Sunday, June 29, 2008

The Monday Quiz XXXIII

Name That Theme!

Michael5000 is on the road. Today's Quiz will be autopublished, and any formatting issues will just have to be dealt with.


1. What is happening here?



2. What motion picture does this poster advertise?



3. What kind of vehicle is this?



4. What form of storage media is this?



5. What is this?



And therefore: What is the theme of this week's Quiz?


Submit your answers in the comments.

27 comments:

Rebel said...

Today's theme is, Rebel needs to get herself a real life and stop staying up all night online.

1 In a major marketing triumph, the Coca Cola company replaces normal Coke with "New Coke" and then shortly there after reintroduces "Classic Coke", wasting countless millions of dollars in the process.
2 Gili (sp?)
3 an Edsel
4 Betamax video tape
5 ET videogame on ... um some outdated game console.


The real theme being: spectacular failurs.

Yankee in England said...

1. I think it is new coke but this was before my soda drinking time(banned in my house becaue it had too much sugar)

2.Gili or it may be spelled Gilli

3.I have no idea some sort of cadillac.

4. Betamax

5. I have no idea

Theme: remakes that should have been better than the originals but were not.

Christine M. said...

1. the New Coke debacle
2. Gigli
3. the Edsel
4. a videotape
5. a video game

The Calico Cat said...

As everyones else said -
1. New Coke (I'll take mine with pure cane sugar not corn syrup, thankyouverymuch)
2. Gigli
3. Edsel
4. Beatmax video tape
5. Atari - or some other old video game console like what we had...

The theme - Crap that did not last very long!

d said...

1. coke tried to introduce a new formula
2. gigli
3. the edsel
4. beta!
5. this is pitfall on the atari

theme: stuff that died on the vine. or stuff that the 'inventors' thought were gonna be spectacular, but the buying public did not.

Anonymous said...

1 / An ad is introducing "New" Coke...its lack of acceptance led to "Coke Classic". But whatever they do, it never tastes as good as it used to at soda fountains, where jerks would put coca-cola syrup on ice, then fill up with soda water.
2 / Gigli. Will Smith never got gigli with it.
3 / 1957 Edsel convertible. Looks pretty gloomy to have the top down.
4 / Never saw one, but guess it's a Betamax video tape. The format was superior to VHS technically, but marketing folk and a gullible public rule all.
5 / A video screen display of a game played on an early game console, probably one of the competitors to Atari.


The theme is "the circle of life", which starts with a fiery introduction, evolves into romantic relationships, gets diverted by material possessions, till such time as watching videos is the only pleasure left, and ending in an agonizing bout of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Or, "Failed Products".

Nichim said...

1. An ad for New Coke. I never tried it, but I heard it was gross.
2. Grease?
3. A car
4. A Betamax videocassette
5. A videogame: Colecovision? FWIW I love the word Colecovision.

The theme: failed products, maybe, or: things I don't kick myself for having forgotten about.

fingerstothebone said...

1. New coke busting out of tin foil? I don't know, introduction of the New Coke, which flopped.

2. Gealy, Gigly, Geagly? Rhymes with 'Really'. However you spell it, it flopped.

3. The Edsel, my dad had one! But it flopped too.

4. I'll have to guess Betamax, since it flopped too.

5. Some video game that flopped?

Theme -- flops.

Anonymous said...

1 Well, my first reaction was, uh, did they make the cans bigger? but of course this would be the ill-advised introduction of New Coke.
2 I have not a clue. Presumably it wasn't Bennifer: The Biopic. I'll call it "A Vehicle for Two."
3 Oh, which brings us to question three. I'm guessing an Edsel.
4 Uh, Sony Betamax?
5 I'ts a little guy playing golf with a dinosaur. Oh, and it's also probably some sort of computer game system that didn't work out.

Well, the theme must be unsuccessful products. Many so unsuccessful I can't even remember them!

Well, M5K, it seems your autopublishing scheme worked out just fine. Your auto-garbage-night robot, not so well--it went rotor-over-teakettle down the stairs and there's kitty litter strewn all over the place. Wish you were here! Fondly, the Mrs.

Elizabeth said...

1. "New Coke" being rolled out, shortly before flaming out as a failure on the market. Maybe that's why they used flames on this poster.

2. No idea what the name is but I remember the movie getting really really bad reviews.

3. Oh, right, like I'd know this. I'll say "Cadillac DeSoto" because that's what popped into my head. I like the color, though.

4. Given the apparent theme, that's probably a Betamax tape.

5. That's an Atari game, perhaps? Was there some sort of rivalry between Atari and PlayStation, or was that later? Because of the cubist graphics, I'll say it's an Atari game.

And this week's theme: Unplanned Obsolescence

Yankee in England said...

So where is my auto answer e-mail? Also when you get that auto garbage night robot working can you send me the plans.

Anonymous said...

1. New Coke
2. Gigli
3. Ford Edsel
4. Betamax
5. ET videogame (Atari?)

You know that all the answers above are actually printed on your photos (except the videogame where the creature is either ET or Alien)? I'm assuming the category is product flops or some such thing.

Ben said...

1. New Coke
2. Gigli
3. Edsel
4. Betamax
5. Some Atari or Intelivision console game?

Theme: much-heralded products that ended up being busts.

Rhetorical Twist said...

1. This was when Coke decided it was a genius idea to give their product a new flavor, which people hated. It supposedly even lead to people hording cases of the old stuff and generally panicking about the end of western civilization. At least, that's what my College Business teacher said in high school (make that the one bloody thing I got out of that horrid class...)

