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What If Political Bumper Stickers Were Actually Effective in Instantly Converting Those Who See Them?

What If Political Bumper Stickers were Actually Effective in Converting Those Who See Them?

I think the concept of opinionated bumper stickers is hilarious.

Granted, I’m not talking about the ones that are supposed to be hilarious like, “I may be driving slow, but at least I’m in front of you.” That’s intended to be funny, and it is.

Instead, I’m referring to the ones that are meant to apparently convert people’s beliefs and ideology.

The best example of this ridiculous notion is when I see political bumper stickers; which as a commuter in Nashville, is a constant occurrence.

Just imagine: A politically neutral person is at the red light, behind an old Ford pick-up truck with a “Trump for President 2016: Make America Great Again” bumper sticker.

In that moment, a revelation comes over him, as he says to himself, “Yeah, that’s what we need… I can’t believe I never thought about it before. We need Trump to run this country!”

Five minutes later, after having converted from “politically neutral” to “Trump supporter”, this same man is now behind a Nissan Versa. He sees the bumper sticker: Hillary Clinton 2016: I’m With Her.

It’s now as if the man’s whole world has just been rocked. How could he have ever thought Trump was a good idea? Clearly, Hillary Clinton is the way to go.

What a sigh of relief. And yet what an embarrassment that he was ever swayed by that Trump bumper sticker. Fortunately, the Hillary Clinton bumper sticker has now overridden the influence of the one before it.

You can imagine how this story goes on. At each new red light on the commuter’s drive home, he is exposed to a different car with a different political bumper sticker; alternating between Trump and Clinton.

By the time the man finally arrives home, he ultimately choses the candidate he most recently saw the bumper sticker for; whoever that happened to randomly be.

All is well now. He’s made up his mind…

Until the commute back to work in the morning.

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Social Media, Help Me Find My Twin: Campbell’s Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa

 

Dear Social Media,

I am recruiting your help today. I believe that together, we can find my twin, whose image can be found on the current Campbell’s Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa package.

Granted, he’s not my actual twin, but instead, my apparent doppelganger; as my friends on Facebook have collectively agreed.

Last year March here on my blog, I first mentioned this finding. Since then, Campbell’s has evidently made a slight change to the their packaging, changing the name of the flavor of this soup from Chicken & Quinoa with Poblano Chilies… to Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa.

Social Media, Help Me Find My Twin: Campbell's Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa

Either way, it’s the same guy in the picture.

Can you help me find him? I think it would be cool for us to meet up for a photo opp.

I am curious to see how much we actually look alike when we are side-by-side. I would also like to learn other similarities:

How tall is he? I’m 5′ 9″.

What’s his ethnic background? Mine is Mexican and Italian.

Where is he from? I live near Nashville, Tennessee.

Social Media, Help Me Find My Twin: Campbell's Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa

I understand right now that Americans are more focused on Pokemon Go, but I’m sure there’s someone out there who could help me find the model who posed for this soup packaging.

Last March when I did my original post, Campbell’s (understandably for legal reasons) was not able to give me any information on this male model.

Here is the Facebook conversation I had with their social media person:

Nick Shell  3/10, 7:52 pm

 Hi, I’m Nick Shell from Family Friendly Daddy Blog. My recent story featuring Campbell’s Go has been my most popular this week! (Am I The Guy From The Campbell’s Go Chicken & Quinoa With Poblano Chilies Package?) As random as the conversation is, it is proving relevant in my social media circles :) So the truth is, I’m actually a vegan and my wife and son are vegetarians. But if there’s anyway I could land an “email interview” with the actual model used for that package, it would make very a really cool, unique follow-up story that would serve as more product placement for Campbell’s Go. It would also give the model guy some extra exposure for his career. Is there any chance at making that happen? Thank you so much for your reply.

Facebook User  3/12, 8:23 am

Thank you for your message, Nick. Unfortunately, specific information about actors is controlled/proprietary to our ad agency. Can you please provide us with your contact information? Your comments and inquiry will be forwarded to our team and should they be interested in working with you, they will reach out directly.

As you can see, by going back to my old Facebook messages, social media account now simply shows up as “Facebook User”, where as before, it was something like “Campbell’s Soup”.

So maybe now, a year later, someone at Campbell’s would be willing to go out on a limb and help me find my doppelganger.

But if not, how about you, social media? Can you help me?

 

Sincerely,

Nick Shell of Family Friendly Daddy Blog

AKA: The Guy Who Looks Like the Guy from the Campbell’s Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa

Social Media, Help Me Find My Twin: Campbell's Go Southwest Style Chicken with Quinoa

 

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Or… You Could Literally Give Dad “Nothing” for Father’s Day

Photograph of a 19th-Century stock certificate***not under copyright****

Photograph of a 19th-Century stock certificate***not under copyright****

You’ve probably already seen my “Last Minute Father’s Day Gift Ideas from Target” post. If not, check it out, because I’m really proud of it. But, today I came across another idea; one that is much more unconventional.

