Please pass the nitrogen : bioephemera

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Please pass the nitrogen

Category: Biology • Ephemera • Frivolity • Science in Advertising • Science in Culture & Policy
Posted on: November 7, 2008 10:40 AM, by Jessica Palmer

One of the odder perks of living in DC is viewing the strange Metro ads purchased by various lobbying blocs. Here, a rosy-cheeked child sucks down pasta, while the ad proudly tells us the main ingredient is fertilizer. Yum, yum.

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Comments

I just moved to DC this summer, and it's incredibly bizarre. Who are these aimed at? Do government bureaucrats look at the ads for Agility dominating the entire metro car and think "if this defense contractor is good enough for the army, it's good enough for my division too"?

Posted by: ignotus | November 7, 2008 3:50 PM

Thanks for posting this and inspiring a self-righteous tirade on my part. I hope you don't mind, I've retooled it a little bit.

Posted by: neil | November 7, 2008 5:18 PM

Gah! At first glance, I thought this was a relic of some earlier era in advertising (say, the industrial 60's), trying to evoke the homey look of an even earlier era in advertising (say, the 20's). Now I see that it's a *current* advertisement, inviting us to coo over chemicals. Ha, ha . . . how quaint! Who indeed is this aimed at??? Not parents of young children, one assumes . . . .

Posted by: mdvlist | November 7, 2008 5:29 PM

Am I the only one thinking fertiliser is traditionally manure and that kid is, you know... Ew. I am also wondering what exactly they are trying to achieve with this.

Posted by: Patricia | November 7, 2008 6:06 PM

Mmm.
I usually just skip the excessive processing and eat Nabisco Poopoo Krisps. Sweet flakes of manure-- just the way nature made them.
I recall reading somewhere that 1 in 4 molecules of nitrogen in the human body have been artificially fixed. How exactly is industrially manufactured artificial fertilizer "drawn from nature?"
I dunno, but it sure is tasty.

Posted by: michael | November 7, 2008 7:07 PM

mmmmm, nitrogen

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dead-zone.htm/printable

Posted by: Robert S. | November 8, 2008 3:22 AM