Geico’s Pet Possum…

Posted June 11, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal behavior, animals, furry, furry commercials, television

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– – We all know that some parents can be quite cheap, so when his kids asked him for a puppy, one big-spending father depicted finding that puppies can be really expensive got them a possum instead!  We see this guy in a Geico commercial working over his barbecue while his son and daughter stand over their “pet” possum, which is lying motionless at their feet; the son appears to prod the possum with his foot.  “Dad, I think he’s dead,” advises the daughter.  “Probably just playin’ possum,” reassures the father.

Sure enough, moments later the inert possum comes to life, rolls to his feet, and hisses at the two kids.  “There he is!,” declares the vindicated father, not even bothering to look up from his grill There’s an easier way to save money, of course…Geico Insurance!

Dead Cat Helicopter?

Posted June 9, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animals, controversial, furry, furry art, strange, weird

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– – Me-ouch!  Call me old fashioned, but I’m not too keen on the idea of turning a deceased cat into a mini-helicopter, finding the idea unsettling and perhaps gruesome; I like bizarre and creepy, but in a good way.   PETA likewise dislikes the notion, with a spokesman calling the postmortem transformation “…a macabre way to honor a beloved family member.”  The artist, however, sees the visual exhibit as paying tribute to his cat, who now can soar with the birds that he loved.

The male cat appropriately named Orville died following a less than positive encounter with a car about six months ago.  His Dutch artist owner taxidermied the skin, encased it in polyester, and put a propeller on each of the four outstretched paws.  A remote control device enables the cat-quadcopter to fly.  The end product has been called creepy, sick, or hilarious, depending on one’s perspective.  The Orvillecopter has been on display at an art fair in Amsterdam, although Dutch animal lovers and the Dutch animal welfare party have heavily criticized the exhibit…

…the late cat, Orville, has a brother, Wilbur, who is still alive.  Both  animals were named after the Wright brothers of aviation fame.

The Great Emancipator, and More!

Posted June 7, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, Brilliant but twisted, cool things, fantasy, movies, strange

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– – Before there was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there was…Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter!  In one of the strangest, genre-blending movies since Cowboys & Aliens, the film to be released June 22nd will mix incidentals of the American Civil War era with the gothic.  Based on the 2010 novel of the same name and co-produced by Tim Burton, it seems that the mother of the 16th president was killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels Lincoln’s passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers!  Lincoln therefore assumes a secret identity as a vampire hunter, brushing elbows during the story with a variety of historical notables, including in the book Edgar Allan Poe.

– –Ha, and you thought that history was a dead subject!- -Well, in a sense, part of it is, at least where the vampires are concerned.  The book has generally received favorable reviews, and been described as being an original vampire tale with heart, humor, and (–of course!) bite.  I’m encouraged by the fact that the vampires in the film will supposedly be presented as fierce, visceral, intense, and bloodthirsty rather than as the insipid pretty boys that they’ve recently morphed into elsewhere.  Lincoln will supposedly prove himself adept at wrestling and with an ax…and John Wilkes Booth wouldn’t have dared to take on this president in a fair fight!

Idaho Bigfoot?

Posted June 1, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anomalies, cryptozoology, mysteries, unexplained, unidentified

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– – A group of high school students on a class project in the Idaho wilderness captured a dark, mysterious creature on a short video taken near Mink Creek before the unknown creature retreated into the treeline.  The student who captured the video described the thing sighted as “big and bulky and black,” but not as appearing human-like and not looking like a bear or moose.  The footage of course is blurred and out of focus…

The students also climbed to where they saw the potential Bigfoot and photographed large footprints that it left in the dirt.   The video footage and image of the large footprint was taken by a local news station to Sasquatch expert Jeff Meldrum at Idaho State University, who said the large, dark figure portrayed bears resemblance to descriptions of Sasquatch.  Anatomist Trent Stephens said that the beast resembled that seen in the 1967 classic Patterson film taken in California. 

The Animal Planet show “Finding Bigfoot” will visit Pocatello, Idaho next month to investigate claims that Bigfoot could be in the area…

Owl Abandonment…

Posted May 29, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, conservation, environmental, feathered friends, things humans do, trends

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– – Too many people tend to adopt exotic animals as part of a spur-of-the-moment craze, only to abandon them when the realities of their ownership hits home.  Sadly owls are one of the latest examples of this trend, with their popularity spurred by the Harry Potter movies and Harry’s owl, Hedwig. 

