Jeff Winger: “We’re the only species on earth that observes “Shark Week.” Sharks don’t even observe “Shark Week,” but we do. For the same reason I can pick up this pencil, tell you its name is Steve and go like this.”
(Jeff snaps the pencil in two.)
Abed Nadir: “Oh!”
Jeff Winger: “And part of you dies just a little bit on the inside. Because people can connect with anything. We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark, and we can give Ben Affleck an Academy Award for screenwriting.”
What’s this “shark week” thing?
It’s a week about sharks on Discovery channel.
Oh. Ok. Thanks.
Back in the old days of my youth, entertainment options were severely limited compared to today. Shark Week was HUGE. I watched every year.
It’s pretty well established that humans can empathise with inanimate objects. It just sucks (but isn’t surpriusing) that people think “okay, but can I use empathy to make money?”
Has been used in advertising for a while. Like this classic:
This is brilliant.
If it helps, the article says these bananas also contribute to a large part of food waste which is also bad.
But yeah this study was probably funded by the grocery store chain to sell more bananas.
I wish we would use this phenomenon to build a more empathetic society with incentives that encourage people do do things that are mutually beneficial
Nah, let’s use this information to squeeze even more money out of people. Gotta be the first person to be responsible for the majority of
human sufferingcapital. /s
Ladies, I have a single banana.
Well, some people have two, so I guess I do feel sorry for you!
Must Human males now compete with Klingons too for the elusive female of their own species? Where will it end?! /j
Sad onion 🧅
I hate that this would work on me. I’m also stingy as fuck which comes in handy here but I can absolutely hear myself go “aww” at a stupid single banana.