More like Gilbert Gotfired amirite?
Poseidon wrote:
More like Gilbert Gotfired amirite?
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
-Frederick Bastiat
AussieReaper wrote:
Too soon?
Make X-meds a full member, for the sake of 15 year old anal gangbang porn watchers everywhere!
Gilbert always run with tasteless jokes, nothing surprising there; he hasn't changed over the years and never soldout. It was a sweet gig with Aflac, but over time, those Aflac commercials were getting stale. Glad I will not be hearing that annoying duck voice any more.
Some other company will use his voice somewhere down the road.
Some other company will use his voice somewhere down the road.
I thought the example used in the OP(the woman saying that her house was gone, but they are telling her to stay indoors.) was funny...but only "appropriate" because it was her trying to see the humor in her own situation. If someone else had said the same joke to her, it may not have gone over as well.
GG signed up to be the voice of a company that is supposed to be there for you when times are tuff(or so they would like you to believe). If the voice of that company is making jokes at your expense it doesn't come across as caring. Aflac doesn't want people associating them with these insensitive jokes. Fair enough.
GG signed up to be the voice of a company that is supposed to be there for you when times are tuff(or so they would like you to believe). If the voice of that company is making jokes at your expense it doesn't come across as caring. Aflac doesn't want people associating them with these insensitive jokes. Fair enough.
...
And the fact that AFLAC pretty much grew to what it is because of Japan and cancer insurance. I recall that Japan is still their major profit country.Pug wrote:
The company has the right to decide who they want to pay or not to pay.
Of course. Bit it wasn't their friends that concern had been expressed for, and which I was responding to.ghettoperson wrote:
Their friends do. Fortunately by the sound of it all my Japanese friends are safe and accounted for. I'm still not sure that I'd care especially what he said however it had turned out.FEOS wrote:
Pretty sure the tsunami victims don't have much access to the internet right now...
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
When you work for an insurance company you should try not to upset the people your employer is going to screw over.
I don't blame Aflac.
OP article went off on several irrelevant tangents in defense of tasteless comedy. Humor like that used to cope with tragedy should usually be reserved for people involved in said tragedy. Courtesy dictates that an outsider not joke about bodies floating by days after an epic tsunami, until the invisible wall marking the common consensus that enough time has gone by has been passed. Otherwise, you're just going to be called callous.
OP article went off on several irrelevant tangents in defense of tasteless comedy. Humor like that used to cope with tragedy should usually be reserved for people involved in said tragedy. Courtesy dictates that an outsider not joke about bodies floating by days after an epic tsunami, until the invisible wall marking the common consensus that enough time has gone by has been passed. Otherwise, you're just going to be called callous.
Hey, even before Japan happened, who exactly sat in a board room and thought "Godfried...yeah, that's our guy".
Pretty sure that guy is catching hell at work for that decision.
Pretty sure that guy is catching hell at work for that decision.
I have no idead what Aflac is or who this Gilbert guy is, but I´m guessing he's a public person with some sort of audience (internet or whatever...) That tragedies become jokes almost instantly is true I'm guessing even in Japan. But its one thing for people to joke about it between themselves, wether they are victims or not. Its another for some guy to publicly joke about the tragedy of others.
In the OP it was cited how even jews in concentration camps joked about their situation to keep up theirs spirits. Well thats entirely fine and understandable. And I'm sure jokes about the camps were said in private amongst English, French, Americans, (insert your country here). But it would be completely diferent if someguy from the confort of his well heated home, with a grocery store a few blocks away, started making jokes about jews in camps over the radio. It just wouldn't be right.
started making jokes on the radio as soon as the news about the
In the OP it was cited how even jews in concentration camps joked about their situation to keep up theirs spirits. Well thats entirely fine and understandable. And I'm sure jokes about the camps were said in private amongst English, French, Americans, (insert your country here). But it would be completely diferent if someguy from the confort of his well heated home, with a grocery store a few blocks away, started making jokes about jews in camps over the radio. It just wouldn't be right.
started making jokes on the radio as soon as the news about the
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
His claim was that every kind loving human has been affected by the tragedy, with the continuous images of horror rolling in... and that gottfried was lightening the mood. Or at least trying to.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
I don't blame Aflac.
