New WotC Advert: FREAKS HERE'S YOUR FLAG

[Angel Tarragon]

Then I can categorically say that you are not getting too old. Because I'm not either, and I was born in '72.

I was born in the year of the dragon. Can you guess what year that was?

 

[Jim Hague]

Aaaand once again Mad (and apparently Hasbro/WotC) show that they're pretty much out of touch with the market. Huzzah. *sour*

 

[Joshua Randall]

Jeez, does anyone even read Mad magazine any more? Seems like sarcasm, parody, and faux-irony have been so thoroughly integrated into society that Mad is irrelevant.

But as someone once said, "All publicity is good publicity." Even a lame ad that gets people talking about D&D has served a purpose.

 

[loki44]

Heard it used *a lot* for many years, and I can say not a single one of those times was in any way sexual.

I concur. And my understanding was that it referred to long hair as an anti-establishment symbol. I first remember hearing it in a Jimi Hendrix song.

 

[Anti-Sean]

All these posts about letting your freak flag fly, and no references to "How Can I Sing Like a Girl?" by They Might be Giants? For shame!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I have heard the term "freak" used many, many times, usually dealing with a counterculture movement of some sort. In the 60s there was the whole hippy culture, who often referred to themselves as freaks. The Grateful Dead had a campaign for fans of the band, not yet known as Deadheads, called "Dead Freaks Unite!" There was also the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers underground comicbook. "Let your Freak Flag Fly" was a saying to just be yourself, don't pay attention to what the normals think of you. My father referred to hiself and a few of his friends as freaks on occasion, as many of them were (and some still are) hippies. When I was going to Dead & Phish shows in the 80s & 90s, I still heard it tossed around fairly often among the crowds. Maybe the term just got pushed out of the everyday language and just gets used by smaller segments of subcultures, I can easily see why it got picked up by sexual subculuters as demiurge1138 has found online.

 

[buzz]

Misusing that slang...

Not that I can see.

...to play off negative stereotypes...

Not that I can see.

...in a magazine popular with impressionable young people?

Mad? Popular?

Insinuating D&D is for freaks...

Not that I can see.

...among a demographic largely obsessed with being accepted?

Last I checked, it's never been more popular to be a geek.

I expected more than the same dramatic, uninformative waste of space TSR was doing ten years ago- only this time, comfortable with its nonconformity.

WotC's current ad campaign is light years better than the days of Jami Gertz and some 30-year-olds in preppie gear sitting around a table acting like they just found Jeebus while a voiceover gushes about "entering a world of adventure!"

I really have to wonder about people who are offended by these ads. They're humorous, imaginative, and self-deprecating while being geek-positive. On top of this, they're popping up in all kinds of magazines, and even TV.

WotC is doing a great job.

 

[el-remmen]

D&D is totally for freaks. I haven't met someone yet who played it or got into it that wasn't a freak in some way.


El let's his freak flag fly all day long.

 

[eyebeams]

Last I checked, it's never been more popular to be a geek.

Do you talk to grade school aged kids on a regular basis?

Computer games and using a PC are no longer geeky. That's pretty much it.

 

[JustKim]

Yes, it is misused. Letting your freak flag fly means not being ashamed of your noncomformity. This is something you would say to a D&D player who locked their books in a cabinet, it is not something you would say to someone to convince them to take up a hobby.

Yes, it does play off negative stereotypes. The "freak" is clear as day.

Yes, Mad is popular. It's on nearly every newsstand across the country, and newsstands receive magazines based on their popularity with a demographic- Barnes & Noble, for example, has no control over which magazines they carry.

Yes, it does insinuate D&D is for freaks. It's tongue in cheek if you recognize the term "let your freak flag fly", but if you don't, it's simply the word "freak" under a D&D box.

No, it's not popular to be a D&D player. Let's not kid ourselves.

WotC's current ad campaign is light years better than the days of Jami Gertz and some 30-year-olds in preppie gear sitting around a table acting like they just found Jeebus while a voiceover gushes about "entering a world of adventure!"

Those were the ads TSR ran in the early 80s, look again. During the 90s they used a lot of company-owned art to make ads such as claws tearing through paper saying "It's coming" (That's great, what's coming?), a dragon breathing fire on the kewl new book with the statement that this will kick your ass, and a lot of things to that nature.

I really have to wonder about people who are offended by these ads.

You completely misunderstand my position. The ad doesn't offend me. I'm not trying to stand in the way of D&D being successful. I want people to start playing, but I think ads like this are a waste of WotC's money and I'm disappointed that this is what that exciting promotional campaign amounts to.