I like commercials. It’s a great way to watch TV. You don’t have to pay for the entertainment you get (unless you have cable, in which case you pay less because of the commercials), and you get to see all kinds of new products that you may never have known about before. The majority of commercials, of course, advertise things that I don’t have any need or desire for, but then, I’m not too picky about that.
I admit that I find some recent commercials upsetting. There’s one they keep playing where somebody has a bottle opener next to his toilet so he can open his beer. This seems to promote alcoholism and I’m a little surprised there isn’t some kind of public outcry over it. Those times have probably passed away. People who complained about too much violence and sex and promotion of bad behavior have lost each battle they fought. They probably shot themselves in their feet when they complained about The Simpsons or Dirty Dancing or Looney Toons. I’m also a little disturbed by commercials announcing “Bad Credit? No Credit? No Problem!” as though not being able to manage money wisely is okay. And, of course, there are the ads for losing weight, most of which suggest that you can lose weight without any kind of moderation. Not all are like this. SlimFast tells you what you need to do to lose weight. A SlimFast for breakfast, one for lunch, and a sensible dinner.
But on the whole, I appreciate the commercials. I know I’m probably influenced by name recognition, when, say, I have to choose between Frosted Flakes and the store brand equivalent, it takes quite a price reduction for my purchase of the store brand. But I’m also influenced just by knowing the products are available to me. I spend more money because of commercials, but I spend it on things I could really use or really enjoy. |
