Category Archives: Popular Culture

Business, Culinary, Health, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

Overrated Restaurants

17 Comments

A top six.

I’ve never had Papa John’s, or Chipotle’s and it’s been years since I ate at an Olive Garden, but that’s Patricia’s complaint, too (she used to have a boss who loved to go there for lunch). I concur on the fries at In’n’Out. I like Chick-fil-A, but don’t worship it. I only go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (and rarely — there are none in LA of which I’m aware, and we have better chain places here, like the Black Bear Diner).

But I don’t eat out much in general unless I’m traveling, because it’s terrible both for your budget and from a nutritional standpoint. Unless it’s some kind of exotic cuisine, I can cook much cheaper and healthier at home, and don’t have to endure the noise of restaurants. The notion of going out for a steak seems absurd to me.

[Late-afternooon update]

Sorry, here’s the link.

Business, Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary

Gillette

23 Comments

Thoughts on their attempt to get woke, go broke:

Gillette has learned that in [current year], it’s not enough for a company to make a product that people want. It’s not enough to make them feel inadequate about themselves, and then sell them the supposed cure for that inadequacy. Consumers, men in particular, must be made to feel worthless. They have to be reminded that their needs and desires are wrong under any circumstances, that their instincts are loathsome, that their very existence is a malignancy, and that they’re responsible for all the world’s ills whether they want to admit it or not.

Now give them your money, you piece of garbage.

There are a lot of alternatives.

[Update a few minutes later]

Wow, they’ve even turned Piers Morgan into a men-rights activist.

[Wednesday-morning update]

The toxic mission to re-engineer men.

[Late-morning update]

More thoughts from Lileks:

The first half of the ad is stupid – all these guys staring in the mirror, wondering “Am I a straw man who actually laughed at that ‘Married with Children’ episode in 1999?” The clueless, fatal association of grilling with indifferent lunkhead men, the sort of detail that could only come from men who write long essays for Medium about how they feel alienated from grilling and always get nervous sweat when they have to go to a backyard party, because there are like, these dudes, standing over the fire? And it’s so, like, primal? god none of these people ever listen to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me you can just tell but I guess I can stand here and joke while I drink this beer because airquotes it’s what guys do airquotes

Here’s the thing, though. I am not completely outraged. Take care of your kids, set a good example, don’t catcall – sure. Yes. Men who do these things will surely agree. Men who do not are unlikely to be moved to behave otherwise. But men who do these things already will not find the commercial supportive; they’re more likely to be irritated that someone presumes they have to be told these things.

Yes.

[Friday-morning update]

Some razor advice from Stephen Green.

[Bumped]