Here Comes Honey Boo Boo: Just Booooooo!

Alana Thompson aka Honey Boo Boo.

So there is this show on TLC that made me vomit.  That would be the reality television show called, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

Honey Boo Boo is actually seven year old Alana Thompson of McInyre, Georgia who was discovered on the reality television series Toddlers and Tiaras, also a TLC product.  Here Comes Honey Boo Boo follows the budding young runway star and her family through their daily lives of eating cheese balls and calling each other fat.

I am personally horrified that people watch this show.  I am more horrified that the show's Facebook page has over 105,000 likes.  (Find the link yourself.)

This family openly refers to themselves as rednecks and they certainly fit the stereotype.  The patriarch of the family, a hard working man called, Sugar Bear (Alana's father Mike Thompson, not the father of the other kids, they all have different Dads) works seven days a week leaving mom (June Shannon) and the four daughters to focus on developing their blue collar image.

There are two full shelving units of toilet paper stored in the family kitchen but only one bathroom in the house.  The eldest daughter has just given birth to a baby that was born with an extra thumb (professional hitchhiker? Excuse me, could you please thumb me a limo?) while she attempts to finish High School.  One of the daughters is nicknamed Chubbs!  Oh! she has a good chance at being self confident. This family believes that the more you fart, the healthier you are! For real, they said it.

The mother, "Mama" is 309 lbs and has established her own language.  She uses words like beautamous, and phrases like "You better Redneckognize!"

Then there is our little pageant queen who has plenty of charisma but limited couth.

They believe that this young woman, already overweight, has a shot at being Miss America. 

Does Donald Trump know about this? 

Billy Redden playing Dueling Banjos opposite Ronnie Cox in Deliverance

These people are so country that TLC uses sub-titles when they speak.  THEY ARE IN GEORGIA, USA, not Georgia the former Soviet Republic.

TLC is an acronym for The Learning Channel, so what am I learning here?  The only thing that can possibly learned from this television program is that the banjo playing character from Deliverance actually reproduced.

Product Placement in Hollywood: Out of Control

The art of selling goods by placing them in television shows and movies is nothing new.  Advertising is now, and always will be a bazillion dollar industry, that is, until we humans stop consuming things or completely run out of money.  Some adds are shameless, some are tasteful, and some are even subliminal.  Coca-cola historically inserted adds to flash during motion pictures.  The viewer never actually recognized the add, the image just burned into their brain and sent them directly to the concession stand.

Coke has now reverted to placing adds on the desks/podiums in major television shows like American Idol.  (I'm sure that is actually Coke in Paula's cup)   The idea is to constantly reinforce to the consumer that Coke is leading the way in the caramel carbonated soft drink game.  This post actually helps their cause.  You're welcome Coke.  No charge, this time!

click to see Time Magazine report

You may remember the movie E.T., Steven Spielberg's famous movie about an alien who moves in with a suburban family.  (Not ALF)  The E.T. ate Reece's Pieces in the film, a relatively new product by Hershey's at the time, and sales shot up 65%. 

click to watch clip

Howard Koch, Jr took a satirical approach to product placement in the Movie Wayne's World.  They blatantly used product placement, even telling people that was exactly what they were doing.



Chuck is a television show on NBC which has no problem partnering with Subway

click to watch clip

But now NBC has taken it to a whole new level.  Not only are they using product placement but they are using it to push an agenda.  In the new hit television series Revolution, NBC has introduced a new eco-friendly automobile.  The car's engine is made completely from plants.

see clip

When is too much, too much?