Posted By John Sears on January 9, 2013

In a fairly benign example of ‘Don’t Use the Zed Word’, the well-documented phenomenon of calling everything under the sun ‘Zombie’ lately, Undead or not, we have now a ‘Zombie planet’:

Fomalhaut b is a giant alien planet that is nearly three times the mass of Jupiter. It was the first alien planet ever directly imaged in visible light. The planet orbits the dust-shrouded star Fomalhaut and is located about 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Austrinus.

In October, scientists dubbed the world a “zombie planet” because it appeared to rise from the academic grave. After first being discovered in 2008, subsequent studies suggested the planet was nothing more than a huge dust cloud. In 2012, astronomers resurrected Fomalhaut b’s planet status when new observations proved there was a planetary object embedded in a free-floating dust cloud.

And here I was hoping for a planet inhabited by the Undead. Phooey.

Oh well. At least this isn’t a slander on the Differently Animated!

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Academia, Don't Use the Zed Word

Posted By John Sears on January 6, 2013

Entertainment Weekly, about as reliable a gauge of the Mainstream as one could imagine, has named ‘Warm Bodies’ one of its 35 most anticipated movies of 2013.

Why 35? Who knows!

But it will apparently be out on Feb 1st and with all this free advertising maybe, finally, some minds will be changed about Zombies. Even just a little would be nice. We’re not at all sure about the ‘Good Zombie’ angle Warm Bodies pushes but if it gets a foot in the door against The Walking Dead? Could be a start.

And then we ease people into ‘Fido’, and finally, ‘The Dishonored Dead’, and before you know it? Fiction has led to Zombie Friendly converts.

That’s the hope, anyway, here at ZRC Central.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Books, Movies

Posted By John Sears on January 6, 2013

For those not hugely into internet memes, an Australian train company released a viral video ad campaign to promote safety around railroads called ‘Dumb Ways to Die’.

It took off rather quickly, and as of now, has about 35 million views on Youtube.

Naturally this led to parodies, and in particular we can heartily recommend this ‘Walking Dead’ ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ riff.

Warning: contains spoilers for The Walking Dead, as well as biting satire of the various silly things people always do in the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ genre that get them killed (on both sides, Living and Undead alike).

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: The Internet, Youtube Mischief

Posted By John Sears on December 31, 2012

We have a lot to look forward to in the next year, and a lot to work toward, of course.

‘World War Z’ will rear its ugly, Living Supremacist head.
Capcom will produce half a dozen games about hating Zombies.
‘The Walking Dead’ will continue to make more money than Robert Kirkman could ever spend on doomsday shelters.

Still, for every negative event, we have lots to look forward to!
Conventions
Zombie Walks
Public Events

Plus even the media has a few bright spots ready for us. ‘Warm Bodies’ comes out in February, and hopefully it won’t be too Twilighty. And… err… hmm.. that’s about the best on the horizon so far. *sigh*

Still, 2012 was a banner year for Zombie Rights and we hope 2013 will be the year we finally turn the corner on this whole ‘Hating the Differently Animated’ thing.

So many memories..

We enjoyed the last season as your Zombie Rights Advocates and look forward to a bright future working together for Undead Equality.

Category: ZRC News | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By John Sears on December 22, 2012

Zombie families don’t get much play in our Living Supremacist media, so we’re always on the lookout for something Zombie Family Friendly.

This ornament highlighted by BuyZombie might fit the bill:

Gingerbread Zombie Dad – Christmas Ornament
It’s a “gornament,” a zombie-themed Christmas ornament
Shaped like a gingerbread zombie
Exquisite level of gory details
Material: tough urethane resin
Unique: no two are exactly alike – paint details may vary as they are hand painted

The gory details might be a bit much, but we can get behind it in spirit, certainly.

Happy Holidays from the Zombie Rights Campaign!

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Zombie Products

Posted By John Sears on December 19, 2012

Folks, there’s a lot of loose talk out there about some ‘Apocalypse’ or other coming up on the 21st, and the ZRC is here to tell you: Zombies will not be involved.

Seriously.

Of course, you don’t have to take our word for it. Actual Mayans have something to say about this silly calendar doomsday notion:

GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s Mayan people accused the government and tour groups on Wednesday of perpetuating the myth that their calendar foresees the imminent end of the world for monetary gain.

“We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles,” charged Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop.
…

Maya leader Gomez urged the Tourism Institute to rethink the doomsday celebration, which he criticized as a “show” that was disrespectful to Mayan culture.

Experts say that for the Maya, all that ends in 2012 is one of their calendar cycles, not the world.
Gomez’s group issued a statement saying that the new Maya time cycle simply “means there will be big changes on the personal, family and community level, so that there is harmony and balance between mankind and nature.”

