Those degenerate French…

They even have the proverbial "money shot." The Orangina monologues.

Hm, it seems to be that there are some differences between TV commercials in the US as opposed to some other regions of the world?

That was sure memorable! It makes me want to try Orangina just out of curiosity.

Has anyone tried it or seen any of their other commercials?

I've tried Orangina, and it's pretty good. My one friend is absolutely in love with it (though maybe not so much after seeing this video...)

Most soft drinks I like less and less as I grow older (too sugary for my taste now, I guess) but Orangina is great, yeah.

Just doesn't mix well with vodka for some reason...

Oooh, those naughty French.

Just in case you didn't get it: This is all about a pun, like many French ads. In French, "poulpe" means octopus, while "pulpe" means pulp. "Pulpeuse" is a female adjective that means both "voluptuous" and "with pulp".
Orangina is one of the few orange sodas on the market that actually have fruit pulp in them and should be shaken before drinking.

Ah, so that's what the bizarre ads all over the Métro are for. I didn't quite notice. The connection is too absurd.

Haven't seen the cephalopodous one yet.

Can't say I've seen that video, but then again, about all I watch is the rugby (read: beer) ...

I first ran into Orangina over twenty years ago in California, and drank it rather regularly for quite some time. Obviously, I rather liked it. I still do, and still drink it, albeit nowhere near as much these days.

I've generally found commercials in Europe (or at least the countries where I've lived) to be a helluva lot more creative and entertaining than the rubbish I remember from the States. I don't have any hypothesis as to why, or indeed if that imprecise impression would even hold if I were to try and measure it, but there are very much stylistic differences.

And some things are advertised in a very different way. For instance, Levi jeans were(? still are?) advertised as sexually enticing fashion in at least some European countries.

You have to see the mascot for Orangina

Some things are just wrong.

This is one of them.

(Still, she/it is kinda hot.)

.

Now if there was some way to throw the creepy Burger King in the middle of that.

Furries. Bleah. Anthropomorphizing is one thing, but adding sex... Sad.

See? THAT'S what acid does to your brain.

Damn, that's wrong in so many fashions.

T'ain't bestiality when there ain't humans involved.

That was AWESOME.

There's something we all should be aware of about the French. They are much more liberated than we are in the Christo-Fascisti United States.

For all the people saying that "this is just wrong", I would be interested in hearing your reasons why.

Okay, I watched it about six times and I'll just say...I like it! After about the third viewing it began to grow on me--like a fungus.

I'm not sure I would want to be introduced to it at 2 o'clock in the morning while half asleep, though...

I thought the commercial was pretty good.

I ran it back a few times to try to figure out what species the pole dancer was, and I can't decide whether she's an anteater, or a sloth.

As to squeezing orange juice out of her mammaries, it looked to me like it was orange halves she squeezed, not her breasts.

I thought the brief homage to "Flashdance" was cool.

As a fan of all things Bear, in the same way PZ likes his squids and octos, I liked the bear man too.

(Note to self: See if there's a Dr. Octopus action figure out there. Consider sending one to PZ for Xmas.)

Ok, I'll admit it's weird. But, I actually like it, strangely enough.

Hank, I think it's a flamingo.

So this is what ads are like on the Island of Dr. Moreau ...

Hank@19:

(Note to self: See if there's a Dr. Octopus action figure out there. Consider sending one to PZ for Xmas.)

But of course--with Bend 'N' Pose Tentacles!

I liked it. Yes, weird (especially by repressed american standards....but then again I live in San Francisco so I've almost forgotten about the whole repressed thing).

I thought it was cool though. I think PZ was feigning shock/disgust.

If this doesn't prove humans are screwed up, I don't know what does. Nor do I particularly want to know.

Here's what PZ will get his wife for Cephalopodmas.

Europe is awesome! Better even than Japan!

...

...

It IS a flamingo. Thank you.

Something I've been doing for several years now is ... whenever something bothers me automatically and instantly, I take the time to feel around inside myself and try to figure out WHY.

Say you find something instantly repulsive - rather than turning and walking away, face it for a bit and see if you can figure out exactly what it is about the thing that sparks the negative reaction.

Ditto for the things that instantly and automatically attract you. If you can figure out why, you gain insight into your own values and motivations. Your own feelings can be the indicator on a private instrument for looking into human motivations.

