Is it possible to remove the annoying ad with the dying starfish?
Certainly, this is not what my career should feel like.
asked Aug 11, 2012 at 11:05
11 Answers
To address this issue, I suggest the immediate casting of a new, less lackluster starfish. I propose this fellow:
Justice has been done! The SE Director of Marketing contacted me last night and the super-starfish has been signed for a modelling contract with Stack Overflow.
-
44
-
3
-
-
7
-
1Distant cousin of Mr. Peanut?– user183970Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:33
-
19This is actually now in rotation, I kid you not! Commented Aug 14, 2012 at 15:18
-
8
-
10I think it's pretty clear that a monocle would have make this feel just a little bit silly, no? Commented Aug 14, 2012 at 15:55
-
6I was about to remind people that it doesn't have eyes for a monocle ... then I remembered the martini glass– RoryCommented Aug 14, 2012 at 16:03
-
2-1 too much ideologically capitalistic.. as if money would mean happiness!.... very sad– bluishCommented Nov 13, 2012 at 9:21
Yeah. And there's a lot more wrong with that ad than just that.
The orange of the starfish is potentially offensive for people who don't like dutch royalty and/or victims of the Orange Free State.
the Careers logo looks like the reception bars on your mobile phone; the fact that there's six bars could make people from rural areas with bad reception feel inferior. Did anybody think of that when dreaming this up in their fancy New York office?
the "this is what your career should feel like" text is hovering above the water. Are you insinuating that my career is supposed to sink? Or that it is about to sink?
regarding showing careers ads in general. Isn't this sending the message that my career isn't going exactly as it should? How dare you suggest such a thing?
-
4And what did they do to the starfish? Cover it in Doritos flavouring? That's animal abuse surely.– BartCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:21
-
6Don't forget to mention that obnoxious "by stackoverflow" tagline. Like the rest of the network doesn't exist.– yannisCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:22
-
To be fair, the starfish is on a small mound of sand, a positive! It's getting ahead in the world! Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:57
-
2@Ben a mound? That's symbolic of a tumor, a pustule, a boil just waiting to explode. Thanks, I missed that. It makes things even worse!!!!– PekkaCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:58
-
3@Pekka Don't worry, it's a mound for sure.... a SACRIFICIAL MOUND!!– BartCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 12:00
-
4FWIW: I've had better cell reception in the middle of Nebraska than I did in NYC... This ad is offensive to city-dwellers also!– Shog9 ModCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 15:48
-
For your second point the having more bars merely shows a more accurate representation of the true signal strength. Signal strength is still 0-100%, so having 6 bars allows the carrier to show in increments of 16% while 5 only shows 20% (less accurate) increments. So no need for people to get offended over this.– telkinsCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:18
-
@Atlos but what if I'm in an area that never gets more than 2-3 bars?– PekkaCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:20
-
1@Pekka Well the reception percentage will be the same, but the phone can have a variable amount of bars to represent that number. So the (bar : insecurity) relationship can vary depending on your phone. I've heard that iPhones have up to 20 bars to represent signal strength to make users feel superior to Android users.– telkinsCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:24
-
2I am dutch, and I am offended by orange (especially during soccer season) Commented Aug 14, 2012 at 9:45
-
1@Gamecat Luckily we have nothing to do with this Orange Free State thingy.... reads article.... nevermind.– BartCommented Aug 14, 2012 at 9:48
-
I suppose if you're the sort of person who identifies with the starfish, you could take it badly.
But what if you identify with the viewer: the overlord staring down on the starfish, which is withering in the hot rays of your unbridled contempt!
Yes, what if your career is that of a senior developer, and the starfish is one of your unworthy minions! The starfish is gasping, begging, to drink in the delicious seawater of your knowledge? Your career is to pick up that sad, startled, starving starfish and place him lovingly back into the ocean of your vast experience -- leaving behind the unblemished beachfront of pristine architecture
It's all in how you look at things.
answered Aug 11, 2012 at 11:27
-
13
-
6
-
1If you identify with the starfish then you should probably find a new job immediately.– user183970Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:35
Having looked at this for a while, I can see how this is offensive in oh so many ways. For the sake of being constructive, how about a more neutral alternative:
Surely you can't find any fault with that....
-
37
This is what your career should feel likefollowed by a bottom bar in the colour of crap, yeah, nothing at fault with that.– yannisCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:38 -
9@YannisRizos Admittedly some of my feelings on my career might shine through there. But can you really blame an artist for a display of personality?– BartCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 11:40
-
But this whole thread is about blaming an artist for personality...– ZeldaCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 18:12
-
How strange. @BenBrocka seems unaffected by my mind trick....– BartCommented Aug 11, 2012 at 18:22
-
This would be better if there was a "Please fill in blank line below: ______________________" Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 20:05
-
1
-
7Damn it guys! My carrer should not look like an empty square! Why not add something nice like a beach and a symbol that would definitely make it look like holidays, this would be awesome! Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:36
-
3@VincentRobert You might have something there....white sand...a starfish perhaps? I mean, I'm just throwing out wild ideas, but that might just work...– BartCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:37
-
2@Bart - It's still missing a compelling "call to action". A big gray button labelled "Get Started" perhaps? Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:51
-
1@mootinator Damn, we're on a roll here. I'll contact SO's marketing department. We are sure hires.– BartCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:52
I was walking along the beach one day and I noticed a boy in the distance. When I got closer, I saw that there were thousands of dying starfishes on the beach and he was throwing them one by one back into the sea.
