humor Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Aug72014 by Chris Holmes31 Comments

The Sad Story Behind Trivago Guy

Funny Stuff

If you've seen any ads for the German travel agency Trivago, you've no doubt taken note of their oddly disheveled spokesperson, known in Internet circles simply as "Trivago Guy." While I'm supposed to be listening Trivago Guy's pitch for finding the best price on a hotel room, I'm instead transfixed by his "sad divorced dad" vibe. I find myself asking questions not about how to find the best fleabag hotel room in Terre Haute, but more important things like, "Where did this guy come from?" "What unspeakable tragedy befell him to make him show up to an ad shoot dressed this way?" But most importantly, "What the hell happened to Trivago Guy's belt?" Turns out the answer was there all along, and it can be found in The Sopranos. In the season one episode "Down Neck," we find out th...

Oct172012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Please Welcome the Newest Addition to Mitt Romney’s Legal Team

Funny Stuff

I don't often do political humor here, but I've been dying for an opportunity to work this guy into a joke for a long time. I've been watching these odd Binder & Binder ads and wondering if Charles Binder really wears those stupid hats around the office, or if he just busts them out for commercials. Anyway, binders full of women, lulz.

Sep62012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Almost Ads — Tupperware, 1969

Funny Stuff

I can tell what Tupperware was going for in this ad -- which ran in a 1969 issue of Field & Stream by the way -- but here we have a demonstration of how a very subtle thing can turn a photo from cheeky to creepy. The wife is supposed to convey a mixture of surprise and mild annoyance. To my eyes she looks like she's stifling a scream while her husband polishes his rifle and mutters something about making them all pay. If you ask me, that woman about two seconds from dropping that soda and plate of cheese and running out of that rumpus room as fast as her legs can take her. (For more Almost Ads, click here.)

Aug162012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

A Pair of Cheeky Vintage Postcards Featuring New Jersey and Sex

Ephemera

It's been a long time since I shared some classic postcards from my personal collection with you. Just over three years in fact. That's going to change, since I scored a pretty sizable haul during my last trip to Cape Cod. Most of them are standard motels and tourist traps. But two stand out, and I present them for your enjoyment today. Being from New Jersey, my first instinct was to get all indignant at yet another cheap shot at my beloved home state. Then I realized that this is pretty much spot on. By the time the summer ends, my legs look like a relief map of Asia. You might think that the ice delivery guy is having sex with the other guy's wife, but you're wrong. No wait, that's exactly what he's doing. I wonder if cuckold humor was a sub-genre of postcards back in the d...

Jun142012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Time Capsule: “That Crazy Bop Joke Craze” (Life Magazine, 1952)

Capsules, History

In its September 29, 1952 issue Life magazine ran a piece on a new fad called "bop jokes," which sounds absolutely awful. When you think of the popular cultural image of bebop jazz fans of the early '50s (some of which went on to become the first Beatniks), you imagine someone really hip and into swingin' tunes, but sort of detached and reserved at the same time. I guess dignity is implicit. But not so much here. From the article, with photography by Yale Joel: From the world of jazz musicians and bebop players has come a new brand of humor: the bop joke. Until the last few months bop jokes have been limited, perhaps mercifully, to people in show business. But now bop humor is becoming something of a fad, and Life, feeling its readers should be warned of this wayward form of wit, offers a...

May102012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Time Magazine Has Gone Too Far — Are You Dad Enough?

Funny Stuff

It's not bad enough that Time has taken the route of cheap sensationalism with the photo for their latest cover story -- "Are You Mom Enough?" -- which depicts a young mother (Jamie Lynne Grumet) breastfeeding her 3-year-old son. Now that they've gotten dads in on the picture, it's just too much to take. Related articles Time Magazine Breastfeeding Cover: WTF? (PHOTOS)(blippitt.com) Q&A with Jamie Lynne Grumet(dhamma4mama.com) Breastfeeding mom Time cover wins applause, cringes and shrugs(vancouversun.com)

Aug52011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Here’s some stuff I enjoyed this week

Internet, Links

Here’s a fresh batch of some quality interweb finds I’ve come across over the last 7 days month or so: Awesome internet meme of the day -- Retro Spider-Man, bringing that classic '60s animated version of our favorite webslinger back to life in the internet age (Know Your Meme) Yet another way to get the most out of Spotify -- a ridiculous collection of shared playlists (ShareMyPlaylists) Not even the discovery of a fourth moon around Pluto can get it back in the big kids' club. (Defective Yeti) An extremely detailed and thoroughly riveting account of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden (The New Yorker) Productivity + internet = No Productivity (The Daily What) 21 Google+ circles you can actually use (HappyPlace) A giant list of movie references seen in The Simpsons (J...

Mar252011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Here’s some stuff I enjoyed this week

Internet, Links

Here’s a fresh batch of some quality interweb finds I’ve come across over the last 7 days: A rundown of the 15 best Burger King ad campaigns by Crispin Porter + Bogusky: Long live the Burger King! (AdFreak) Tommy Shaw sits down for an awesomely candid and funny interview about his career in Styx. Hint -- it involves lots of drugs. (The AV Club) It came from Reddit -- the Good Intentions Axe Murderer / Dating Site Murderer Meme. (Next Round) Here's a less-than-memorable Budweiser slogan from 1922: "Stimulates the Appetite - Assimilates the Food." (Shorpy) You just know this couple owns every Meat Loaf album and knows all the words. (Awkward Family Photos) So how does Libya's air force compare to the coalition's? (National Post) A series of excellent "Historically Hardcor...

Feb42011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Here’s some stuff I enjoyed this week

Internet, Links

Here’s a fresh batch of some quality interweb finds I’ve come across over the last 7 days: Dana Carvey + Linkin Park = Satan shooting explosive diarrhea in your face! (You Just Made My List!) A look at the worst men in sports. No Al Davis, strangely enough. (Deadspin) Even if you don't know what https is, change this Facebook setting now. (Gawker) "The arrow of time", a year-by-year history of the unhappiest family ever. (Zone Zero) Remember zany, watermelon-smashing comic Gallagher? Now he's paranoid, bitter, homophobic, right-wing nutjob, watermelon-smashing ranter Gallagher. (The Stranger) This is where TLC is heading, and you know it. (Urlesque) A graphic overview tracing the evolution of the Hipster (Gawker) Matthew Baldwin (Defective Yeti) is rating all the ...