Monday, December 19, 2011
Sometimes commercials are so clever you really don’t grasp what they are selling. Of course, I watch a lot of tv and I see a lot of commercials, so maybe you won’t know what I am talking about. You know the commercial where everyone is singing different lyrics to “Rocket Man?” It is a funny commercial with people singing things like “cheap cologne” and “motor home.” At the end a woman clearly hears the phrase “burning out his fuse up there alone” and nods her head as if she has just solved Fermat’s Last Theorem or found the lost city of El Dorado.
I like the commercial, but I probably saw it 100 times before I realized it is selling a Volkswagen Passat. Yes, they are trying to sell a car which starts at $20,000 because of the radio. I like a good radio. Having just driven 2500 miles across the country I listened to a lot of music in the car. But I got to tell you, I don’t believe the quality of the speakers in my car radio would be a determining factor in which car I buy next. Mostly in the car I want the music loud enough to drown out the trucks, sirens, motorcycles, and helicopters. I do not have a burning need to determine whether Elton is signing about burning fuses or musty motor homes.
Is this where we are at in terms of buying cars now? Are all cars so similar and well made that the only difference between a Passat and a Camry is whether you can figure out if “Louie, Louie” really has dirty lyrics or is just a mumbled mess? I have not bought a car in a long time (and I don’t plan to, I love my car which is pretty amazing because I hate cars), so you guys have to tell me, is this one of the criteria you use now? You don’t take the car for a test drive, you just sit in the showroom and listen to the speakers?
Other commercials confuse me too. Remember, I watch a lot of sports so I see commercials for guy stuff, like beer and Viagra. There is a commercial for the latter which has an older gentleman driving his pickup pulling a horse trailer. The truck gets stuck in the mud and he uses the horses to free the truck. The commercial ends with a shot of the truck pulling into the driveway of a very large home, which is dark except for a light in an upstairs window. I assume there is a woman there waiting in Victoria’s Secret attire. But really, how does any of this relate to Viagra? Are we supposed to think taking the blue pill will make him perform like a stallion or be hung like a … well you know what I mean. Viagra has another commercial with a guy on a sailboat. I don’t recall exactly what happens but once again, no woman is on the commercial. I am pretty sure that using Viagra on a sailboat all by yourself would be considered kind of weird (but hey, who am I to comment on what floats your boat, so to speak).
By contrast, Cialis commercials show a couple who get the urge in the middle of a barbeque. I get that. The effect is somewhat negated, however, when the actors, instead of getting passionate, even in a PG way, launch into a recitation of all the side effects. I mean how much do you want to risk blindness, loss of hearing, headaches, or the worst of all, priapism (that is the more than four hours problem) to be able to get amorous at the spur of the moment? Personally, I do not want to go to the emergency room complaining of that last one. After all, ERs work on triage. On a busy night you might have to wait hours to see a doctor.
This whole prescription drug advertising thing kind of confuses me. I mean should I really tell my doctor I want a certain kind of blood pressure medicine, or that I think I have fibromyalgia? There is the commercial with the people made of pipes, and lots of commercials with older people feeling wonderful now that they have switched to some new medication which is way better than that old generic. No worry about the Medicare donut hole for these happy seniors. The evening news is almost completely paid for by the drug company commercials. So I guess car funny car commercials are a definite improvement, even if I don’t think I would buy a car which touts its radio rather than the engine as its best feature. It is comforting to know, however, that no matter what I need a prescription for, that all I have to do is turn on Brian Willams and wait, somewhere in there will be a commercial telling me which medication will solve whatever ails me. I may not know why it makes such a claim exactly, but as long as the advertising is smart, I can assume the science behind the pills will work, right?
I like the commercial, but I probably saw it 100 times before I realized it is selling a Volkswagen Passat. Yes, they are trying to sell a car which starts at $20,000 because of the radio. I like a good radio. Having just driven 2500 miles across the country I listened to a lot of music in the car. But I got to tell you, I don’t believe the quality of the speakers in my car radio would be a determining factor in which car I buy next. Mostly in the car I want the music loud enough to drown out the trucks, sirens, motorcycles, and helicopters. I do not have a burning need to determine whether Elton is signing about burning fuses or musty motor homes.
Is this where we are at in terms of buying cars now? Are all cars so similar and well made that the only difference between a Passat and a Camry is whether you can figure out if “Louie, Louie” really has dirty lyrics or is just a mumbled mess? I have not bought a car in a long time (and I don’t plan to, I love my car which is pretty amazing because I hate cars), so you guys have to tell me, is this one of the criteria you use now? You don’t take the car for a test drive, you just sit in the showroom and listen to the speakers?
Other commercials confuse me too. Remember, I watch a lot of sports so I see commercials for guy stuff, like beer and Viagra. There is a commercial for the latter which has an older gentleman driving his pickup pulling a horse trailer. The truck gets stuck in the mud and he uses the horses to free the truck. The commercial ends with a shot of the truck pulling into the driveway of a very large home, which is dark except for a light in an upstairs window. I assume there is a woman there waiting in Victoria’s Secret attire. But really, how does any of this relate to Viagra? Are we supposed to think taking the blue pill will make him perform like a stallion or be hung like a … well you know what I mean. Viagra has another commercial with a guy on a sailboat. I don’t recall exactly what happens but once again, no woman is on the commercial. I am pretty sure that using Viagra on a sailboat all by yourself would be considered kind of weird (but hey, who am I to comment on what floats your boat, so to speak).
By contrast, Cialis commercials show a couple who get the urge in the middle of a barbeque. I get that. The effect is somewhat negated, however, when the actors, instead of getting passionate, even in a PG way, launch into a recitation of all the side effects. I mean how much do you want to risk blindness, loss of hearing, headaches, or the worst of all, priapism (that is the more than four hours problem) to be able to get amorous at the spur of the moment? Personally, I do not want to go to the emergency room complaining of that last one. After all, ERs work on triage. On a busy night you might have to wait hours to see a doctor.
This whole prescription drug advertising thing kind of confuses me. I mean should I really tell my doctor I want a certain kind of blood pressure medicine, or that I think I have fibromyalgia? There is the commercial with the people made of pipes, and lots of commercials with older people feeling wonderful now that they have switched to some new medication which is way better than that old generic. No worry about the Medicare donut hole for these happy seniors. The evening news is almost completely paid for by the drug company commercials. So I guess car funny car commercials are a definite improvement, even if I don’t think I would buy a car which touts its radio rather than the engine as its best feature. It is comforting to know, however, that no matter what I need a prescription for, that all I have to do is turn on Brian Willams and wait, somewhere in there will be a commercial telling me which medication will solve whatever ails me. I may not know why it makes such a claim exactly, but as long as the advertising is smart, I can assume the science behind the pills will work, right?
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