There are REASONS we do the things we do. Since you have to live with you all your life, it's better to know them.

Regarding that ...

Antihumanist: For all the people saying that "this is just wrong", I would be interested in hearing your reasons why.

Antihumanist, I can think of several reasons.

First, I suspect it could be a cultural taboo, probably with roots in religion. After all, can't have the specially-created favored of God, the ones with the eternal souls, commingling with the mere Beasts. Probably furries and zoophiles, which this advertisement flirts with, are an offense against that inherited religious-cultural rule.

Second, there's a conceivable element of kiddie porn to it. If children are taboo because they're unable to give consent, animals would have to be even more so, wouldn't you think? If you're attracted to animals, you automatically become a bully worse than a child molester. Even without consciously analyzing it, the underlying theme of this commercial probably strikes a lot of us as a bit repulsive for this reason.

Worse, though, is that these animal "men" and "women" were deliberately created to appear sexy. A viewer finding himself/herself attracted to them in one second might react in the next second with loathing. Partly that he/she was disturbingly attracted, but also partly that he/she was manipulated into being attracted. By the advertiser.

Finally, I think I remember reading that familiar things given slightly twisted traits can be more scary than things totally unfamiliar.

A generalized red smear on the road isn't all that bothersome. But replace it with an otherwise live-looking raccoon, with the addition of generous loops of pink intestines poking out of it, and the yuck factor zooms way up.

Most of us are familiar with cartoon characters, and can accept dancing zebras and soft-drink quaffing bears. But ... toss in the sex angle, and it intrudes on territory we're not familiar with. It's off-putting because it's something familiar, but with a slight twist.

The link that PZ posted a few days ago, to the sculpture that seemed to show an octopus having some sort of intimate contact with a human, that one disgusted me a bit, and I think it was for this reason. Familiar, but twisted.

But now ... the idea of a lap dance from a creature equipped with suckers ... well, uh, ahem. I, um ... okay, never mind.

...

...

She rolls two orange halves down her tentacles and squeezes them just as they are directly in front of her breasts.

JWZ (your original link) has the "orange-squeeze" scene isolated and reduced, if you want to see it over-and-over-and-over. . .

I don't remember if I linked this earlier, but in any event here is a reminder. The French national science museum has an exhibition "Zizi sexuel, l'expo". It is designed to explain sex to 9-14 year olds.

http://de.parisinfo.com/paris-kultur/ausstellungen/5887-zizi-sexuel-l-e…-

If you understand some French, it will be interesting to go to the site.

http://www.cite-sciences.fr/francais/ala_cite/expositions/zizi-sexuel/

It explains about puberty, contraception and baby-making, etc. It also warns against pedophiles and asks children to talk to someone if they think there has been something improper.

One of the things you learn is that the morning-after pill is given to minors free by pharmacies, family-planning associations, and junior and senior high school nurses.

http://www.cite-sciences.fr/francais/ala_cite/expositions/zizi-sexuel/d…

(The last cartoon in the series)

Wow. thanks to Hank for that analysis. I think I found it disturbing because of the "unnatural" that is to say unfamiliar, combination of very animal looking heads/textures combined with attractive human parts hijacked my libido while simultaneously making me think of animals, which then triggered my revulsion towards bestiality. Anyway, ignoring the characters themselves, that commercial had so crammed full of explicit and implied sexual references that it was funny. My favorite part was when the huge bottles with characters riding them all burst. Definitely memorable.

"Worse, though, is that these animal "men" and "women" were deliberately created to appear sexy."

Of course, that isn't too hard to do. You could put draw tits on a vacuum cleaner and it would look sexy to guys. (o)(o)

Hmmm... I think you're right, that that's probably why there is the initial reaction of being irritated that we are so easily and weirdly manipulated.

That commercial is way too cool. ^^

http://www.naturellementpulpeuse.fr/

The cactus women there... well, I would say that's even out of the league of furry fans. :D

Second, there's a conceivable element of kiddie porn to it. If children are taboo because they're unable to give consent, animals would have to be even more so, wouldn't you think? If you're attracted to animals, you automatically become a bully worse than a child molester. Even without consciously analyzing it, the underlying theme of this commercial probably strikes a lot of us as a bit repulsive for this reason.

