|
 The mind numbingly stupid commercials that we see on TV have become a way of life. The only way to avoid them is to stop watching television altogether, which for me is not an option. To do so would mean cutting myself off from one of the most powerful tool for dispensing information on the planet and I, for one, can never get enough information.
So that means unless I want to make my wife insane with constant channel changing, I have to expose myself to the drool and drivel that is shoved down my throat by the truckload. This, in between what is becoming increasingly brief periods of news or entertainment.
Sure you get the occasional commercials that are entertaining. The Geico Insurance spots with the Cavemen are always good for a laugh. The Jack In The Box commercials are always funny and don’t dwell on how spectacular the food is. We are more entertained than we are swayed.
On the flip side you have the fake stylings of McDonalds or the nausea inducing Carl’s Jr. commercials. These last two have always stuck in my craw just because of their presentation. You would think that after this much time McDonalds would be embarrassed to show the public a picture of a Big Mac that has the meat and lettuce so big and plentiful that they are spilling over the sides of the bun.
When the truth is, as anybody who has ordered one of these bad boys knows, that in order to even see the meat you have to completely dissect the burger in order to find it. Advertising staging of products aside, their ads say to me that they think we are all dumber than their ridiculous corporate clown Ronald.
Carl’s Jr. commercials are annoying for a whole different reason. When they began their “let us show you how big of a pig you can be while eating” campaign a few years ago I complained about it in this column. When I was out and about numerous people came up to me and were in full agreement with my opinion.
This demonstration in bad manners and poor eating habits should be banned from the airwaves. I’m surprised that those overzealous twits from the family values/religious right didn’t start a letter writing campaign claiming that the commercials are affecting the eating habits of our youth, which it is. Hell, I would sign that petition if it showed up on my computer and even forward it on.
I know these ads are having an effect on not just the youth, but also the highly impressionable young adults. If you think I’m kidding the next time you are out to eat, whether it’s a normal restaurant or a fast food joint with tables, scan the patrons and check out the eating habits of the more youthful diners. I guarantee that you will be amazed at the lack of manners and basic eating habits involved. It’s as though there was a napkin shortage in effect. Maybe that is what Carl’s Jr. is trying to do, save money on the napkins they give out.
Not hungry? Well we could travel down the long and dusty road of car commercials. There are plenty to choose from in this arena. If you buy into the bill of goods the car companies are trying to sell, you can achieve all of your dreams by leasing or buying one of their vehicles.
You can pretend you are a spy by having clandestine shadowy meetings in alleys with other drivers to discuss just how amazing your car is. Or you can make that irritating neighbor feel like crap by purchasing a better car than he just bought. Better still, you can attract your ideal mate, by seducing them with your sexy new car, that is if you pick the right one.
Yeah baby, if you are shallow enough to believe that crock I’m sure you will be able to get the financing for all three. So you’d better hurry while the supplies still last. They could run out of the color you need to get that special someone who is just waiting for you to drive around their corner. And please don’t think about the fact that in less than six months from when you buy your new car, there will be a bigger, better, and sexier version of it. Don’t worry, those years you will be paying for that new car will fly by.
While the masses are easily sold on the messages that products like these are hawking, unfortunately the ones that are lost in the mix could actually have a benefit. Sometimes in an attempt to sell us their wares a company says something in that one-minute spot that we could learn from. Sadly, they are generally lost in the avalanche of garbage that is thrust our way.
A case in point is the ads that are currently running for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Hating the fact that I have to pay for insurance in any form, an insurance commercial is usually the last thing I would ever pay attention to. But something caught my eye as I watched their commercial.
Maybe it was the fact that the commercial wasn’t the usual in your face bombardment like the rest. It was a good lesson in the less can be more philosophy, a lesson that is lost on 99.9% of the advertising agencies out there. The philosophy that the commercial puts forth is one that everybody can learn from and I wish would adopt.
That philosophy is the same as ascribed to by The Heinlein Society and the 2000 movie “Pay It Forward”. While the two are not related they both share the same mindset as the commercial, that is, doing something nice for others after someone has done something nice for you, sometimes even when they haven’t.
Maybe you have heard the term “random acts of kindness” or, maybe not. It has been a long time since that phrase has been thrown around. It has been far too long since those words were on peoples’ lips and it is time that we all started not only using them, but also following their mantra.
There is even an Acts of Random Kindness Foundation, but once you try to organize anything to that point it loses its punch and the meaning gets lost in that foundation type quagmire. I am saying that we, as individuals, need to take it back to its roots. You don’t have to be rich or even spend a dime. Just start doing little things, whatever they may be, unsolicited.
Basically, and I never thought I would say this, just like in the commercial.
Even though acts of random kindness is not what Liberty Mutual was selling, they inadvertently sold me on a product I would buy.
|
