Tell a friend:
 

09th Feburary 2010
Ads That Just Don’t Add Up

If you’re the regular TV buff as I am, then I am certain that from time to time there are things you view on the tube that really transform you into a hopeless jaw-dropper. And I don’t mean those programmes we watch that have those long, drawn-out plots, twists and turns. I’m referring to those short, I-can’t-believe-they-said-and-did-that messages from our friendly sponsors. The ads!
Despite the fact that we all welcome our advertisers peddling us this detergent that turns whites brighter and that face cream that almost instantaneously clears up acne, let’s be honest for a minute, they sure do mess with our minds, don’t they? And never mind – depending on the tedious channel surfing one does – whatever programme one watches on the tube, in a short space of time, you can actually feel that you can really do “have it your way” through the “better everyday” mantra they pitch that makes you feel like “the real thing.”
Seriously, though, as much as I find most of the ads entertaining, especially when they capitalize on the litany of puns, I also seem to think that some ads just don’t add up. To add insult to injury, I sometimes get the feeling that some sponsors try so hard to sell us their products that they unwittingly end up selling themselves out.
Here’s an example. A few weeks ago, a reputable fast food company with global reach announced that due to customers’ consistent complaints about its pizzas tasting like cardboard, it was revamping its recipe. Fine. No problem there, I thought. Until I realized that one of the company’s head chefs was actually in the ad agreeing with the customers’ comments! Now I’m not one to knock another man’s bread out of his mouth but shouldn’t the head chef be the first guy to get fired before the new recipe is introduced? I mean, responsibility and accountability rest squarely on his shoulders, right? In my humble opinion, giving him a slice of marching orders with anchovies on top would have been appropriate in setting an example to all of the other employees. Call it “The Domino’s Effect” or something of that sort, I don’t care.
Then there’s my dear pal, the gecko who, despite probably never getting paid to pitch his fifteen-minutes-can-save-you-15%-or-more-on-car-insurance bit, just seems to bask in the sunshine of his fifteen minutes of fame. Again, although I would want to be the last person to knock a gnat or two out of the greenster’s mouth, I find it strange that so many people sign up for the plan based on what a gecko with no DMV registration, says. With an insurance top guy like Claudius, I’m sure that company’s sure to face some stiff straight-up opposition if they dared set up shop here. Whether we lyko or notto, that addo will never flyko!
 
 

Even on the local scene, we have witnessed ad nauseam how local ads really do push the proverbial envelope. Remember the fender to fender ads? Or was it bumper to bumper? At first, they were so well put-together that some of us were so inclined to buy car parts, forgetting we don’t even own a lowly “barrow” let alone a real vehicle. The ads were funny and we loved them, right?
That was until the envelope got pushed so far that it fell right out of the public’s moral mailbox. Remember the one with the two beautiful women having their separate rendezvous with two equally-philandering guys who supposedly had “tire flats and cyah find pahts”? At first glance, many of us may have seen the humour in the thing. Come on, admit it! But – apparently due to the fact that some of us either identified with the situation or saw it as an attack on our “kulcha” – that ad soon got rear-ended ad finitum.
But let’s face it: regardless of what side of our fences the rooster lays his egg, we would buy anything with a nice pitch to it. Even rooster’s eggs may fly off the supermarket shelves this Easter if given the right kind of marketing campaign. And whether or not we agree with our advertisers’ tone in their ad campaigns, we sure thank them for sponsoring those programmes that certainly entertain and educate us, even unite us. That is, until some pungent political ad comes along and pitches division amongst us.
Speaking of the latter, I’m sure we all remember our prime minister vocally apologizing to us for the shenanigans caused due in part to his party’s infighting nearly two years ago. He said he and his government had finally gotten their act right and were willing to serve in the nation’s best interest. Now, I know what you’re thinking: the Domino’s head chef guy example, right?
For those of us who would want to personally type up and serve the PM’s marching papers, let us not forget that the Domino’s guy at least admitted his mistake – as did the PM -- while he is still employed – as is the PM. See what I mean? Inasmuch as I hate those putrid political ads that serve only to divide, my disdain grows when I find myself sounding like one.
To be fair to both Domino’s head chef guy and the PM, though, how about us giving them both one more chance to get their recipe right? Call it strike one, if you will. Still -- if you asked me – their mistakes and their pitches -- after some deeper rationalizing – may just not seem to add up.

Discuss Story
 
Top Stories  
 
 
     
 
   
Developed