Sorry, but that's a bit silly. The whole thing that separates furries from bestiality IS that furries are human like, ie. are self conscious and thus able to give consent. People who are into furries are not attracted to animals (else they would be into bestiality) but are attracted to human like animals. Animals which have boobs if female, sixpacks if male, the basic body form of humans but mostly with an animal head and animal pelt/skin, etc.

About the sexuality thing, well it's not better or worse then your usual car commercial or the like, so I don't have much problems with it. I would say it fits perfectly into our over sexualized culture. Though I find the Marilyn Monroe tulip quite funny. :)

And the octopus is very cute. :)

"Hmmm... I think you're right, that that's probably why there is the initial reaction of being irritated that we are so easily and weirdly manipulated."

Either that or we know the bear could kick our asses!

The thing about this commercial is that it is different. I suspect that the French would have a WTF moment at the start and then just keep watching to see what is exactly going on.

For all the people saying that "this is just wrong", I would be interested in hearing your reasons why.

Well, they've got female peacocks as having the brilliant tail-feathers, which is just plain wrong.

It bothered me not for the sexual aspects (which were pretty bizarre in the context of advertizing for a soft drink, but that's beside the point) but because, um, most mammals have more than two mammary glands. And the deer frolicking with the bear should been eaten by him (and not in *that way* either), not, um, frolicked with. And the octopus? With boobs? What? I found myself just gibbering at it after about 10 seconds. "But he... and the deer... but... and... GAH!!"

I'm glad to know there was at least a pun involved, but damnation, that has got to be the strangest ad I have seen this month.

Second, there's a conceivable element of kiddie porn to it. If children are taboo because they're unable to give consent, animals would have to be even more so, wouldn't you think? If you're attracted to animals, you automatically become a bully worse than a child molester. Even without consciously analyzing it, the underlying theme of this commercial probably strikes a lot of us as a bit repulsive for this reason.

An animal is also less able to give consent to euthanasia than a minor, but few if any people take this into consideration. Somehow, I don't think concern for animals is a major motivation of most people's eminently glossopharyngeal objection to bestiality (post-hoc rationalizations are another matter entirely).

As for the ad...I haven't watched it yet, but I'm not particularly bothered by the picture and amused by people who are.

A few years back, there was an even weirder British ad for some orange drink. Babylon Five fans might remember the commercial---it had a viking and a fish and a little doll...

"That's just wrong" can also mean that something is particularly entertaining in a perverse way.

female peacocks

Um, that's an oxymoron.

Or is it? Maybe they're hinting that this is a drag revue.

And hey, remember those male cuttlefish that feigned female appearance so that they could get to the real females? Maybe it's something like that.

female peacocks

Um, that's an oxymoron.

See? They're getting everything wrong.

The correct term for a female peafowl is "peahen." "Peacock" denotes the male peafowl.

I find animals sitting on bottle that ejaculate orange liquid far less disturbing than a reminiscent scene of Cher positively masturbating herself on the big guns of the Missouri in "Turn Back Time" film clip. That was spooky.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4O5AMSevc

PZ, perhaps you'd prefer the orange juice commercial (NSFW!) from Eurotrip instead. :D

Well, I ... almost liked it. The gangliness of the heads made the animals too alien.

With the birth of the Internet I was a bit surprised with a) the universalism of "furryism" and b) the intense dislike of "furryism".

I suppose I'm minor furry. It doesn't have anything to do with beastiality. It has to do with the exotic and extraordinary. It's about fantasizing wouldn't it be neat if there were people with exotic sensiality usually associated with animals. Say the sleek grace of a cat, or slithery muscular curves and controls of a snake. Wouldn't it be neat to meet a human with cat eyes; that'd be exotic. I'd have assumed most males at some time fantasized about cat-women.

I guess it's subtle but it isn't being animal-like that is intriguing; it's the pretending to be animal-like. It's no different to me than a child playing with a stuffed animal or reading a book about anthropomorphic animals...

Then again, I suppose I've met quite a few people who actively disliked stuffed animals and animal stories.

How do you furry-phobes feel about animals, pets, animal stories, stuffed animals, etc. in general.

I adored them as a child. I think animals and their variety are fascinating and beautiful. When visiting a city, I always want to see their zoo. (Restaurants first, then zoos, then bookstores, then museums, and nightlife dead-last) I don't think anyone actually wants to have sex with animals, but I think a lot of us (pet owners, naturalists, children book authors, cat-women fetishists) are fascinated with animals and would like to share or understand their world. That's hardly wierd, is it?

