Somewhere along the way commercials have ceased to be information about things that we can buy and have become someone’s idea of entertainment. What upsets me is that the people who create these ads have a different opinion of what is entertainment from me. I find so many of the new TV commercials ridiculous and sometimes offensive. Some make the prospective buyers look ignorant; others make them look crazy. I guess that is humor now.
The Super Bowl could be the culprit for this new phase of commercials. I watch the commercials every year with anticipation. And many are quite entertaining. But there is so much competition to get an ad on the Super Bowl that creativity, humor, drama, etc. is what the commercials are about now – not why we should buy the product or even if it is a good product. The commercials for the rest of the year try follow suit.
I have some pet peeves right now for offensive commercials. Two new ones for the new whole grain Wheat Thins I find quite ridiculous. I do not think they are funny. The message I get from them is that you have to be crazy to eat new whole grain Wheat Thins or eating them makes stupid. If truth is in the advertising, I think I will pass on these. I need to keep my brain in good shape.
Another new one is for Depends. People who have to wear Depends do not want to be ridiculed for wearing them. The whole idea for making Depends undetectable under clothes is that you want discretion. The new commercial was obviously created by a group of silly young people who find wearing Depends funny. It involves a “run” with people of all ages running through the streets wearing Depends – the message saying that everyone should join the run to show it does not matter what underwear you wear. Only an insensitive person would find this amusing. You dropped the ball there, folks. Enjoy your “yuks.” That will be all you get from the buyers of Depends. They might even switch brands since you are so insensitive.
There are many more offensive commercials (at least to me) but I think you can get my feelings about what is going on. We have a come a long way, but not necessarily to a better place. I was taught a long time ago that it was not acceptable to make fun of people. I know things have changed and being offensive is now funny – at least to some. I am old school, however; offensive is still offensive to me.