Oh The Horror!! *om nom nom nom*

Why is it that certain times of the year make ads change its tactic on selling? In the colder (and apparently scarier) months approaching, the packaging colors have turned to orange, black, and green. As a person who does not celebrate holidays, I am not particularly excited for the changes going on. I do, however, sit back and observe. This is what I have seen so far in the ways of advertising.
For one, the scarier the commercial, the better the product. Now, I'm not really sure why this is. The last thing I relate to hunger is fear, though I suppose gummy brains and teeth are gross enough to try, but only once a year. I actually have eaten some of the more obscure gummy candy, and I think the taste itself is pretty disgusting. I would assume more people taste the same way I do because I never see kids voluntarily eating that stuff after this time of year. Nor is it sold in the first place unless it's October.
This doesn't only apply to food though. The commercials for upcoming TV specials and movies get scarier every year. Sometimes, the movie itself isn't even really Halloween related at all, or not even that scary. And yet, they flash ghoulish images at the child's TV screen, hoping to actually get some views this year.

"And the little girl decided to GO TO THE CANDY STORE!! Mwahahaha! *flash of goblin's face for no reason* Will she ever find her way home, or will she be too TERRIFIED!?! Mwahahaha!" *flash of ghost for no reason*

Uhh...I think I've seen that...isn't it a comedy?
But I guess these ads have to be as ridiculously scary as possible, because if it's realistic scary, parents complain and the show is taken off the air only to be seen on YouTube for twenty million people to see. Which is so much better for kids anyway.
Another thing I find amusing, is that the really obscure things are sold around this time. The kind of stuff kids only want to buy if it's October. Because this month is not only "ask for candy" month, it's also "scare the daylights out of our closest friends and family" month, which is another thing I don't really understand. Amongst the TV specials and weird foods are little contraptions that are not only cool looking, they scare the pants off your five year old sister and make her cry. I don't really know why this is so appealing to kids as well as adults. I guess I just have never really been that into scaring people.

Finally, the packaging. Big Shopping Day was a couple days ago, which means my mom has acquired the snack foods for the month (which invariably only last two weeks). Amongst the other delicious snack treats I found these (left). I find so many things wrong with this tactic. First of all, it's Flash themed. Flash isn't scary. At all. I am really confused as to why this superhero is representing Hostess's Halloween based packaging.
Second (as noted in the lower picture), these cakes are marked as "scary." I don't know about you, but I wouldn't consider
any kind of food scary. Especially food that is Flash themed. I mean, really. But just like I said in the previous post, imagine how boring life would be without ads to make us laugh?
Before I leave you to go on to bigger and better things, I do have one question regarding this time of year. Maybe someone could fill me in on the origin of this:

Why are pumpkins associated with Halloween?

I am kind of intrigued by the concept of how certain traditions came to be so common. I'm wondering if anyone can fill me in because I'm clearly too lazy to look it up, but inspired enough to write down all this.
Humor me.

Which is worse? The Cereal or Commercial?

 FORTIFIED WITH VITAMINS*

*vitamins are made of your imagination

Because 3 grams makes so much difference.

Yes, yes of course advertisements can’t straight out lie, but they certainly exaggerate. Just the other day I was eating carrot chips. Then my mom noticed that the package says is loaded with fiber. However, when you look at the package it had 2 grams of dietary fiber per serving. I don’t know about you, but when words like “fortified” and “loaded” are used, I expect at least 10 grams of the advertised substance.

Of course, we all love those sugary our mothers always scorned us about. So those commercials basically put words into the kids’ mouth to persuade the parent’s purchase.

“But Mommm! Fruit Loops is fortified with 3 grams of fiber per serving! They’re good for me!”

“Honey, do you know what fortified means?”

“Ummm…no…”

“It technically means it’s added in increase strength.”

“See? Fruit Loops will make me strong!”

“Do you know how much three grams is?”

“…No…”

“Very little. Now be quiet and eat your Coco Puffs. At least those have eight 

essential vitamins and minerals.”

In this day and age, this false advertising nonsense would be classified as a FAIL. An epic one at that.

The solution? Well, there isn’t really one. Because this is all for money, and when you try to take money from a big company, things get complicated and controversial. Besides, everything has a loophole and I don’t think there’s anyone intelligent/bold enough to ban or terminate all loopholes. Because when you get rid of loopholes, there’s always one you missed. Your loophole might have a loophole. Then you’d just get angry. See how silly this is becoming?

What’s that you say? You think I’m against sugary cereals? Ha! Don’t be ridiculous! I’d buy them if I could. I think the cereal choice for children, however, should be up to the parents until the child can regularly buy their own food. So what I think is funny is the ads. But imagine how boring life would be without ads to make us laugh?

Things I'll Never Get: This is Why I Don't Date Yet

I love this xkcd comic. Totally true.

I walk into my school, and one my friends runs up to me, happy and beaming. I smile too, just because she is. She opens her mouth and shrieks, "I have the most exciting news!"


"What is it?" I ask excitedly.


"[Boy #6] asked me out! We're a couple now! I'm, like, so excited."


My face falls. Here we go again, I think.

Yes, though I have never dated before, I'm starting to pick up a pattern on how this whole "teen love" thingy works. Fortunately, most of my friends don't go on about the boys they like, but those who do I only pretend to care. I'm not about to say, "He has a girlfriend, he'll never like you!" or "Him? Really? He's ignorant and stupid!"

They usually find out for themselves.

I certainly have nothing against guys or anything. It's just that the girls I know tend to go for guys they won't ever get. I am not able to grasp this concept without having frustration boil through me. I would be less angry about it if the situation tended to work out more, but it usually doesn't. I think my face is permanently scarred from all the facepalms I have done over the years, even before high school.

This whole "love" thing leads to many mistakes that I have observed. These mistakes usually involve something along the lines of heartbreak, betrayal, pain, suffering, all those wonderful things. One of the biggest blunders I've seen is them going back to the same person who hurt them before. Let's make one thing clear: People lie. A lot.

I'm not saying everybody who says they've changed is lying, but sometimes they think they've changed, but they haven't really at all.

Now, this mostly applies to girls. I'm wondering how guys act in the ways of high school dating. Girls tend to be more dramatic when it comes to heartbreak. What do supposedly "tough guys" do who are "supposed" to hide their feelings all the time? Do they feel pain this way? Please let me know...

Before I go, I just wanted to make sure you were clear on my thinking of how this whole dating thing ends up a lot of the time, at least when I'm around. So here, have a chart:

Am I missing anything?

Let me know if this seems inaccurate. I'd believe you more if you are single at the moment and not going through Phase 1 at the moment.

I've lost sleep over this concept. I just don't understand it.