The "female" animals are all built like drag queens with fake breasts. I think they are going after the gay animal market.

Another Orangina ad, possible even stranger than the furry one:

http://www.dailymotion.com/related/5664170/video/x2g9uo_orangina-rodeo-…

How delightfully disturbing. Thanks, PZ.

Oh, Orangina. Great pick-me-up, but too sweet for me.

The whole thing that separates furries from bestiality IS that furries are human like, ie. are self conscious and thus able to give consent.

Quite. Furries in fiction are at least as old as sci-fi. (I believe "The ballad of lost C'mell" is a late archetype.)

I liked it, and it haven't more or less sexuality than some other ads. But I'm put off by it not managing the balance between sexuality and censure, being frank in some places and coy in others.

This was an awesome and artzy production, but for sheer humor, balance and timing I still haven't seen a better one than the old swedish commercial for "Mer" (en: "More"), another fruit drink. (Fruit and sex is a popular combo even in ads.) You have to see it, but FWIW:

A seemingly naked and sweaty girl relaxes contentedly onto a surface. She turns seductively to the right and asks: "More?". The view pans and zoom out to catch the face of a sweaty guy, who concurs: "Maybe some More". Still panning and zooming, another sweaty guy appear raising his head behind the girl: "Definitely More".

You get the drift. The shot continues to zoom out and reveal a three-seat leg press bench with a gym dressed three-some and finally a public gym, while the three-some presses one More.

it looked to me like it was orange halves she squeezed, not her breasts.

To me it looks like she is rolling whole oranges down her arms and mash them in front of her breasts. Leading up to one of those frank moments when the squeezed juice builds a fountain which she obviously enjoys catching in her mouth.

Hank Fox:

Maybe not stranger but definitely more disturbing. Don't you just kind of hope that he does it to a martial artist next and wakes up in the hospital unable to move?

Hank - first I found your posted commercial funny and much more accessible, then I started wondering why I found a clip of actual people being assaulted funny, but one made of CGI and entirely make-believe weird and wrong, and then it seemed that the cartoon bikini'd animals was actually more ethically better by comparison, and now I'm all confused.

Bizarre, yet oddly appealing, like an R-rated Wonderland without an Alice in evidence.

Han Fox:
"Most of us are familiar with cartoon characters, and can accept dancing zebras and soft-drink quaffing bears. But ... toss in the sex angle, and it intrudes on territory we're not familiar with. It's off-putting because it's something familiar, but with a slight twist."

I have one thing to say to you before you riff on the French: Jessica Rabbit. Let those who are without sin etc...

France is the new Japan.

Ah, so that's what the bizarre ads all over the Métro are for. I didn't quite notice. The connection is too absurd.

Haven't seen the cephalopodous one yet.

Oh, Orangina. Great pick-me-up, but too sweet for me.

The whole thing that separates furries from bestiality IS that furries are human like, ie. are self conscious and thus able to give consent.

Quite. Furries in fiction are at least as old as sci-fi. (I believe "The ballad of lost C'mell" is a late archetype.)

I liked it, and it haven't more or less sexuality than some other ads. But I'm put off by it not managing the balance between sexuality and censure, being frank in some places and coy in others.

This was an awesome and artzy production, but for sheer humor, balance and timing I still haven't seen a better one than the old swedish commercial for "Mer" (en: "More"), another fruit drink. (Fruit and sex is a popular combo even in ads.) You have to see it, but FWIW:

A seemingly naked and sweaty girl relaxes contentedly onto a surface. She turns seductively to the right and asks: "More?". The view pans and zoom out to catch the face of a sweaty guy, who concurs: "Maybe some More". Still panning and zooming, another sweaty guy appear raising his head behind the girl: "Definitely More".

You get the drift. The shot continues to zoom out and reveal a three-seat leg press bench with a gym dressed three-some and finally a public gym, while the three-some presses one More.

it looked to me like it was orange halves she squeezed, not her breasts.

To me it looks like she is rolling whole oranges down her arms and mash them in front of her breasts. Leading up to one of those frank moments when the squeezed juice builds a fountain which she obviously enjoys catching in her mouth.