OP article went off on several irrelevant tangents in defense of tasteless comedy. Humor like that used to cope with tragedy should usually be reserved for people involved in said tragedy. Courtesy dictates that an outsider not joke about bodies floating by days after an epic tsunami, until the invisible wall marking the common consensus that enough time has gone by has been passed. Otherwise, you're just going to be called callous.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
he did it right after 9/11 too. I like Gilber Gottfried. I remember him when he used to host USA's up all night.
Last edited by eleven bravo (2011-03-16 22:44:43)
Tu Stultus Es
yea i remember .. something about a connecting flight to the empire state building.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
Gah, that second video is a lagfest.
What would you consider to be an appropriate amount of time? Weeks, months, years? I'm just curious as to your opinion on this, no derogation intended.Shocking wrote:
I laughed at his splitting joke but this is really just the wrong time. You don't make jokes about tragedies like that just days after they occurred.
And above your tomb, the stars will belong to us.
At a minimum not whilst so many people are still missing and hence so many families are in limbo.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
~ Richard Feynman
So do you disagree with this statement made by the VP of Aflac?tuckergustav wrote:
I thought the example used in the OP(the woman saying that her house was gone, but they are telling her to stay indoors.) was funny...but only "appropriate" because it was her trying to see the humor in her own situation. If someone else had said the same joke to her, it may not have gone over as well.
GG signed up to be the voice of a company that is supposed to be there for you when times are tuff(or so they would like you to believe). If the voice of that company is making jokes at your expense it doesn't come across as caring. Aflac doesn't want people associating them with these insensitive jokes. Fair enough.
THAT is the authors contention. I also believe Alac has the right to fire whomever they want if they are representing them. But that is not the topic. Alfac did not say "it's ok if it is your own situation".There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.
The author even went out of his way to say
The only debatable point in my opinion is who exactly is determined "affected". The last week has been depressing for even those not directly involved. Who has the moral high ground to decide? Resist the urge to interject your own judgement and think about who or what wholly decides what is acceptable. Is it the victims? Are the Japanese people really worried about an insensitive joke? How does it weigh in the grand scheme of things? At what point does the content of a joke cross the line? The two examples given in the OP were vastly different in terms of offensiveness in my opinion. Those who go about changing who they are, and pretending to be emotionally distraught, are the ones really doing the disservice to the Japanese. It's a mockery of the real condition. They might as well be spitting in the victims faces.Really? No place? No place at all? Because my understanding is that every tragedy in the history of the world quickly becomes the butt of jokes, and humor is especially important to those trying to survive the most extreme and awful circumstances.
I remember right after the Challenger blew up I heard "what does NASA stand for?".. "Need Another Set of Astronauts". I fucking laughed, but it did not mean that I wasn't sympathetic to the lives lost.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
I think we need to rethink what is offensive. Offensive is what isn't a joke, or misconstrued intent. Offensive was placing Japanese Americans in an internment camp whilst the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was fighting for America.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
I wonder what goes through the head of those coming up with these jokes ... my first thoughts after a tragedy like the tsunami is not how to make this funny ...
Wait behind the line ..............................................................
That is kind of where I am going. Some people have a different mindset. That does not immediately = no concern as the Aflac vp suggested.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
I find humor is the best way to deal with shitty situations. Make others feel better, if you know they can take the joke that is.Varegg wrote:
I wonder what goes through the head of those coming up with these jokes ... my first thoughts after a tragedy like the tsunami is not how to make this funny ...
If the women don't find ya handsome. They should at least find ya handy.
This. Also, there will always be someone (pics on 4chan) that will make fun of it first and everybody will shout : Too soon. Fact is, i don't give a fuck about all those natural disasters and the joke's made about it and how soon they make em. Sure, it's a shitty situation, and yes, I wouldn't like it if i knew that somebody i know was hit by it, but I know that people will make jokes 'too soon' at every single disaster.UnkleRukus wrote:
I find humor is the best way to deal with shitty situations. Make others feel better, if you know they can take the joke that is.Varegg wrote:
I wonder what goes through the head of those coming up with these jokes ... my first thoughts after a tragedy like the tsunami is not how to make this funny ...
Someone has to be the first to make em right?
Last edited by Kampframmer (2011-03-17 05:22:12)