I'LL BE BACK...After a word from our sponsors

I would personally like to congratulate Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger for breaking down one of the last barriers between our corporate masters and their political puppets.

In a recent advertisement endorsing his political agenda, the Republican governor of California has embraced the time-honored strategy of “product placement”.

"The TV ad, released in May, features Schwarzenegger talking to people in a lunchroom, and places Pepsi and Arrowhead Water in prominent spots next to the governor for 1/3 of the ad. Donors connected to Pepsi Co. and Arrowhead Water's parent company, Nestle, gave the governor a total of $279,800 in campaign contributions. Also recognizable on-screen are Ruffles, Sun Chips, Cheetos and a SoBe Beverage, all brands owned by Pepsi.”

Pepsi anyone? 

Product placement has been with us for years in movies and television. Marketing departments know that straightforward ads detailing the virtues of the particular product have been losing their impact in a media saturated world where the attention span of their audience is only slightly longer than that of a gnat. Entertainment, the only thing most Americans care about anymore, is riddled with corporate logos and gizmos used by characters in hopes that you are so enamored of fictional characters and what they value, you will rush out of the theater and purchase their brand.

Soon every aspect of our lives will have a corporate sponsor – “This funeral is brought to you by Hillebrand caskets” – so, why not our political arena? It has been corrupted by corporate money for years. Let’s see who is footing the bill. We can choose our candidates on the basis of their brand endorsements, which in truth would tell us as much, probably more than anything in their carefully scripted campaign speeches.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to turn on the evening news and see a segment about the Iraq war that began with:

“This war has been brought to you by The Halliburton Corporation and Exxon-Mobil, serving global dominance for 50 years.”

P.S. By the way, please take a look at some of this blog's fine corporate sponsors!