Does anybody else see the changing of the ads?

[frank frankly]

Here's a fun game. During the next commercial break, count the number of TV or radio ads that are unnecessarily negative. Of course, this includes virtually all pharm ads, including the zillion "natural viagra" ads on radio that suggest no man could perform sexually without pills, and if they did, that their "manhood" would be too small.

But pharm ads have always assumed you feel awful. I'm speaking more to ads that are snarky. Like a jerk made them to show what a jerk he is. So there. Loser.

A fine example of the spread of this phenomenon are the GEICO ads that show terrible things happening (example: a prisoner on death row is visited by his lawyer who shares "good news"--no, not that his client isn't about to die, but that the lawyer is saving money on his insurance.) hilarious!!! it's funny because the prisoner gets executed!

Also, recent Subway ads where Jared is a call-in expert and gets a call from someone whose house is on fire. Jared can't (of course) help, so the house burns down. How else could you sell a sandwhich?

Included are cell phone ads where poor service gets somebody literally knocked down, travel ads where old people become horribly confused by strange accomidations, and a few hundred million others that show humans to be moronic stumbling fools who like nothing except watching someone else get kicked around.

I only see tv about once a week, so its easy to see this trend. I wonder how people could watch advertising and not feel like complete helpless garbage. I swear almost NOTHING is sold positively.

Anybody else see this happening?

[DCDemo]

1. Stupidity has been a theme recently

Jeff Greefield on CNN has been talking about it off and on for a couple of months....it's true though. He keeps on pointing out ones I haven't seen, but I've seen a lot he doesn't mention.

It's like being stupid is glorified...a weird subliminal "embrace the idiot, he's just like you" effect. Case in point - the Dominoe's add (original one) for the Philly Cheesesteak pizza...men are stupid like dogs, respond to a bell for meaty/cheesy/hot food.

It's truly bizarre that Dominoe's thinks that saying "you guys have no more control over yourselves than dogs" is going to make their new pizza/overall product/company attractive...

But, since there are now 2-3 ads for this pizza re-capping some of the "priceless stupid-men" reactions, I guess it works.

Weird. Makes me think less of Dominoe's.

[Fleshdancer]

2. I hate when they use sex to sell non sexual items

Herbal essence commercials make my skin crawl.

The worst of the worst though is the one where the guy is in the hot tub with two horny women but then he gets diarrhea. What the hell goes through the minds of ad people??? Gee, nothing sells diarrhea medicine like a good ol' fashioned menage trois!

[SiobhanClancy]

3. I hate the pharm ads...

especially the ones that say "ask your doctor if it's right for you" without telling you WHAT THE STUPID PILL IS FOR OR WHAT IT DOES!!

[Enraged_Ape]

12. Possible side effects include projectile diarrhea, nosebleeds, and death

I just love how the announcers quickly reel off the horrible side-effects of these pills in a breezy, upbeat voice that makes it seem like you'd be crazy not to want them.

[Demonaut]

4. Sure there are positive ads, look at the ambien ads

anything to do with depression. Make you a happy zombie

[frank frankly]

5. I've never seen them, isn't that what Powell and the State Dept. are on?

sound dreadful!!!

[shamanstar]

11. they are definately on something

[frank frankly]

14. te-he

hahaha

what a funny war we've started!!!

hahahaha

[htuttle]

6. Manufacturers say that people don't take them for the buzz...

...but then in the commercials for them, they show people soaring through a clear blue sky, with their hair fluttering in slow motion -- big serene smile on their face.

Damn. I haven't seen anything that made you feel like that in 25 years!

[frank frankly]

7. it makes you feel like a cloud or a flower

or a ray of sunshine.

but clinically.

[Eloriel]

8. I noticed it some time ago

Years, actually, tho it probably wasn't as prevalent as it is now. There was a switch to stupid (the only way I can characterize it) and violent.

It's hard for me to imagine that these kinds of ads actually help sell product (or service).

In any case, I attributed the switch you mention, when I first noticed it, to a younger generation filling ad agencies, the kids who'd been raised on a lot of violence and the kind of rank stupidity of, say, Beavis and Butthead.

In the early 90s (before I noticed this trend) I worked for a small ad agency. They did a study (probably a focus group) where they found out that you do NOT advertise financial institutions using humor. Nuh huh. People didn't want their money joked about. (I can certainly see that this would make sense -- common sense, which would've saved them the money of the study or focus group, but I digress.) ANd it should go without saying that you should never, never have your product presented by an unsympathetic character.

I can't imagine why ANYone (say corporate marketing people) would approve an ad where there is violence or recoiling horror going on.

:shrug:

Eloriel

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. Women are always smart in TV commercials

Not a dumb one among them, but all the men are shallow Hals or dumber & dumberers.

Obviously I'm not the target of these commercials.

Click Here To See Fair & Balanced Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[MSchreader]

10. Paternalism

It seems to be all the rage now (as if it ever went out of style?!). You're supposed to be dependent on the "proper" and "correct" things (provided by your father, Big Capital, of course!). The alternative is unthinkable ... but can apparently be visualized in a 30-second commercial.

Martin

[Enraged_Ape]

13. I think this has always been the case

The entire subtext of every television commercial ever aired can be expressed in just four words: "You're not good enough."

[dmr]

15. I usually tune out the commercials, but

there are many times, for the life of me, I have no idea what they are trying to sell; or I can't figure out what they are saying has to do with the product they are selling. Tuning out and 'mute' work best for me.

Funny though, many of the very old commercials were so good, they are imbedded "plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is ...."

[JackRiddler]

16. Stupid is much older but...

there is much more effort put nowadays into desensitizing people to EVERYTHING. Not just keeping them ignorant and naive and incurious, not just glorifying their stupidity (hey that goes waaaay back, practically to Gilligan's Island), but achieving a complete bludgeoning of the senses, a loss of reality with regard to death and suffering. Attitude: Everyone has everything coming and I don't care. Darwin Awards, cool. Kill'em all. Just get it over with. "Comedies" now feature serial killers. (It's coming! The serial killer sitcom, not even as satire on serial killer obsession.)

[SoCalDem]

17. Jackass..Fear Factor..Survivor..Bachelor.. American Idol

We are into "competition" in everything.. In order to be a "winner", there MUST be a loser.. To amplify the "win", the loser must be pathetic,impotent,stupid..whatever..

Products are never really good enough/different enough to stand on their own, so they must demonize their "opponents"..

When you get right down to it, most "products" we have in the USA are NOT that much different from each other.. Will your teeth fall out if you choose Colgate, instead of Crest?? Will you have to throw out all your dishes because Electrasol did not get them as squeeky clean as Cascade??

In the olden days, commercials could just make stuff up, but now, they must be factual.. That means research and fact checkiing, so they just switched to the innuendo, and quasi ridicule to get their point across..

Basically, there are just too many damned "products".. Do we really "need" 137 different kinds of soda pop, or 36 different kinds of gum??

We are consumers par excellence, and they must sell to us every minute of every day..

I really think that most of the money is wasted anyway, because most of us buy the same ole stuff week after week.. When was the last time that you raced out to the store to buy that "new thing" you saw advertized??