Now owls can live for twenty years and take a lot of care, including ideally a 20 foot aviary.  They need to be able to flap their wings multiple times before landing on a perch, or they may get a chest infection.  In spite of this, some have tried to keep them in apartments, becoming additionally distressed at the amount of feathers and droppings generated by the birds.  The result has been that in England and elsewhere, hundreds of pet owls have been abandoned and released into the wild, where they either starve to death or at best take over territory inhabited by smaller wild owls.  Owls are also winding up at animal sanctuaries in significant numbers where normally they would be relatively rare.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has pleaded with fans not to keep an owl as a pet, urging them instead to sponsor an owl at a bird sanctuary where they may be secured a healthy and happy life…

 

Jack and Foxy on Frontier Airlines…

Posted May 25, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, furry commercials, television

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– – The course of true love did never run smooth, especially if your intended is of a different species than yourself, and a predator to your prey.  Such is an on-going story on Frontier Airlines ads, where Jack the rabbit has been hitting unsuccessfully on Foxy the fox.  In an offering airing recently, Jack asks other “spokesanimals” what his breath smells like (answer:  carrots…”Good, that’s what I was going for!,” responds Jack), and then inquires of the winsome vixen if she’d like to have dinner with a rabbit…

…”No,” replies the red fox, “I’d like to have a rabbit for dinner!”

“Waiter, check please!,” reconsiders the hapless rabbit…

FedEx’s “Enchanted Forest!”

Posted May 22, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, environmental, furry, furry commercials, television

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– – The Enchanted Forest as envisioned by Psyop in a recent commercial is a wondrous place indeed, filled with sprites, smiling trees, and a variety of dancing, costumed anthropomorphic animals.  There’s even a fox, a remarkably tall and slender specimen wearing shorts and a top hat!  It’s essentially an environmental plug for FedEx clad as a fairy tale, and when those conventions are stripped away, we’re then left with electric trucks, recycled shipping materials, and lower-emission planes as FedEx’s contribution to the environment. 

The spot is 80% live action and 20% CGI at the onset, with an actual forest having been filmed in Washington state on the northern Pacific Coast.  The look is magical but not overly cartoonish, with a sing-songy soundtrack composed by a musical collective called Human which would be “perfectly at home in a 1950’s-era animated film,” according to the spot’s Senior Creative Director/Copywriter.  The animated characters are all fully CGI, and a wealth of fine detail may be seen in successive viewings of the spot, such as the fox character modestly covering himself when his outfit is taken away…

Vonage “Puppy Bundle…”

Posted May 17, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furry, furry commercials, television

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– – It’s like a scene from The Twilight Zone; two incredibly wholesome-looking people come knocking at the door of their new neighbors to welcome them to the neighborhood.  She looks like a Stepford Wife, and he looks like Enzyte Bob, or perhaps Rick Santorum…they ask the newcomers if they are ready for their new “bundle,” namely a service package for phone, TV cable, and internet; their smiles are so radiant as to be scary.  The twosome hold forth a bundled group of objects representing these services, and this grouping also includes a puppy, with the woman at the door holding out an adorable Golden Retriever puppy.  The commercial’s message is, “Don’t get bundled, get Vonage!”


The commercial has already drawn the ire of some Golden Retriever fanciers, who point out that the proper way to hold a puppy is not by its rib cage, dangling it in mid-air…

MiO “Croc Block” Commercial…

Posted May 12, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, furry, furry commercials, television

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– – In yet another MiO Energy Drink commercial staged at the legendary Watering Hole bar, we are shown a lemur trying to make time with the giraffe girl previously seen in another commercial of the series.  With the world’s worst timing, the lemur’s efforts are ruined by the unwelcome intrusion of the hapless, unlucky-in-love crocodile character, who ruins the set-up by commenting that he thought he smelled the lemur in there, and asking the primate if he’s still living with his parents

…”You just totally croc-blocked me!,” complains the irate lemur.  “Oh!,” responds the clueless crocodile, who upon close inspection may be seen to be wearing a Lacoste shirt!  I live for stuff like that…sad, isn’t it?

MiO “Naked Mole Rat…”

Posted May 10, 2012 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, furry, furry commercials, television

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– – I, for one, prefer not to see naked mole rats, especially when they’re in an obvious state of intoxication.  Strange sights are known to appear with some regularity at the Watering Hole, however, a bar or pub frequented by anthropomorphic animals in a series of MiO Energy Drink commercials.  

In this brief segment, previously-seen Rhino and Zebra characters are discussing how convenient the small water additives are to carry anywhere when the mole rat appears, naked but with certain mole rat, err, parts tastefully pixillated out.  The mole rat slides up onto the bar, wearing a checked hat and little red sneakers, and proceeds to shake his booty.  Where does the mole rat carry his MiO, asks the Zebra…the Rhino prefers not to think about it.- -One can hardly blame him!  Other characters from previous episodes such as the Cheetah are seen in the background…