"Now is the time on Sprockets when we embarrass ourselves."

– Dieter, Marcom VP, EuroPepsi 

Dear Newsbusters,

I know, since the election, there's been a slight drop both in political news and in people's interest in political news; and I understand, you may want to promote the other MRC sites. 

But most of your readers still come here because they want to discuss media bias in the news--a category which does not overlap at all with a soda advertisement based on the suicide of a lonely calorie.

Now, if this advertisement made a joke about lonely conservatives committing suicide, then we'd have something to talk about.

FAIL.

It's like that line that Mel Brooks said about the use of the word "n****r" in the movie Blazing Saddles: "It will only be funny if you do it correctly." And by correctly, he meant by portraying the western settlers of the 1870s as what Gene Wilder's character said: "You know... morons." When they say it, you know that they are really just afraid of Sheriff Bart, which may be a little too P.C. nowadays, but nevertheless, it made me crack up each time I heard the bizarre reactions that the townspeople of Rock Ridge would make to Sheriff Bart.

Now, I'm assuming that you never see any on-screen depiction of suicide, but if I'm wrong, I apologize in advance since it would be fairly tasteless to actually depict on-screen suicide. But what I'm thinking of are all those cartoons or silent comedies you ever saw where the down-on-his-luck guy has a noose around his head with a gun against his ear or wearing concrete blocks on his feet. I think that can still be funny, but only if it's done correctly, if it was the suicidal fool always failing to kill himself in hilarious fashion.