Dinner Time Outrage

So, I was watching Real Housewives of Orange County during dinner because it is Sunday and there wasn't anything else on. It was the episode when one of the thin blonde women who isn't Vicki (I know this isn't that helpful but I really can't tell any of the others apart yet) got celebrity chef Susan Feniger to cook for her upcoming dinner party.

Her husband felt that Latin food wasn't good enough for his pool party. He had planned to serve steakhouse type food. If you're going to, presumably, spend a ton of money on a chef it's probably a good idea to actually know what kind of food she specializes in and then to not ask her to cook something completely different. Like maybe Google her or something. This is the actual first line of her Wikipedia page (emphasis, other than her name, mine): Susan Feniger is an award-winning American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and TV personality considered to be a leading authority on Latin cuisine in the United States."

But no, they obviously just wanted someone with a 'name' and figured that if they paid her enough money she'd cook whatever food they wanted. Then, with no sense of irony, the husband asked her to make deep fried Oreos for dessert. Latin food for the main course, no way! Carnival food for dessert, awesome! There's obviously some implied, or even outright, racism there. Also I wonder if he would have had the same crappy, condescending reaction if Rick Bayless, a man, proposed to serve Mexican food at his pool party. If I had to guess I'd probably say no.

read on

Moi Je Joue

Usually when a commercial comes on 99% of the time my brain either shuts off or starts thinking about other stuff and I don't listen to* or observe what is coming out of my TV. I've had friends ask, "Wow, did you just see that?" and I'll have no idea what they're talking about. Even though I'm looking at the screen and can hear what's coming out of the speakers my brain isn't tuned in. This has led me to believe that commercials don't really work; at least not on me. That's probably not entirely true but I really can't think of another instance where a seeing a commercial caused me to buy a product. Magazine ads work on me, television commercials don't. This was the exception:



The 60's French pop had me listening and I really wanted to know who was using such a fun song to sell their product. I'd been listening to a bunch of similar stuff recently and I imagine that had something to do with why I was so receptive. Also, it was apparently directed by Sophia Coppola. So I guess, knowing that, it's not all that surprising that I was so taken in by it. She does tend to use music I like in her movies.

Embarrassingly, I'm pretty sure I tried out Miss Dior Cherie in a Sephora once, pre-commercial viewing, based on a description I read and didn't really like it. It's possible it was the original Miss Dior but I kind of think it wasn't. This December when I was shopping for Christmas presents (for myself) I figured it would be a good idea to get a new perfume. After seeing the commercial and downloading the Brigitte Bardot song, Miss Dior Cherie was the first perfume I tried out. I wasn't completely sold at first so I walked around for a bit with a few fragrances on those little bits of paper with various designer names on them. After the fragrances settled I decided that j'adore'd the Dior most of all.

It's probably impossible to know for sure if the commercial directly led me to liking the perfume. The fact that I think I didn't like it before makes me think that maybe it did. At the very least it made me give it a second chance. It's also possible that I'm moving away from the more intense, citrus-ey fragrances that I loved so much in college. For now I'll just enjoy my perfume and the song that led me to it.

PS: There was also this random HPV commercial that had a similar 60's sounding French pop tune with female vocals that I definitely paid attention to. It was actually, I think, out before the Miss Dior one. I really want to know what that song is. Although I didn't go out and get vaccinated as a result of the commercial. I put it on youtube so I could post it on this blog and also so maybe someone will figure out what song it is and comment:



*Since starting this post I have come up with another exception; commercials that I have listened to. Ipod commercials have tended to use bands that I either got into eventually or already liked. Like the Ting Tings, The Fratellis and CSS. The commercials never led me to buy an ipod; I already had one. I did buy the Fratellis first album on itunes though so I guess apple did win in the end. (I already had and loved the first CSS album by the time I saw the commercial)

read on