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"Mr. Clear #2"


Prepuce of Doom

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No, not a thread about a superhero with transparent feces. At least not yet. 

Inspired by the "Chevy vs. Ford" and "Ford vs. Chevy" guys in the original post of the That Guy thread, I wanted to see what the collective might come up with when trying to paint a complete and accurate picture of the guy who always prefers the second most popular item, brand, or practice when given a choice. 

For example:

If he prefers to Drive American, drives a Ford, not a GM.

If he prefers Japanese, drives a Honda, not a Toyota. 

Drinks Pepsi, not Coke. 

Smokes Camels, not Marlboros. 

Eats at Burger King, not McDonald's. 

Wears Adidas sneakers, not Nike. 

Has a Samsung phone, not an Apple. 

Flies United, not American. 

What other traits and brand loyalties does Mr. Clear #2 have? 

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Oh...yeah sure, like you went to Harvard.  

I think this guy used to be ubiquitous...but with so many brand options nowadays...you don't really see this guy anymore especially since we now know that many #1 brands like General Motors, American Airlines, and Marlboros are all dogshit.  

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19 minutes ago, DCA_HORN said:

The only clear number ones on that list are coke and McDonald's.

Your contribution lacks the context necessary to effectively communicate whatever point you're trying to make, but to expound on the point I think you're trying to make, nothing on this list should take into account quality or desirability - just percentage of market share. 

According to those terms, how is the list clearly wrong?

~~~~~

Flies into IAD, not DCA. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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6 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

This voids your entire premise. As my high school psychology teacher used to say, “The masses are asses.”

I don't see how your teacher's maxim is incompatible - I think it's absolutely correct here. 

I was hoping to isolate a profile exclusively of "second most popular choices" - not argue about which items deserve to be the most popular or which less-common things are superior to the mainstream choice. I agree that those are different discussions involving different lists. 

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1 minute ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

I don't see how your teacher's maxim is incompatible - I think it's absolutely correct here. 

I was hoping to isolate a profile exclusively of "second most popular choices" - not argue about which items deserve to be the most popular or which less-common things are superior to the mainstream choice. I agree that those are different discussions involving different lists. 

I don’t think it’s a good question. The proper approach to life, imo, is to be more concerned with quality than conformity. Often the popular product or service is based more on the ad campaign than the quality of the product or service. (Was Absolut really the best vodka in the 90’s or did they just have a brilliant marketing strategy?) Or it may just be a lesser quality product that simply appeals to a wider audience. Take The Sopranos vs. The Wire for example.

Now, I know a guy who never got into Seinfeld because it got really popular so he shunned it just because he didn’t want to be a follower. He’s an idiot. But he didn’t pick some other show as a favorite in an act of rebellion. He just shut himself off from the greatest sitcom of all time. Later, when I encouraged him to watch it, he complained that the Costanzas yelled too much. He was never going to let himself enjoy the show because that would be admitting he was wrong.

Also, I started out smoking Marlboros but on 12/31/98 I realized that Camels tasted better so I switched and never went back. Sometime in the first decade of this century, Camel changed their blend and it didn’t taste as good as it used to but it was still better than Marlboro. That pissed me off and I swore I was going to quit but because of the addiction that still took me several years. I smoked my last cigarette on 8/31/14. I now enjoy a cigar every week or two. I’m certain that if I smoked just one cigarette that I’d be back to a pack (of Camels) a day within a week. Cigars let me enjoy some tobacco flavor every now and then without enough nicotine to trigger the addiction. As a former Camel man I’ve found that my favorite cigars are from Nicaragua. I’ve even identified an unknown cigar as being from Nicaragua just by smell. I couldn’t care less about how well any of them sell, whether they’re number 1, 2, 3, or 100. 

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Your contribution lacks the context necessary to effectively communicate whatever point you're trying to make, but to expound on the point I think you're trying to make, nothing on this list should take into account quality or desirability - just percentage of market share. 
According to those terms, how is the list clearly wrong?
~~~~~
Flies into IAD, not DCA. 
My point is it's not 1957 anymore. Between technology and a global economy there is far greater competition now. The fact that your list is kind of a toss up at best just illustrate this. That being said #2 guy existed because he couldn't afford #1 products but wanted it to seem like he could and held a false sense of bravado about the inferior products.
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When it comes to psychology and human behavior, at least when it comes to sports, the worst are the front runners. Mr. Clear #1. He has no connection to the Patriots but he calls them his team just because they’re winning. He even refers to them in the first person. “We won another Super Bowl!” Oh yeah? The Patriots won another Super Bowl. You’re still a loser.

Here’s another interesting behavior. My brother only really likes a movie or tv show if he feels that he discovered it. If you found it first and tried to turn him onto it, well, it’s just not that good. 

 

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2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I don’t think it’s a good question. The proper approach to life, imo, is to be more concerned with quality than conformity. Often the popular product or service is based more on the ad campaign than the quality of the product or service. (Was Absolut really the best vodka in the 90’s or did they just have a brilliant marketing strategy?) Or it may just be a lesser quality product that simply appeals to a wider audience. Take The Sopranos vs. The Wire for example.

Now, I know a guy who never got into Seinfeld because it got really popular so he shunned it just because he didn’t want to be a follower. He’s an idiot. But he didn’t pick some other show as a favorite in an act of rebellion. He just shut himself off from the greatest sitcom of all time. Later, when I encouraged him to watch it, he complained that the Costanzas yelled too much. He was never going to let himself enjoy the show because that would be admitting he was wrong.

