Asinine advertisers strike again!
January 16, 2002 ~ 3:21 p.m.
Three observations I made about the television/advertising industry at work today, all of them involving the apparent location of craniums up colons:
During one particular ad break�recorded at 3:15 a.m., curiously enough�one commercial was for a pregnancy test. The very next commercial was for a CD-ROM that teaches the alphabet and basic math to preschoolers. Gotta love that subtlety in advertising. Was this an indirect comment on the reliability of pregnancy tests in Britain? I can come to two conclusions on this�if I were a British female worried about being pregnant, I would avoid the pregnancy test that I saw advertised unless I was pretty sure I wanted preschool children in my future. And if I were the makers of the pregnancy test, I would be mad as hell at the advertising for their carelessness in the sequencing of this particular ad break. As I am neither of these, I can say it was good for a few deep, prolonged laughs.
The topic of carelessness brings me to my next example. An advertisement for a diarrhea medicine shows a lady running into a caf� in desperation to use the facility�s bathroom. The ladies room, it so happens, is closed for repairs. The next shot is a close-up of chocolate cake and a squirt of hot water from a cappuccino machine. Um ... thanks, guys. I think you�ve cured me of my sweet tooth. The presentation of a squishy brown substance and the squirt of liquid is obviously an attempt at humor here. But in some instances, particularly this one, I would prefer tact.
However, the highlight of the evening, the pi�ce de resistance as it were, was the following helpful guide to early morning programming on Channel 5: �And now, live on Five, four straight hours of sport, starting with NFL ice hockey.� Say what? That�ll certainly add an interesting twist to the AFC/NFC playoffs, I must say. But just as I was wondering whether the power play would replace the field goal, I concluded that the announcer simply made a mistake. He meant NHL Ice Hockey. What else? Much as would love to witness a fifty-yard fast break, alas, it was not to be.
I must go now. My tension headache has returned.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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