Now here's something you don't see very often, a video game maker thanking an entire country. And of all the countries it could have been, it's Canada that Camerica Games has decided to single out. Hey Camerica, you have the word "America" in your name, if you're going to thank anybody it should be the red, white, and blue. Those colors don't run. It's the land of the free, home of the brave. The one true superpower and all those other nauseating clich?s that only make foreigners hate us more. What do those freezing cold Canucks have that we don't??

Well, clearly the answer is the Game Genie; at least it was in 1990. Thanks to a lawsuit from Nintendo the Game Genie wasn't being sold in the U.S., the only place you could get it was in Canada, a country with extremely cheap medical supplies (quick, tell your grandmother). But maybe the U.S. didn't want the Game Genie after all, I mean, do you see all that fire coming out of that guy? He's the last Genie I would want in my Nintendo Entertainment System, he looks like the type of arsonist that wouldn't have much sympathy for me after he's burned down my apartment. Apparently this is the fire and brimstone Genie we didn't see in Aladdin.

But what makes this advertisement so lame is the text under the big Canadian thank you. Instead of just being serious and explaining what was going on, Camerica decided to give it a Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure vibe. With words like "totally," "drastic," "bogus," "awesome," and "radical" cluttering up the page you get a better idea at who the Game Genie was targeted at ... teenage students flunking out of everything except for Slang 101. So enjoy it Canada, it's about time somebody gave you a little credit (even if it wasn't justly deserved). The people that should be getting the credit are the retailers stocking the accessory. Stores like K-Mart, Canadian Tire, Compucentre, and Woolco. Of course, you could also pick it up at Den for Men, but that sounds like a place where you might buy a gay suit. Located right next to Bi-Rite Drugs and At the Bay. Hmm, maybe we should just move on.

FROM: Highway to Bad Advertising