Commercials

How many insurance commercials have you seen over the years that use the catch phrase "peace of mind?" When I was just a tike my dad did a stint with Prudential selling life insurance and their hook was "get a piece of the rock." I was confused about just exactly what rock they were speaking of. I am now 58 years old, and I still don't know so maybe age has nothing to do with it. We are all aware that when we begin speaking of health insurance there is no need for tricky wording or slogans. People need only to understand that if they find themselves in a hospital bed for a few weeks without it they may be on a bread line for the rest of their days. I always have to laugh when I see Geico use a computer-generated lizard with an Aussie accent. The upside is he never ages, asks for a pay raise, or hogs all the Danish at the company meetings. The downside is it sometimes insults our intelligence.

Commercials are such a part of our culture I could rattle off any well-known catch phrase, and you would know what the product is straight away; for instance, "Ba da ba da da, I'm lovin it." Of course, we all realize that is the advertisement for America's largest behemoth burger stand and server of white trash cuisine, Mc Donald's. Don't be ashamed that you know the jingle by heart, we all do. And I should add that you are in no way alone. I too had a sausage egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast just this morning. My heart will ultimately pay the price for that but with any luck it won't be today. Some products become so engrained in our culture that the very brand name that is used becomes the catch-all word to describe it to the masses. For instance, Scotch Tape is not a kind of tape, it is the brand, although most of us refer to it in this way. This is when we know that the powers that be, have us by the gonads. Same goes for products like Band-Aide, Fruit of the Looms, Kleenex, and Post-it notes. How many times have you attempted to order a soda and without being deliberate just ordered a Coke? When two friends accidently say the same word at the same time you won't ever hear them say, "owe me a Sprite!" Brand placement is everything.

Even smarter still are the products that are able to inject just enough humor into their commercials that the memory of the ads stays with us forever, but the product evades us like a California moderate on election day. Picture this, a camel strolls into an office and says, "Mike, Mike, Mike, what day is it? Hump day!!" We can all see the ad in our mind's eye, but I'd bet my favorite welding hat nobody knows what company the ad is for. I'd like to ask (but probably not the first), why is there a guy named Doug and an Emu in the Liberty Mutual commercials? What does an oversized bird wearing sunglasses have to do with investment futures and retirement planning? Maybe Mr. and Mrs. John Q Public have just been smoking weed for so long that whatever qualifies as humor to them doesn't translate to the rest of the masses.

Also, I should point out that things advertisers could get away with in years past they clearly can't now. People these days are PC the point where it's nearly painful. There is a commercial from 1961 where Fred and Barney go to the back side of the garage, so they won't be bothered by the noise of all the work going by the women on for a break. This act alone would raise eyebrows today. But is this just any kind of break you ask. No, a smoke break! It was a commercial for Benson and Hedges cigarettes. Is it a solid idea to advertise cigarettes to children? Probably not. But it's also nothing to get our panties in a twist over. I don't believe I have ever heard Hanna-Barbarra mentioned in a lawsuit against Phillip Morris.