Advertising Idiotic
Dear readers, although I don’t spend a lot of time watching television or even listening to the radio, I must say that I have noticed an upsurge of commercials that are, for want of a better word, idiotic.
Consider, if you will, the recent ads for Con Edison. “Con Edison”, as I’m sure you know, is short for Consolidated Edison, an ELECTRIC COMPANY. In ads promoting their product, they end with the slogan: “Con Edison: Everything Matters.” Let me repeat that: “Con Edison: EVERYTHING matters.” (emphasis mine). Dear readers, have you EVER heard a more stupid slogan? EVER?…I thought not. Not only is it totally irrelevant to the consumption of electric power, it is patently false. There are some things that JUST DON’T MATTER! Now, I will admit that, on certain issues, people may have a variety of opinions. On this issue, however, I think there is clear consensus. Absolutely NO ONE believes that “everything matters”! Absolutely NO ONE! EVER! It’s UNANIMOUS! Yet that is their slogan. Con Edison paid someone MONEY to come up with that! (I do wonder, however, whether Con Ed decided to save some money by doing their advertising through some sort of “discount” advertising firm.) As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. And what they got for whatever it was they paid, is nothing less than idiotic.
Now consider a Johnny Walker ad that aired during the election week programing. That ad presented an inspiring pro immigration message. It was narrated by an earnest and idealistic man with an obvious Latino accent. It presented a quintessential American theme of America being a land of opportunity. It is beautifully photographed and produced. It is quite uplifting and satisfying, until, at the end, we find out that it’s an ad for….whiskey. WHISKEY? Yes, WHISKEY! Unless Johnny Walker thought that America’s new immigrants would take up, en mass, serious scotch drinking the minute they crossed the border, it is very hard to see the connection. And, given the high production values of that ad, and considering the expensive time slot in which it aired, it’s obvious that the Johnny Walker execs spent LOTS of money on it. Idiotic!
My last case in point today is an example of idiotic overkill. I’m referring here to the radio ads for generic Viagra. In those ads a woman’s voice comes on in a deep husky and alluring tone: “MEN…are you taking Viagra for ED?” Kind of like a modern May West. It’s the VOCAL equivalent of a “come hither look.” (See “That Look”, 11/17/16). The lady sounds like she’s Master of Ceremonies in a bordello. Do the drug company execs expect us men to get immediately energized listening to this commercial while driving to work? Taking the kids to a soccer game? Picking up a carton of milk? Do they expect that we’ll bring our cars to a screeching halt and rush to place an EMERGENCY order? That we’ll demand overnight shipping? Or, better yet, SAME DAY delivery? Overkill, much? Idiotic, I’d say!