Editing 1470: Kix
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | {{w|Kix (cereal)|Kix}} is | + | This comic shows a possible brainstorming session over a marketing slogan for {{w|Kix (cereal)|Kix cereal}}, a breakfast cereal marketed to children. The comic is generally making fun of the primary goal of advertising: To present a slogan that the target audience will remember, even if it doesn't necessarily make sense when analyzed critically. In general, shorter slogans that use strongly evocative words (especially words that rhyme) tend to stick out in the minds of people more than full sentences that correctly convey a specific meaning. Some people (such as Randall) may inadvertently or deliberately interpret these phrases in very different ways than they were intended. |
− | + | The cereal's actual slogan is "Kid Tested, Mother Approved". The slogan's intent is to suggest that children generally enjoy the cereal and their mothers, who are naturally concerned about the health of their children, approve of its ingredients. A language pedant such as Randall can easily see multiple other ways to interpret this phrase that have nothing to do with its intended meaning. However, in this brainstorming session, the word "Approved" has apparently not been considered — instead, a number of alternative ending words and phrases have been presented and rejected, each one causing the slogan to be subject to increasingly absurd and comedic interpretations: | |
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− | + | #'''Selected''': This word shares a definition with "Approved", and may additionally imply that mothers specifically choose this cereal over others. This word may have been chosen as a {{w|slant rhyme}} of "Tested". This phrase could also suggest that one mother ''herself'' had been chosen for some unstated purpose. | |
+ | #'''Perfected''': It's likely that "Selected" inspired someone in the brainstorming session to find a similarly positive word. It also mostly rhymes with "Tested", but it implies that one or more mothers were directly involved in developing and refining the cereal's composition to a high degree. Similarly to "Selected", this could also suggest that the mother was somehow improved to perfection during the test. | ||
+ | #'''Not Notified''': Relates to the world of experimental research and clinical trials. This phrase suggests that the children who tested the cereal did so without the knowledge of their parents. It could also mean that the mothers of the children in the test were not informed of the test's results. | ||
+ | #'''Watching Helplessly''': This phrase suggests that mothers were forced to watch their children test the cereal remotely (eg. in a separate room or by video camera) and had no ability to interact with their children during the test, nor any say in the test's outcome. They may have considered it unhealthy or dangerous, but their opinions were ignored. | ||
+ | #'''Infected''': Another rhyming word, but this one implies that the cereal (or some other element of the test) contained an infectious agent (eg. a virus) that was passed from the child to his or her mother. This could also be interpreted as the mother having introduced the infectious agent into the cereal or testing environment, or that the mother was {{w|brainwashing|brainwashed}} in some way during the test. One more interpretation is that the child was tested for such an infectious agent, the agent was found in the child, and the test concluded that the mother was also infected with it. | ||
+ | #'''Consumed''': This slogan suggests that the mothers of the children in the study also ate the cereal, irrespective of any opinions about its quality. The words "Tested" and "Consumed" may have the exact same meaning in this case. Another possible interpretation is that the mothers were ''themselves'' consumed, perhaps by their children, the cereal itself, or something unrelated to the test (eg. a monster). | ||
+ | #'''Fucker''': This expletive is often paired with "Mother" to form the compound word "Motherfucker". In this case, the slogan changes to {{w|vocative case}}: "[This cereal has been] Kid Tested, Motherfucker!". This appears to be an "elephant" - a ponderous ending of a joke that contrasts sharply with the refined and mild humor of the previous options. The phrase itself basically only states that a child tested the cereal and implies that nothing else matters. | ||
− | + | The title text conflates the phrase "Kid tested" with college entrance exams such as the {{w|Standardized Aptitude Test}} (SAT) or the {{w|ACT (test)|ACT}}. Instead of stating that a child tasted the cereal and gave his or her opinion on its quality, the cereal itself is an academic subject on which the child was tested (again, without stating the outcome). Randall, referring to how some parents enroll their children in special {{w|test prep|classes or schools}} to prepare them to score well in this type of test, states that his parents extensively prepared him for a college entrance exam about Kix cereal. Randall is poking fun at the somewhat ambiguous wording of "Kid Tested" - the authors of the original slogan could have used a hyphen between the words ("Kid-Tested") to avoid this ambiguity, but this was not done. | |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Ponytail, Megan, and Cueball are standing around a whiteboard | + | :[Ponytail, Megan, and Cueball are standing around a whiteboard. The whiteboard on easel reads:] |
− | : | + | :'''Kix''' |
− | : | + | :<u>Slogan ideas</u> |
:Kid Tested, Mother... | :Kid Tested, Mother... | ||
− | + | :<font color="red"><strike>Selected</strike> | |
− | :<font color="red">< | + | :<strike>Perfected</strike> |
− | :< | + | :<strike>Not notified</strike> |
− | :< | + | :<strike>Watching helplessly</strike> |
− | :< | + | :<strike>Infected</strike> |
− | :< | + | :<strike>Consumed</strike> |
− | :< | + | :<strike>Fucker</strike></font> |
− | :< | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics with color]] | [[Category:Comics with color]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
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