See? No end of the world, say the Mayans. And no Zombie-pocalypse, says the ZRC.

So just enjoy your holidays, folks.

Category: Zombie Media, ZRC News | 2 Comments »
Tags: Mainstream Media

Posted By John Sears on December 11, 2012

I’m not sure about the likelihood of major corporate re-branding during any ‘Apocalypse’; it seems like they’d have better things to do than roll out an ad campaign in the midst of a national crisis.

Then again, American Apparel was stupid enough to do just that for Hurricane Sandy, so perhaps my suspicion is unwarranted?

Keeping in mind that possibility, Inspirationfeed presents us with ten reimagined corporate logos for said, er, ‘Zombie Apocalypse’.

They’re not terribly Zombie Friendly; most are overtly hostile, in fact, to Zombie Rights more generally.

But I will admit that at least a couple are funny.

Hat tip to BuyZombie.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Advertising, Anti-Zombie Products, Zombie Art

Posted By John Sears on December 8, 2012

Well, this is truly a disheartening example of media pandering:

Discovery Channel has ordered the documentary special Zombie Apocalypse, which examines whether a walking dead-style invasion is actually possible and introduces a quartet of people from various backgrounds who are readying themselves, just in case.

Sigh…

Really, Discovery Channel? You’re pushing Living Supremacism on an unsuspecting public in the guise of edu-tainment? Since when was hatred and ignorance considered ‘educational’?

Speaking of individuals abusing the educational process, look who’s on board with this project:

Moreover, the special claims a zombie-like pandemic is possible, though obviously without actually making the dead rise from their graves. “The most likely ideology for a zombie pandemic would be a viral outbreak, a mutated contagion most likely a virus,” says Dr. Steven Scholzman(sic) of Harvard Medical School. “Viruses are fascinating organisms and would be very effective at changing us into something approaching the zombies … They use our DNA they rely on us to spread themselves, so it fits right into the model of zombie pandemic.”

Yes, it’s our old Harvard nemesis, Dr. Steven Schlozman also the author of ‘The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse‘, who therefore has a considerable financial stake in promoting Anti-Zombie intolerance.

It might be good to note that, EW.

(Of course it might also be good to spell his name correctly. Hint hint).

The special will air on December 18th, on the Discovery Channel, for those who are interested in watching the cable network’s slow decline.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Academia, Anti-Zombie Products, Anti-Zombie Public Event, Books, Television

Posted By John Sears on December 8, 2012

Truly a sad story comes to us from the Huffington Post (although for inexplicable reasons they seem to think it’s funny rather than sad):

My Northwest.com reports that, according to FBI data, background checks for guns rose 20 percent on Black Friday from the same day last year. According to KIRO, one gun rights advocate said part of the reason for the increase is zombies.

“A lot of people appear to be really enthralled by this,” Dave Workman said. “I’ve seen lines of zombie targets, I know one or two ammunition companies have introduced boxes, lines of cartridges they called zombie cartridges, shotgun shells and rifle shells.”

The zombie-themed merchandise has ushered in a new generation of gun shooters, according to Workman.

The Zombie Rights Campaign is agnostic on the issue of gun ownership generally. We’re not about to say that citizens, living or Undead, should not own guns per se. That’s not our area of expertise.

However, whenever anyone arms themselves in fear of a minority group (or, perhaps, the majority in a future ‘Apocalypse’ scenario), it never ends well. Guns are tools, but in general you shouldn’t use tools out of fear. It leads to a lot of tragic mistakes.

And of course, lines the pockets of enterprising fear merchants, say, peddling Anti-Zombie ammunition at a premium (which is probably the exact same ammunition you could get on the next shelf over, in a bright green box with a picture of a Zombie on it, say).

Be smart, consumers. Smart AND empathetic. Don’t hate on Zombies, and don’t overpay for weapons to protect yourself against an ‘Apocalypse’ you’re never likely to see.

(Plus, if you do, aren’t you statistically likely to end up on the ‘wrong’ side anyway?)

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Advertising, Anti-Zombie Products

Posted By John Sears on December 3, 2012

While Zombie Law School and NaNoWrimo have been keeping us busy on non-ZRC matters around here, BuyZombie has taken up the slack nicely. They have two reviews of new Zombie novels out lately, both of which are apparently novel takes on the ‘Zombie apocalypse’ from a Zombie’s perspective.

Tragically, one is apparently far better than the other, but it’s still good to see writers branching out from the tired cliches (brilliantly summarized as “Run-Munch-Scream-Repeat” here)

Check out their reviews of “A Zombie Apocalypse” and “The Reanimation of Eduard Schuett” to see some of the mixed progress in the Zombie fiction genre of late.

Thanks again to BuyZombie for their tireless, if perhaps often misguided, work on the consumer side of the larger Zombie merchandising industry.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Books