Pranksters at Yahoo?

December 10, 2001 4:10 PM

Pranksters at Yahoo? Something strikes me about this Yahoo Winter Vacation Deals flash ad that sometimes appears on the right hand side of news story pages like this one. Is there something going on here, or do I need to have my (ahem) head examined? (Flash required)
posted by SilentSalamander (25 comments total)

..and if you zoom in on the chair lift, the two snowboarders are definately "making out". ...I'm not even going to talk about that "rock outcrop".
posted by tomplus2 at 4:18 PM on December 10, 2001

I studied commercial art years ago. We were told by a visiting ad exec that nothingis ever in an ad by accident.
posted by bunnyfire at 4:26 PM on December 10, 2001

Um...how does one zoom in on such a graphic? (Windows 98, IE 6)
posted by Carol Anne at 4:49 PM on December 10, 2001

right click on the movie
posted by o2b at 4:51 PM on December 10, 2001

Something about that ad just poked right out at me!
posted by BlueScreen at 4:52 PM on December 10, 2001

..... so what exactly is so wrong with the ad?
posted by SweetJesus at 4:53 PM on December 10, 2001

Sometimes a snowy outcropping of rock is just a snowy outcropping of rock.
posted by toddshot at 4:55 PM on December 10, 2001

Oh, I get it... The outcropping is phallic, isn't it. It takes an imaginitive mind to make a penis out of that poorly drawn flash animation.
posted by SweetJesus at 5:00 PM on December 10, 2001

Sex and death sell.
posted by Mark at 5:01 PM on December 10, 2001

Poor standard of hygiene, by the look of it.
posted by dlewis at 5:04 PM on December 10, 2001

uh looks to me like they are leaning next to each other on a chilly snowlift.

and as for phallic symbols, don't look now but there's one hovering over your left mouse button. goodness gracious, have you no shame?
posted by mcsweetie at 5:15 PM on December 10, 2001

I clicked, I zoomed, I looked. Yawn. What's with all the penis fuss lately?
posted by Carol Anne at 5:23 PM on December 10, 2001

If you can ignore the rock outcropping, look at the side of the mountain-looks like an outline of the back of a leg starting at the butt.
No evil mind required......
posted by bunnyfire at 6:14 PM on December 10, 2001

Fodder for a (very)slow news day... How long before Wired or News.com pick up on this?
posted by shoepal at 7:33 PM on December 10, 2001

Sex and death? Um, if you put on your glasses/contacts, the guy is on a snowboard, he isn't plummeting to his death. And if I were on a lift I'd probably be clinging on to my neighbor for dear life too.
posted by karaleah at 7:43 PM on December 10, 2001

I dunno, seems like you guys are really stretching on this one. The ad is obtuse, but I don't pick up anything sexual about it.
posted by fleener at 8:33 PM on December 10, 2001

Uh, guys...?

We're clearly NOT the market they're targeting with their ads.

Aren't you glad?
posted by realjanetkagan at 8:57 PM on December 10, 2001

no phallic-inspiration here, and i'm the kind of perv that would notice :)

however this post has given me a great idea for a subliminal advertising meme site - 'am i dong or not?'
posted by sawks at 9:29 PM on December 10, 2001

What I meant about sex and death selling is how they are put subliminally into ads all the time.
posted by Mark at 1:08 AM on December 11, 2001

Alastair McIntosh's paper From Eros to Thanatos: Cigarette Advertising’s Imagery of Violation as an Icon into British Cultural Psychopathology. The images are very slow to load (even via cable), but well worth waiting for.
posted by Carol Anne at 4:25 AM on December 11, 2001

Just for the helluvit, here's the Snopes.com summary of the subliminalism-in-advertising question.
posted by BT at 5:53 AM on December 11, 2001

both the snopes link and the macintosh essay were very kill your family interesting
posted by Frasermoo at 6:17 AM on December 11, 2001

Of course, it doesn't always work. I read "kill your family" as a modifier for interesting, like "a stay up all night interesting book."
posted by chiheisen at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2001

dangnammit !
posted by Frasermoo at 1:01 AM on December 12, 2001

Maybe if you wrote it like this, Frasermoo:

... were very kill your family interesting

Just a thought.
posted by diddlegnome at 1:26 AM on December 12, 2001