TVSquad

Writer Sam Anderson, by his own admission, "hates teenagers with an incredible fervor...it's nothing personal...I hate them categorically, like I hate injustice." Which is why he was so engrossed by Brat Camp, which ended last night. He enjoyed watching the show, since it had "sadistic pleasures" and he couldn't stop watching, even if it was "awful to the very end: slow, repetitive, full of paint-by-numbers pop-psychology and manufactured epiphanies." In other words, Anderson has an opinion about the show and its participants.

You can read the whole essay here at Slate.

What's the worst ad song ever? The song might not be bad itself, but it just doesn't go with the idea of the commercial or the product being pitched. Slate magazine asked readers to send in their nominees. There are some great choices: the use of Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" to sell Mercedes Benz cars; Kahlua and Pepsi using "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones; Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" to sell Best Buy products (with it's lines about "I don't have digital" and "It's not having what want"); KFC using "Sweet Home Alabama;" Ortho-Evra using "There She Goes," a song about heroin addiction, in their ads for birth control. So many stupid ads, so little time. 

The winner? Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, using Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life," another song about heroin addiction, in their ads for cruise ship vacations.