Fun with Sunday Circular Ads

Sunday dinner at my parents' house has long been a weekly event in my family.

I am not usually big on traditions or rituals, but being able to be with the rest of the Micarelli clan every week is a great source of comfort & enjoyment that we all look forward to. Especially now that there is a new little dude among us, it has taken on a whole new level of fun.

Each Sunday we have a similar routine: After dinner we watch The Simpsons or sports, have coffee/tea & dessert, and since my Dad has always bought home a Sunday newspaper, we all look through the retail circular ads.

I don't really shop (other than for necessities), but I like seeing what's out in stores & sometimes get ideas or reference material for design projects I'm working on.
Last week, though, I was more interested in some truly amusing ads for products that are true gems.

First & foremost:

Recently I've been noticing the ads for the Amish Fireplace that have been a recurring source of entertainment for us.

It is actually an electric heater that looks like a fireplace, furnished in a wooden mantle supposedly hand-crafted by Amish workers. What gives these ads special appeal to my sense of humor is the shameless marketing & the classic 'Photoshopped' pictures of the Amish workshops:


This past week, though they came out swinging with a 2-page ad featuring provocative headlines & an Amish business deal taking place right in the Photshopped workshop.

"Amish hit hard by recession"

"CAUGHT ON CAMERA:
Photos reveal Amish secrets
of the miracle fireplace mantel"

I would recommend clicking these images to see the larger versions so they can be fully appreciated:




I'll let the other two items I found speak for themselves. These are things that should not be found in the home of any normal person, but are nonetheless simply awesome.

First, The Redneck Illuminated Christmas Village.

The main trailer ornament was hilarious enough to me, but my sister pointed out in the ad below that there is a whole village of holiday white trash to collect. Wow.


Secondly, I think there was some kind of Wolf & Moon internet meme that must have given rise to this Spirit of the Wild Express wolf train. How many people have enough interest in both wolves & trains to warrant such a completely useless convergence of collectible crap?




So yeah, this is the kind of ridiculousness that I live for...