Not in your hand

[austin_dern]

The M&M stand at the 7-Eleven offers customers the chance to buy a ``lenticular notebook'' with the purchase of two packs. I'm curious, since the words taken literally imply the notebook is either an optical element or is bean-shaped. Either way is interesting, but indicates I should not read these words literally.

The packages proclaim a deal: ``Dial up the colour -- score a colour screen phone''. Buy enough of these black-and-white M's and you can turn them in to buy a cheaper-than-normal cell phone. The catch? It's open only to residents of Australia, and the giveaway expired May 17. It's not unusual to get candy (or other foods) imported from pretty near any country. What amuses me is on every M&M package is a label pasted on: ``Promotion NOT VALID in Singapore.'' That's there in case anyone didn't notice they weren't residents of Australia and the contest expired two months ago, I suppose. I can't help thinking now of the poor guy working for Auric Pacific Marketing Pte Ltd (according to another sticker) looking at a container-shipping crate full of 55g M&M packages, thinking of the number of packages that is (how many packages of M&Ms do you suppose are imported to Singapore every month? How many M's?), turning to a friend and saying, ``Who's going to put one sticker on every single package?'' and just getting a sad look back.

Trivia: Paul Terry's Terrytoons studio produced its first color cartoon, String Bean Jack, in 1938. Source: Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, Leonard Maltin.

Currently Reading: Mythmaster, Leo P Kelley.

Comments

[musewoozle.livejournal.com]

*Chuckles*

That reminds me of a time I won a new car. I had a tube of toothpaste with a game sticker on the tube. The sticker said I won a new car!

I was a bit suprised, but the game expired two years ago.

Needless to say, I was wondering how old this toothpaste was....

-- Jacob

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Well, at least it's moments of excitement. I don't think I've yet won an expired contest, although there was a charity lottery here which a few months ago went unclaimed ... I'm not at all sure whether I bought a ticket to it, so I have the dread fear I may have won a million (Singapore) dollars and lost it ...

[orv.livejournal.com]

M&Ms are sort of lens-shaped, so it's not an entirely ridiculous idea that they'd give away notebooks the same shape as a promotion. My guess is there's an overly-literal translation going on somewhere.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

This is true ... I'm curious enough I may buy one just to find out what it is. That generally goes against my principles, but it's not like I wouldn't eat M&Ms anyway, or ever have enough notebooks around.