Brawndo, It's Got Electrolytes. It's What Plants Crave

"This week's film blogs have been left aghast as Mike Judge's grotesque fictional energy drink Brawndo from the movie Idiocracy became a reality. To recap: Fox wouldn't support a film about Brawndo, the energy drink that destroys plants, debases the human race, and makes those who drink it 'win at yelling' but they are now putting wholehearted support behind the actual drink?" And if you haven't seen Idiocracy, you are missing out. It is the smartest stupid movie I've seen. Whoever did production design on that thing deserves an Oscar.

Economics of this stupid decision

[xant]

I think what happened here is what happens to a lot of cult movies these days. Producers (Fox) expected it to tank, so did not spend money promoting it. Instead of tanking, it garnered a big cult following. Fox now wants to cash in on that big cult profit center by promoting the DVD. Hence, Brawndo as a tie-in to the movie, basically a promotion for the DVD since it's now too late to promote it at the box office. And this exactly is the sort of movie that makes more money on DVD even in the best case scenario.

Still, I can't help thinking that all of the Fox channels and Fox News in particular would be well-served by the world as depicted in Idiocracy, a world which the fictional Brawndo helped build. Maybe they think it'll happen in reality, too.

Coming soon: "Ow! My Balls!" on your local Fox affiliate.

Re:You're wrong, Taco

[Ellis D. Tripp]

The crotch injury and fart jokes served to define the state of the society at that point. They weren't really meant to be laughed at in and of themselves.

Much like Beavis and Butthead, the actual targets of the humor just laugh at the stupidity, without realizing that THEY are being made fun of...

Re:Well shit.

[maxume]

American Gladiators will be back on the air this January(or some derivative of it anyway).

"Professional" wresting is exactly jingoistic, themed-warrior reality TV, and the amount of steroids they use seems to be killing at least some of the contestants.

Re:The medical center scene...

[binaryspiral]

Growing up in a small rural area, I knew people just like Clevon. And they were regarded as the alpha males because they were good at sports. Some got a free ride to state college for their physical skills. Unfortunately they didn't complete the first year of college because they treated it like high school...

Yes, it's scary.

It's okay

[lordmoose]

I've seen Idiocracy 2 or 3 times and I think it's okay, but it's not some great social mirror. I have a nagging feeling that Darwinism doesn't want humanity to be intelligent, it just wants us to survive. Also since the movie assumes that we are getting less intelligent, past generations must have been MORE intelligent that what we are today. I don't believe that (though we'll never really know).

Don't blame the teachers

[poet]

Blame the establishment.

Teachers work 12-16 hours a day... yet a "class" day is only 6 hours (after you subtract breaks, locker time, lunch etc..).

Where is that other 6-10 hours going? Consider that...

Frankly I don't think we pay teachers nearly enough. I think it is ridiculous that they guy that "taught" Computer Science will likely make a third of what a computer scientist makes.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:You're wrong, Taco

[coolGuyZak]

Maybe I wasn't being specific enough, or the mods are unfamiliar with the movie. The 'quotable' portions of the movie are composed of incredibly stupid statements (for instance, the "it's got what plants crave" quote FTS). The people who quote this part of the movie are, in effect, committing one of many atrocities that the movie rails against--repeating something they heard, just because it sounds funny.

The rest of my post, e.g. "the only redeeming quality" remark, was a statement of opinion (IMHO: in my humble opinion). Presented in a somewhat abusive manner? Yes, but certainly not a troll.

Re:Idiocracy

[Wellspring]

OK so I just saw this last night for the first time and it was funny. Not the funniest I've ever seen but you won't be sorry you saw it, I assure you.

What you MUST do is go to the Brawndo site and view the commercial [brawndo.com].

Re:Well shit.

[DaedalusHKX]

Regarding the PR system, I've studied it.

I've also begun applying the Jeff Cooper awareness system to it. If you spend life in condition YELLOW (not harmful and not really stressful, but merely active awareness of your surroundings) you begin to spot this kind of stuff, and even get to find it funny. I travel with friends whom I'm teaching that system of awareness to, and I'm noticing the change as they begin to apply it. All of a sudden they're harder to trick and to fool into things, harder to bait, why? Because they are aware of it. Animals have mastered this intrinsically but humans have it weeded out of themselves by the official schooling organs of the government that does their thinking for them in any particular region to "keep them safe". Generally it takes a massive failure to prove the government ISN'T in their best interest. However, short that, it takes active self training and teaching to become aware of this brainwashing you speak of.

Yes. I even go to movies and enjoy the cola commercials. How do I resist? I take a piss and drink a cup of espresso (home made) before leaving the house. Then I enjoy watching the commercials and try to spot the subliminal ads and what they're meant for.

You'd be amazed how far you go training your self control by resisting those commercials. And you can, but you have to actively feed your subconscious YOUR point of view, not what the system teaches. That sort of resistance is hard at first and takes a LOT of willpower. Later, over the years you can turn it on and off like a switch.

Re:Hilarious movie.

[Grym]

Lamarckian evolution was proved false long ago; just because a group of people isn't educated and therefore doesn't make use of their intelligence does not mean that their children will be stupid. They're just more likely to go uneducated and continue the cycle. What I'm saying is, it's nothing a little education couldn't cure, and even if nothing is done about it, intelligent people will never die out, they'll just rise up from 'unintelligent' sources.

Nobody is suggesting LaMarckian evolution. I think the point is that, in modern society, intelligence as a phenotypic trait is, on average, being actively selected against. And furthermore, though it is not simple Mendelian inheritance to be sure, there is good evidence (via twin studies, etc.) that there is a strong genetic component to this trait we term "intelligence." Thus, it is very intuitive to put the two trends together and predict that the average genepool of such societies will, over time (and successive generations), exhibit a decrease in the overall number of genes conferring intelligence (i.e. evolution). This is not an unscientific idea--just an unpopular, politically incorrect, and (to be fair) elitist one.

That being said, the one thing people never take into account is the effect of migration and geneflow on human evolution. There's more going on in the world than just Football and Jerry Springer. In many countries, intelligence and academic success are coveted and (e.g. through arranged marriages and/or, sadly, lack of medical care or food for the uneducated/poor) very much do lead to an increase in reproductive success. So, before you decide to take matters into your own hands and save the world by becoming a baby-daddy, take comfort in the fact that the evolutionary trends of 300 million Americans would likely be buffered by the counter-trends of, for instance, billions Indians and Chinese.

-Grym

Re:Hilarious movie.

[Pendersempai]

This is factually inaccurate. Whether or not we like it, IQ is between 40 and 80% heritable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient#Heritability [wikipedia.org]

Me too

[Weaselmancer]

The "he talks faggy" bit gave me a chuckle. I actually had to learn how to talk to people in my rural home town and not use language that confused them. The scary part is that I used to do it unconsciously. I'd go to college and communicate normally, then come home and "adjust" for the locals. First time I noticed what I was doing it gave me the serious creeps.

And I can still do it if I wish, and I haven't lived there in a dozen years. One minute I can be talking about Heisenberg, the next moment I can sound like I work at a gas station. Clevon would be ok with me. He'd probably give me a Budweiser and invite me to a BBQ.