MediaState
And now some words about our sponsors...
I don't know about you, but I've been getting more than a little peeved with the latest batch of TV ads makin' the rounds these days. It seems like the weasels of Madison Ave have it in their heads that 'irritating=product-sales'.
Like the Juicy-Fruit gum commercial with the irritating guy playing guitar-they've turned that one into a series. The latest instalment has a bunch of guys repeating over and over "I'm in my happy place." Then, of course, smashing the guy's guitar. I cringe just thinking about it.
Or how about the Holiday Inn ad that consists of people repeating ad nauseum "Marco Polo". Seriously-what's up with this one?
Yup, repition's the rage-even Wendy's has climbed on the bandwagon with their 'Ranch' ad.
And then, of course, there's the one-two punch with Pepto-Bismo leading off with promises of upset stomach and diarrhea cures in jingle format, followed by the TKO of a mixed group of people in a circle on all fours featuring a girl with her nose buried in some guy's ass who is promising his diarrhea has been cured by Imodium A-D. Well, gag me with a spoon!
And, while we're in the toilet, how about the food ads pushing fibre-rich product guaranteed to keep you regular? I, for one, do not panic if I don't take a dump for a couple of days. Usually, a six-pack or two has me back on track, on time, and under budget in fairly short order.
Having said all that, (and in the interest of fairness), there is one commercial that I do like. This is the Coca-cola ad which features an aerial shot of two to three hundred people dressed in wine and black standing in an upturned chalk-on-asphalt outline of a pop bottle, then running into a chalk-on-asphalt outline of a glass. From high above, it looks like product being poured from bottle to glass.
Clever, cute and original, even. Only thing is-the coke's flat-it has no head on it! The effect of product being poured from bottle to glass acted out by two or three hundred people running from chalk-bottle to chalk-glass is ruined because they're serving up stale Coke! C'mon guys-from-Coke, you went the whole nine yards for this one; surely you can go that extra yard and put a head on that puppy! All it would take is another 30-40 extras in white T-shirts jumping up and down on pogo sticks bringing up the rear and there you have it!
Incidentally, Coke-guys, if you want to send me free stuff, I'm listening. After all, I did sacrifice my Google Ad space for this.