I said "There are thousands of starfish and you'll never be able to save them all"
Then he started throwing them at me
-
7+1 for story well told even though it got nothing to do with the question! Commented Aug 14, 2012 at 9:38
-
2
-
@Bart what's the cultural background for that meme? Is this starfish story retold over and over again in the US?– örsCommented Aug 14, 2012 at 10:41
-
1
-
@örs I have no clue. I just remembered having seen the image and it seemed to fit the occasion. :)– BartCommented Aug 14, 2012 at 11:00
-
1Here's the original original story: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Thrower Commented Jan 10, 2013 at 7:29
I'm not a fan of the orange. In Canada, that could be misinterpreted as support for the NDP party. As such, I'm recommending a design which doesn't favour any particular color over another. This way we can appear politically neutral and avoid any sort of pointless controversy.
Also, the font should suggest my career should be a little more fun, don't you think?
answered Aug 13, 2012 at 18:05
-
2Not double...not all the way....I'm not sure I can support this.– BartCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:09
-
13Not even rainbows are politically neutral anymore. Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:12
-
6joke's on you because hipsters have moved on from Comic Sans hatin to Papyrus hatin now.– Jin ModCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:12
-
14+1 - There's no way this could possibly offend anyone at all.– Bill the Lizard ModCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:12
-
1I want my career to feel like riding on the proverbial rainbow-emitting unicorn, can't you show that? Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:13
-
11In the US this means something TOTALLY different.... Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:13
-
2you did us the favour of proving you were Canadian, I like that :)– Gates VPCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:16
-
@GatesVP Oops, apparently I politely misspelled colour for the benefit of the US audience, and let favour get past me. How gauche. Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:05
-
8Where's pink? And black? Are you trying to say something here? Something offensive!?– ZeldaCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:18
-
2Haven't you heard? There is no pink light: youtu.be/S9dqJRyk0YM, of course, there's also no black light, so he's really just trying to offend things that don't emit light :)– Gates VPCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 23:57
Yes, of course it's dying. Starfish out of water, like any fish out of water, need to be thrown back into the sea as soon as possible. All they can do is lie there, hoping that someone will rescue them! What's pleasant about that?
Therefore, I propose this. Much, much better.
Or if they mean your career should feel like the kind of holiday where you do nothing but lie on the beach all day, well, these things get old really soon, and make you itch (as does the sand) for going back to your real job, doing real things again.
Or do they want you to identify with a the life of a starfish, having only your five paws to type with, thinking in base five and having a hard time with numbers in base ten?
I mean, they can't just mean that your career should feel like a starfish, do they? I'm not entirely sure what a starfish feels like, but I'm quite certain I don't want my job to feel like that.
No, not a good ad.
answered Aug 13, 2012 at 19:06
-
14I don't know about this one. Those sea urchins look pointy. They seem to represent the looming consequences of the slightest wrong move.– ZeldaCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:23
-
11Down on the cold ocean floor, hoping that even the slightest ray of sunlight will reach you to illuminate what can only be described as a dark watery grave... I like it– BartCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 19:26
-
Starfish are mobile, they bury themselves most of the time.– Nick Larsen ModCommented Aug 13, 2012 at 20:08
-
Be careful about throwing starfish in the water; many of them are venomous. Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 2:31
answered Aug 14, 2012 at 9:44
-
-
5This would be perfect if he was using a slightly different hammer– user50049Commented Aug 18, 2012 at 1:53
In the interest of addressing concerns that the above ads focus excessively on careers, I have mocked up the following ad:
-
48
-
14
-
5Oh I see, so your career should feel like you're being smothered by Caucasians? Commented Aug 17, 2012 at 20:47
Isn't it what your career should feel like?
answered Aug 14, 2012 at 10:15
-
7
This one is the ultimate I think:
answered Aug 11, 2012 at 22:34
-
1
-
19
-
-
-
10
-
3It occurs to me that the font used is not Comic Sans. You are suggesting that work should not be fun, apparently. Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 17:58
-
@maartenba Whoops, I had that thought the same time as you apparently, heh. :) Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:06
-
@mootinator Yeah. But rainbows mean it's raing somewhere, provoking gray feelings. Would go with a clean white background. Commented Aug 13, 2012 at 18:23
status-completed?