This year the kids can literally give Dad “nothing”… this story has been receiving some great online coverage from the Huffington Post, AdWeek and many local broadcast affiliates.

I admit, if my wife asks me what I want for Father’s Day (or really, any holiday), it is typical for me not to easily be able to think of something.

If that is common among dads, I would theorize part of it has to do with a husband and father feeling funny about being served by our his family.

We as husbands and fathers are wired to provide for our family. Especially with my wife and I being serious Dave Ramsey followers (a few weeks ago we bought a new car and already had the money saved in the bank, not because we’re rich, because we are that strict with our budget), I always feel like I’m making an irresponsible decision if I give my family the green light to spend money on me for something I simply want, but don’t need.

Or… You Could Literally Give Dad “Nothing” for Father’s Day

So yeah, I admit, “nothing” is a much more practical answer to give when my family asks me what to get me for a gift.

This year, Century 21 decided to help families actually give dad nothing; as in a piece of Nothing, Arizona, an uninhabited ghost town about 120 miles Northwest of Phoenix.

From now through Father’s Day, families can go to www.givedadnothing.com and enter their father’s name to lease a piece of Nothing, Arizona, for one day; June 19th, 2016 for free.

Then they can then download, print, or email a certificate bestowing “Nothing” on their father – all free of charge.

Yep, it’s true- and you heard it first from me!

Now, granted, I would personally still recommend by giving Dad something. But first, start off by giving him nothing.

Or… You Could Literally Give Dad “Nothing” for Father’s Day

*All photos and images courtesy of Century 21 Real Estate.

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Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

7 weeks.

Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

Dear Holly,

I did a particular household chore over the weekend that I never look forward to doing: the tedious and unforgiving task of uploading the hundreds of photos from both Mommy’s phone as well as mine; then making separate folders for them to upload to our external hard drive.

(It’s not the simple cut and dry process it should be, nor is the transfer as instant as I would like.)

In doing this, I finally saw a picture that Mommy secretly took of us; back from when you were just a few days old.

I had been sitting on the floor, holding you in attempt to help you get to sleep. Then as my back became sore from hunching over, I laid back on the carpet, while keeping you in a nest of blankets, with my legs crossed “Indian style”.

Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

Apparently my method was quite efficient, because we both fell deep asleep. That’s how Mommy easily sneaked over and snapped a picture of us with her phone.

It happened in the midst of first days of having bringing a newborn home from the hospital that as a parent, I don’t really remember too many details surrounding the event. Everything was just a haze at the time.

After I saw the picture this weekend, I informed Mommy that my favorite radio station, WAY-FM, is holding a contest in which moms are sending in photos of their husbands with their kids, for a Father’s Day.

So obviously, this photo has now been sent. I’m sure we won’t win, but it’s worth a shot. (The prize is a $1,000.)

If nothing else, it’s fun to be able to see this picture. Though I really don’t like uploading the pictures from our phones, at least I was able to unearth this gem.

It was totally worth the work for that reason alone, if nothing else.

Love,

Daddy

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Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

We survived! Yay for us! With Baby Holly turning 6 weeks old as of yesterday, my wife and I have apparently made it through what I hear is the toughest part of the postpartum days: the first 6 weeks.

That first month or so is when you as the parent must figure out the details on what works best for your baby regarding sleeping schedules, formulas, and diapers. It’s a culture shock as a parent, even after already having one child. I knew it would be challenging going into it.

However, I must have kept my expectations lower than I needed to because, honestly, it hasn’t been that bad!

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

Despite us managing our newborn’s infant acid reflux, for the post part, things have been fairly predictable. There have really been just 10 simple steps to caring for our newborn during the first 6 weeks:

1)      Feed her an ounce, burp her. Repeat until each ounce is gone.

2)      Change her diaper.

3)      Play with her by talking to her and helping her do exercises.

4)      Take a cute picture of her.

5)      While you teach yourself newborn photography, by the default of taking so many pictures, Instagram your work to show it off to friends and family.

6)      Change her diaper.

7)      Wrap her up in a blanket and rock her to sleep with the pacifier in her mouth,

then place her in the crib.

8)      Change her diaper, now that she finally fell asleep but wet herself again.

9)      Rock her back to sleep and place her in the crib again.

10)  Repeat two and a half hours later when she wakes up again.

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

Those are my 10 simple steps. This has been my life for the past 6 weeks.

Granted, these 10 steps have been my wife’s reality more than mine, since she’s on maternity leave, but I still work during the day. A lot of the time my main responsibility is to take care of our 5 and a half year-old son Jack while my wife Jill takes care of the baby.

This past weekend I celebrated the end of those first 6 weeks by shaving off my postpartum beard, as well as getting a hair trim. As you can see though, I was unable to overcome the temptation of shaving (and Instagramming) in stages.

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

And if my eyes look bloodshot and cross-eyed, and I look like I need some ginseng because of lack of sleep, it’s probably true.

As for Baby Holly, she doesn’t have that problem so much…

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks

Fare thee well.

Postpartum: My 10 Steps of Caring for a Newborn during the First 6 Weeks