Ah, television commercials! The bane of the television viewer's existence. Nothing is more irritating than having the network break away to a television commercial just when you are about to find out who's being voted off the Survivor island or who shot J.R. Also, some commercials give us way more information than we need. I, for one, do not need to actually see a woman scooping clumps out of a cat litter box in order to be convinced of cat litter's odor absorbing qualities. I much prefer the advertiser to tell me about the product's good points while showing an adorable kitten chasing a string and playing a really good rock tune in the background, something like Cat Scratch Fever. Other commercials are just over the top to the point of bordering on ridiculous. I am still trying to figure out what Paris Hilton in a bikini has to do with the price of cheeseburgers in Beverly Hills.
Still, as much as we complain about them, television commercials do have a lot to offer. Here are just a few of the things that are actually kinda great about television commercials.
1. Television commercials provide product information. Okay, you're right. A lot of television commercials are absolutely ridiculous. But they DO keep us posted on what's out there for consumers. Without television commercials, we wouldn't know about the advances in disposable diapers or the difference between solid, aerosol or extra dry antiperspirant or deodorant formulas. We might not even know the difference between antiperspirant and deodorant! Commercials also let us know when new products come out on the market that may solve problems in our personal lives, for our children or in our households. Without television commercials, how would we know about tartar control toothpaste, whitening toothpaste, or toothpaste for sensitive teeth? We wouldn't, not without spending a lot of time in the grocery store aisles looking over each and every product and reading lots of packaging.
2. Television commercials give us snapshots of our culture. Television commercials give us a real picture of what life was like in bygone eras. Television programs and movies are not quite the same. Shows and movies are designed to entertain and to tell a story, and so costumes and settings must dazzle. With television commercials, however, the actors are hired to play "every man" in order to convince "every man" that he must purchase their product. So, their furnishings, clothes, hairstyles and language reflect those of the day. What gives us a clearer, more realistic picture of life in the '50's, for example? "Happy Days" or a period commercial for Geritol, Alka Seltzer or Texaco? What provides us with a better snapshot of life in the '60's than a bunch of flower children on a hilltop, all dressed in bell bottoms and peasant blouses, singing, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke?"
3. Television commercials are entertaining. As much as we complain about them, some television commercials are truly humorous, touching, fascinating or captivating in some way. I, for one, can't take my eyes off the screen when the HP photo printer commercial comes on, the one with the guy pulling rectangular cut-outs from around his neck and up over his head, where they instantaneously turn into freeze frame photos of the guy pulling rectangular cut-outs from around his neck and up over his head. I can't stop smiling (or dancing) when Ellen's American Express commercials come on. And how about that Folgers commercial? The one where the little girl comes downstairs early on Christmas morning to find that her brother has come home from college to surprise the family? And then they make coffee together for everyone? That one never fails to bring a tear to my eye. In fact, I'd better go. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it.
Copyright (c) 2005 by Leanne Phillips
