Pop Culture Mondays/4.29.24
The DON’T SHOOT YOUR DOG Edition
Happy Monday, my darling pop culture junkies. And hello ONCE again from my happy place, Goldeneye in Jamaica. Some housekeeping news before we kick off to the fun stuff: I will be taking a TWO week break from PCM. CAN YOU HANDLE THIS?? I am traveling for my 50th birthday week(s) extravaganza, so I thought it would be best to take a little breather. I shall miss you, though, and I will do my best to catch up with everything upon PCM’s return on Monday, May 20th (SORRY, I SAID MARCH 20TH IN SOME EMAILS AND OBVIOUSLY I MEANT MAY!!!!)
And AS today is my last day in my 40s, which is SO weird even to attempt to comprehend because my whole life 50 was THIS:
When in actuality, I am more like THIS:
We are going to make this one quick and just update you on WHAT’S pop culture-y.
If you missed last week’s podcast, here you go:
Grab some 🎧and 🍿 and enjoy…
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT:
ONE GENERAL RULE OF THUMB IN PR:
I know there are actually some people who don't know this storyline because when I posted a story on Instagram about it, I got a few “HUHS?” And I salute you who didn’t know. Those who missed this whole news cycle. And as much as I do try to avoid politics here, there are some moments you cannot avoid. And while we are Trump-free, this is very much Trump-ADJACENT. So, I do apologize.
Let me back up for a moment. This is South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem. This is NOT her first appearance in PCM which is a strange thing to say about the Gov from South Dakota, but here we are. You may recall all the way back in March (honestly, if you had told me this was a year ago, I would have believed it vs only 6 weeks..) that Governor Noem posted a cringy “ad” for Smile Texas, a place she went to have her teeth fixed aka, new chompers. Not only was the post bizarre just in general, but it was also clearly unethical as she’s a politician. And this was Texas, not her home state of South Dakota. In case you forgot, let’s ROLL TAPE:
Perhaps she was trying to reach a wider audience, like Texas. To some, she was becoming the likely VP pick for Donald J. Trump. So what do politicians looking to get the attention of a Presidential nominee DO? Besides, get her teeth fixed in Texas?
Well, she writes a book, of course! Or have a ghostwriter write the book, obviously. And this is the magical book that comes out next week:
WOO BOY. Now, before we get into this, check out her Wikipedia page because, MY LORD, there is a lot. They have been busy bees over in her “campaign” office, And sorry to be an education snob, but I suppose I AM in this case…she was elected to Congress without a college degree, which is fine, I guess…FINE whatever, I believe in college but whatever! But she finished her BA WHILE SERVING HER PEOPLE?? I am all for multi-tasking, but COME ON. 🙄
But now, let’s talk about what has brought her back to OUR attention. I cannot figure out if her book editor and ghostwriter absolutely HATED her and, therefore, did this to her or if they thought this was genius and would sell many books.
But here is the deal…generally, a good rule of thumb in PR is you can get away with almost anything but killing puppies. I mean, sorry to be crass, but Epstein served TIME for having sex with underage girls, and he was still welcomed back into society for a time. Had that man killed puppies? It's a whole different story.
The governor retells a story from a while ago when her kids were school-age. They lived on a ranch, had loads of animals, and had hunting dogs, including the 14-month-old wirehair pointer named Cricket.
This is what these dogs look like…look at this baby!!!
Well, Governor Noem didn’t like Cricket. From an extract from the Guardian:
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, deeming her “untrainable.”
“At that moment,” Noem writes, “I realized I had to put her down.” She led Cricket to a gravel pit and killed her.
That wasn’t all. Noem writes that her family also owned a “nasty and mean” male goat that smelled bad and liked to chase her kids. She decided to go ahead and kill the goat, too. She writes that the goat survived the first shot, so she went back to the truck, got another shell, then shot him again, killing him.
Soon thereafter, a school bus dropped off Noem’s children. Her daughter asked, “Hey, where’s Cricket?” Noem writes.
Guys.
GUYS.
Need I say ANYTHING HERE? No, but the responses have been amazing.
SO…the good news is, this is basically the end of the GUV FOR VP moment. Apparently, vegas Odds makers have put her at the very bottom of the list now for potential VP picks.
Girl, bye.
WHAT IS THIS ASYLUM MEME?
A lyric from Tay Tay’s new song from TTPD album, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? is:
I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me
You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me
Here’s the song in case you are interested:
AND this line set off a meme that went BIG. For example:
BUT….BUT…there was ONE that trumped ALL the others. And that is from our QUEEN, Monica Lewinsky. And I have to say, FUCKING BRAVO, my darling girl. BRAVO.
AMAZING.
KEYBOARD — ANOTHER MEME:
This one went in many directions, so rather than really writing a lot about it, I'm just compiling a bunch of posts so you know what it means when/if you see it!
Get it? JK. Just Kidding. Oh those Patriots are funny.
And some are sweet…
And then just funny ones…
HORSES ON THE LOOSE IN LONDON:
THANKFULLY, these babies are okay and will be back at it in no time. But the white horse covered in blood after hitting a bus or cab, I think, really ruined my day. So I am happy to learn they are ok.
These horses are part of the HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY and were doing routine things when they got spooked by some loud construction work and they took off. And the Internet responded.
HERE FOR IT:
Brooke, what’s your type?
LOLS…sorry, but this is the evolution I am looking for.
To be fair, he seems to be really embracing his new character for the press tour of “POOLMAN” which seems like a LITTLE reference to The Dude, but I don’t hate it at all. And neither does the Internet.
Here is the trailer:
STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER:
This is maybe where I throw in the towel. I cannot really see a future after seeing this go viral and not because everyone hates it. SOME PEOPLE DO NOT HATE THIS.
This is New Balance’s new LOAFER SNEAKER.
I cannot ABIDE.
I’m out…
YOUR KIDS:
If you have tweens or teens, likely you are familiar with Sol de Janeiro. But I just want you to be aware of it IN Case you are not…this is the stuff the kids go crazy for. A sure crowd pleaser. We had BAIN DE SOLEIL, your kids get this:
This viral brand continues to deliver. Fun product names. Fun packaging. An obvious hit.
VIRAL FOOD ALERT:
This is the latest social media craze. CHICKEN CRUST CAESAR SALAD PIZZA.
Here’s the recipe if you want:
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
I have so many things I wanted to include, but the SUN IS CALLING. You can check out why Beyoncé is going viral for her hair here:
And also, check out Jelly Roll in case you haven’t yet seen him perform because I am telling you if anyone is going to bring America together, it is JELLY ROLL:
Also, I am in the middle of this book and holy HELL…I cannot put it down. Apparently, I am a fan of the FAIRY PORN GENRE. Go check it out because everyone else is:
And remember, if you aren’t already a subscriber and you want this in your inbox, please send an email to:
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Have a fantastic couple of weeks. I SHALL MISS YOU!
Xx,
Brooke
