Saturday, August 05, 2006

Are they as stupid as I think they are?

I'm really scratching my head these days. The current crop of commercials has me baffled. And the bafflement (yes, I just created that word) extends more towards the advertisers than the advertisments. The commercials I'm seeing these days really make me wonder who is making them. The products advertised are OK, for the most part, but the ads themselves are getting worse and worse.
Here's an example: The Roaming Gnome, Denouncer of Travel Myths. Not a bad concept, and the Gnome is somewhat endearing. The ads, though, baffle me with their contradictions. To whit: the ad talks about the myth that booking air and lodging separately is less expensive. The Gnome rejects the supposition, backing it with fact (way to go, Intellectually Honest Gnome!) and making the point of the commercial: if you book both at the same time (with that travel vendor, of course) you'll save money. OK! Makes great sense. I'll do that next time I need to travel.
That is, until they get to the next part of the commercial: the second Travel Myth. "Gnomes make horrible tour guides", which the Gnome vehemently disagrees with, claiming "We're the best!" The next scene is a double decker lorry (a bus, in the US) running over sidewalks and fire hydrants, with that crack head Roaming Gnome behind the wheel. What's the message here? Is the Gnome only to be believed part of the time? Is the whole commercial a lie? Who signed off on that damn spot? See what I mean? It leads to scratching my head again.
This is hardly the only one. What's that damn kid that eats cereal all day getting paid for? Isn't that other goober his boss? What's so hard about firing that geek? It doesn't sell that cereal to me, and I'm a cereal eater. Oddly enough, I've never seen a commercial for my favorite: Reese's Puffs. Perhaps that's a good reason for it to be a favorite.
I'm sick of having my intelligence insulted, and I've begun to make a concious effort to avoid buying the products that are seen in those rediculous ads. Here it is, Madison Avenue: take a good, hard look at who's writing this dreck, and see what's happening at the schools they're coming from. Something is seriously wrong here, and I don't think its because I have hyper-sensitive perception skills or that I'm over-educated in the area of comprehension. The real answer is that there are people out there doing jobs they're not qualified to do. The work they broadcast across the globe proves it. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

I doubt it'll make a scrap of difference to anyone but me...but I have no problem allowing my politics influence my buying decisions when it suits my purposes. :)

1 comment:

Haji said...

LOL! England and America: two great countries separated by a common language!