2. Gigli! Horrible idea of a movie.

3. It's a...Cadillacy, Mustangy looking thing.

4. That's a betamax!

5. It's a video game with a creepy alien/dinosaur looking thing. So it's clearly, "revenge of the green dino aliens!"

Do I get bonus points for knowing some of this stuff since it's before my time? :-p

KelleyI said...

1. It looks like New Coke is exploding out of a tinfoil popcorn popper doo-hickey.
2. Gigli ... which I was forced to watch while I was in labor with Katie because I couldn't get out of my chair and I couldn't reach the remote and Snjezan sleeping!!!! TMI?
3. Is that the T-Bird? I have no clue.
4. BETA!!!!!!! Which we owned for about 5 minutes ...
5. A really old video game ... ATARI?

KelleyI said...

Oops! I forgot the last question:
theme ... things you'll recognize only if you were born before the 80's ...

Chance said...

1. new coke, which was not actually the horrible idea people believe it was. it was just marketed very badly.
2. gigli
3. edsel
4. betamax
5. ET video game on atari, which was a huuuuuuge flop

theme is things that didn't do so well, I guess. These are very easy Qs for oldsters like me (37), and possibly very confusing to the whippersnappers.

Unknown said...

1. Some new coke thing - or Coke trying to emphasize how it is more refreshing than Lava.
2. Bennifer...need I say more?
3. some cool 50's gig most likely.
4. Beta Baby...
5. A weird golf game...more fun than watching dental procedures.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Would you believe I saw an Edsel this week at my car dealer's? One of the guys there owns it and drives it on road trips. I think it was pink and gray. I wish I had had my camera with me.

Bridget said...

Ok, so I know I'm too late for this one, but New Coke, the bad Bennifer movie, Betamax, the Edsel, and some video game that I can only guess was also some sort of huge failure despite a large advertising campaign. Money can't buy you love. Or consumers.

Michael5000 said...

O.K., I'm back.

1. The Coca-Cola company introduces "New Coke." (The cola-drinking public is initially indifferent, but partisan hotheads with a lot of time on their hands eventually get enough people riled up that the change of recipe turns into a big, fat fiasco for the company.)

2. "Gigli" (Laden with A-list star power, this movie was almost universally panned by critics and viewers alike. Look for it on your local list of Worst Movies Ever.)

3. The Edsel. (The Ford Motor Company's great boondogle was marketed very poorly -- and given a truly ridiculous name -- but the Edsel's real problem is that it was in competition with Ford's own Mercury line. The plug was pulled after a few years by none other than Robert McNamara, who later went on to star in the excellent documentary "Fog of War.")

4. That would be a BetaMax tape.

5. That is a screen from "E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial." (Atari, having secured the rights to a game based on the hit movie, figured they pretty much had a licence to print money. Except, in order to have a product ready for the Christmas season, they gave their programmer six weeks to make the thing. The result is the consensus choice for the worst video game of all time. It is believed that Atari had to sign a special contract with a New Mexico city's garbage dump to dispose of the huge volume of unsold games. The financial repurcussions of the affair were largely responsible for the death of the video game in the mid to late 1980s (it subsequently made a comeback.))


So the theme is: Commercial Flops.

Michael5000 said...

And, after a careful perusal and analysis of the answers given, the Exclamation Points for MQXXXIII go out to:

Chance!!!

And, Critical Bill!

No flops they.

Rebel said...

How do I not get an exclamation point????

I call for independent review by the judges.

Michael5000 said...

@Rebel: What's wrong with staying up all night online?

@karma: Didn't you just hate those jerks? Such jerks!

Also, "circle of life" = funny!

@Nichim: Eh, it was basically Pepsi. It's apparently still very popular in the Pacific island territories. No, really.

@Yank: She kids. We are our own Garbage Night robots. More's the pity.

@Critical Bill: With the exception of New Coke, no, I DIDN'T know that the answers were printed on the photos. Because... well... they aren't, except for maybe the blurry little Edsel chrome plate. Are you seeing something I'm not?

@Allie: No! No bonus points! You already get to be slightly younger than me; that's enough without you coming begging for bonus points!

@KelleyI: You watched Gigli WHILE IN LABOR?!? Where were you, Gitmo?

@Chance: Easy is when you know the answers. Most of your confreres have apparently not well versed in the history of the computer game.

@Sara: "More refreshing than Lava" = funny!

@E.C.: I think Edsels are purty.

@Bridget: Although it is true that money can't buy you love, or consumers, its judicious use can be most helpful in either pursuit. I mean, let's not kid ourselves....

Thanks for playing, one and all!

Michael5000 said...

Woo-hoo! Quiz Legend Rebel has challenged the TQXXXIII scoring, as is her right!

However, after review, the ruling on the field has been confirmed. Although her answer did specify the E.T. game, it implied that the problem was with the game console. The Atari platform was of course a groundbreaking success -- until the money-gushing E.T. fiasco caused the company to collapse in less than a year.

Rebel said...

See I thought it was Atari - but your theme of "stuff that failed" threw me, because although Atari is outdated... it is still remembered fondly. Unlike New Coke, Gigli, the Edsel or Betamax... it was just the game that sucked.

Oh well... I got a couple of stars on technicalities - it's a wash.

Dan Nolan said...

I know I'm late on this one, but I'll take a stab anyway.

1. New Coke - a new formula for Coca Cola, which tasted like crap and bombed horribly, leading to the release of Coca Cola Classic, which was the coke of the past and future.

2. one of the worst bombs in box office history, mocked even by its own stars before most people had a chance to see it. I think it was called Gigli.

3. god. is it a DeSoto?

4. Beta style videotape?

5. ET video game?

6. Things that bombed horribly.

Reviewing your answers, I see that it was the "Edsel". oh well, I've never been a "car guy", to my stereotypical dad's disappointment.