I confess to being a bit of a TV commercials junkie. I get a kick out of critiquing the excesses of modern marketing. One thing I've noticed over the years is that really good--i.e., funny--ads never get shown enough, while the nauseating ones run constantly.
I never got tired of the Guinness Stout "Limburger Cheeseheads!" ad, for example. Just thinking about it makes me giggle. [It's probably the Irish inflection on "cheeseheads"--that is truly priceless!--Ed.]
For its diametrical opposite, watch the Pedia-Sure ad that's been running for at least a year now. You know the one: the mommy is steering the grocery cart and reading aloud from her list, while her little girl, riding in the cart, objects to everything on the list. "Chicken . . ." "I don't like chicken." The point being that even the most finicky eater likes and will drink Pedia-Sure, and moms everywhere who give their children Pedia-Sure will be doing a good thing. The more subtle message is that moms are here to cater to and be doormats for their selfish, bratty children, not to teach their children any manners or other social skills.
That is a message I do not like, not one bit! I'd rather the mom said to the daughter, "I don't care what you don't like. Until you are working and contributing economically to this family, you're going to eat what is put on the table for you or not eat at all."
But then again, not only would that put the family hierarchy right side up, it wouldn't sell the product.
Nevertheless, I can dream, can't I?
In the meantime, if you give me a brick to throw at the TV, make sure it's a Nerf brick. I can't afford to destroy my TV for real, no matter how irritated I get!
[I smell feet!--Ed.]
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