the things I miss when I watch on DVR!

  • Jenny says:

    Ha! We thought the EXACT same thing!! And not just Vagisil, but a yeast infection detection kit of some kind. All while plugging the show as a good one for parents and kids to watch? “Mommy, what’s a yeast infection?”

  • PreppyLouche says:

    Bright Phoenix, “going for ironic, but got off the bus at ill-conceived” is entering my regular rotation. Sheer brilliance. As for the ad, well… the line between self-sabotage and irony is, as ever, very, very fine.

  • Buggy's Mom says:

    I’m sure they thought a lot of women/moms would be watching. We checked it out just to see (didn’t pay attention to commercials). Well, my husband was the one who got far more sucked in, but then he’s a 5th grade teacher.

    How many soda commercials were there?

  • jive turkey says:

    Maybe they should have aired a “Yaz” ad instead.

    KIDDING. Kids are precious little miracles and such.

  • Brickton says:

    I missed the premiere but if they were going for ironic wouldn’t a Trojan ad or Ortho tricyclen have been slightly more pointed? Vagisil is just… awkward for family viewing. The ‘joke’ there being ‘Explaining yeast infections: just as uncomfortable as having them.’ at least with birth control you get the joke of ‘This all could have been prevented if only someone had thought ahead.’

  • Cij says:

    I can’t bring myself to watch this show. I keep thinking it will devolve into Lord of the Flies or something tragic. And anyway, reality television just ticks me off.

  • Sophie says:

    See, Lord of the Flies is exactly what I was hoping for when I set my DVR.

  • SecretRebel says:

    I’ve read that that the parents have signed liability waivers which say they will not hold the network responsible if the kids are injured or if they contract STDs suring the programme. (Also, if they die – again the network’s not responsible!)

    So it may be creepily appropriate…

  • cotterpinx says:

    Ever since i heard about this show i just assumed some Lord of the Flies connection. Hope we don’t find out that some kid has been nicknamed “Piggy”…

  • Bibliodiva says:

    I’m totally with Cij. As soon as I saw the first commercial, I thought, There was a book written about this! It involved an island, eyeglasses, a pig, and a questionable ending.

  • Rachel says:

    I can’t watch it because I DON’T think it will turn into Lord of The Flies and that makes me sad. The only way this show would be awesome instead of stupid is if they start with the cannibalism.

  • Nancy says:

    Thought the exact same thing. I was expecting to see sanitary napkins or tampons or something after that as well, although that would be somewhat more appropriate, seeing as some of the kids are teens.

  • Jen says:

    I haven’t watched this yet but I think we DVRed it. But the commercials totally remind me of a fantastic Jamie Kennedy Experiment prank where he was pretending to be a TV executive trying to sell a bunch of parents on a reality show (that their kids would presumably take part in) called “Child Island” which was clearly ill-conceived and dangerous.

    Best line: “Great ideas for TV shows aren’t born every day, but children are!”

  • Margaret in CO says:

    Maybe it’ll be like “Children of the Corn” or “Logan’s Run” or that old old Star Trek episode with the “Grups” – in which the kids do away with anyone over 20 years old.
    Sheesh – seems like a lot to put your kid through for $20K – hope that covers the future therapy sessions…

  • DensityDuck says:

    Sars, you apparently didn’t watch cartoons during the eighties! I recall that half the commercials were for toys, and the other half were for baby products.

  • missbanshee says:

    The whole time I was all “Yay!” “Oh dear lord, no…” lather, rinse,repeat. But although it would have kicked serious ass if that little wee lad had cleaned up and won with the whole thing, the ovaries in me just wanted to snuggle his teeny 8 year old being and feed him cookies. I’m glad he went home.

    It’s the same “Woo!/AGGGGH” thing that I felt with “Fat March”. That ended up pretty well, so I’ll probably still show up. And how cute are the (TM) “Kids These Days” with the shaggy boy haircuts? So, so cute. But hell, I don’t have kids, so who am I to say anything? That blonde boy who made the speech can be my adoptive son whenever, if he is ever in need. Love.

  • fair_n_hite_451 says:

    I hate reality TV with a capital “HATE”, but I have to admit that watching the last half of the episode with my daughter (13, so bang on their target market for the show. The ads? Not so much) didn’t suck.

    I’ll turn out for the second episode, but it’s on a short lease.

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