Also, I started out smoking Marlboros but on 12/31/98 I realized that Camels tasted better so I switched and never went back. Sometime in the first decade of this century, Camel changed their blend and it didn’t taste as good as it used to but it was still better than Marlboro. That pissed me off and I swore I was going to quit but because of the addiction that still took me several years. I smoked my last cigarette on 8/31/14. I now enjoy a cigar every week or two. I’m certain that if I smoked just one cigarette that I’d be back to a pack (of Camels) a day within a week. Cigars let me enjoy some tobacco flavor every now and then without enough nicotine to trigger the addiction. As a former Camel man I’ve found that my favorite cigars are from Nicaragua. I’ve even identified an unknown cigar as being from Nicaragua just by smell. I couldn’t care less about how well any of them sell, whether they’re number 1, 2, 3, or 100. 

 

1 hour ago, DCA_HORN said:
3 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:
Your contribution lacks the context necessary to effectively communicate whatever point you're trying to make, but to expound on the point I think you're trying to make, nothing on this list should take into account quality or desirability - just percentage of market share. 
According to those terms, how is the list clearly wrong?
~~~~~
Flies into IAD, not DCA. 

My point is it's not 1957 anymore. Between technology and a global economy there is far greater competition now. The fact that your list is kind of a toss up at best just illustrate this. That being said #2 guy existed because he couldn't afford #1 products but wanted it to seem like he could and held a false sense of bravado about the inferior products.

Cool - sound like good ideas for separate threads, given that you both seem to be hung up on going out of your way to demonstrate that you don't understand the premise of this thread. 

I look forward to posting demonstrably obtuse criticisms in your thread(s) under the guise of an inability to comprehend or meaningfully engage in a hypothetical thought exercise. 

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I've had a Toyota and a Honda.

As long as Toyota uses those stupid ass cartridge oil filters that can't be changed without a huge mess they are dead to me. Whoever designed that can burn.

I've had multiple GM vehicles and several Fords. They seem interchangeable. Neither of them are great.

Adidas and Nike are both too expensive and I'm not a child nor a professional athlete, so F them both.

I can't remember the last time I've had Mcdonalds or Burger King. I have easy access to Whataburger.

All airlines are flying busses full of idiots. Who cares.

Your list is stupid.

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25 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

What in the rumpled foreskin is a-going on here?

A growing number of posters are demonstrating a troubling deficiency in reading comprehension and/or an inability to think in the abstract. 

Bunch of Brawndo-drinking motherfuckers. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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5 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

No, not a thread about a superhero with transparent feces. At least not yet. 

Inspired by the "Chevy vs. Ford" and "Ford vs. Chevy" guys in the original post of the That Guy thread, I wanted to see what the collective might come up with when trying to paint a complete and accurate picture of the guy who always prefers the second most popular item, brand, or practice when given a choice. 

For example:

If he prefers to Drive American, drives a Ford, not a GM.

If he prefers Japanese, drives a Honda, not a Toyota. 

Drinks Pepsi, not Coke. 

Smokes Camels, not Marlboros. 

Eats at Burger King, not McDonald's. 

Wears Adidas sneakers, not Nike. 

Has a Samsung phone, not an Apple. 

Flies United, not American. 

What other traits and brand loyalties does Mr. Clear #2 have? 

Honda > Toyota, unless you're talking about hybrids or trucks

DR Pepper is a whole lot better than Coke

Adidas are waaaay better than Nike,

Not sure why you think American Airlines is better than flying anything, but I will agree that United sucks more.

And my Samsung is way more reliable than my iPhone because half the apps don't stop working on ever software update.

 

So your post sucks, because it's full of fail.

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Jesus Fucking Christ, many of you people are stupid. 

Where in the world did any of you think that this was an invitation to discuss your anecdotal preferences and experiences? I don't care what products you like or use, or how you personally rank them. 

I was trying to come up with a profile for someone who always chooses the second-most popular or second-most common option. Pretty uncontroversial and uncomplicated stuff, at least if you can read.

Not suggesting that McDonald's is somehow the best restaurant in the country by dint of sales volume and number store locations. Or that because the oil filters that Toyota uses are displeasing to an illiterate and therefore Toyotas shouldn't outsell Hondas. 

Sure, it wasn't a riveting topic of discussion, but most of you knuckleheads can't seem to understand that this was in no way a solicitation to post all of your buying habits, wax poetic about "the proper approach to life," or to bloviate how "it's not 1957 but here is how Don Draper might also misinterpret the intent of this thread, blah blah blah." 

Dimwits. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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1 hour ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

I was trying to come up with a profile for someone who always chooses the second-most popular or second-most common option.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom what the point of this exercise is, nor can I name a single person I know who does this.  I can name people who always prefer the best-selling brand, however.  Perhaps that's why many people are flummoxed by your least interesting topic ever posted on Surly.

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17 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

For the life of me, I cannot fathom what the point of this exercise is, nor can I name a single person I know who does this.  I can name people who always prefer the best-selling brand, however.  Perhaps that's why many people are flummoxed by your least interesting topic ever posted on Surly.

Obviously. 

If I said "give me all of the #2 answers from Family Feud" would that put it in terms you can understand? 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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