[Rear View]

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Madison Avenue was the target of a lot of criticism recently for the preponderance of Super Bowl ads that made men, how can we say this politely, look like complete numbskulls. If they weren’t parading around in their skivvies or building homes constructed of aluminum beer cans they were ogling race car driver Danica Patrick or passively accompanying their girlfriend on an excursion to the local mall to purchase candles.

Then again, if the remarkable success of a product called UrinalFly is any indication, perhaps those advertising executives aren’t so far off after all. UrinalFly.com makes – you guessed it – stickers in the image of a fly that are placed in urinals in all kinds of commercial accounts, including most notably the Amsterdam International Airport. The stated goal of the company is "to save the world, one urinal at a time," according to its Web site. "Give them something to aim for and you will be amazed by the results."

And for those of you who were wondering, the stickers come with complete installation instructions. Is that really necessary? Here’s how it works: "Dry the wall of the urinal and place the label. Presto, you’re done."

And at a cost of only $9.99 per 12-pack of stickers, it’s a bargain. Even better yet, the company says it’s constantly adding new designs because, as you know, "real men" have very short attention spans. If that weren’t enough to prompt you to reach for your wallets, designs can even be customized to "add your own logo."

Apparently, wherever the stickers have made an appearance, they’ve been a big hit, but that doesn’t surprise entomologist May Berenbaum, head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois, who told NPR reporter Robert Krulwich that men possess a "deep-seated instinct to aim at targets," and having a fly, a bulls-eye or other target to aim at results in less "human spillage." That’s comforting, I think. Maybe those Madison Avenue types were right on "target" after all. – Dan Moreland