Michelle wrote a great share recently that got some great feedback. It was asking if a fast food joint's commercial that portrayed a menopausal woman as slightly crazy was offensive. Some found it very offense, some loved it.
It got me thinking about all the other commercials out there for everything from "male enhancement" to heart attack medicine. Some are downright funny, some are very educational and some are painfully irritating.
Case in point:
"Smilin' Bob" is man who needs a little enhancement in his pants, apparently. So Bob pops some pill that renders him hung like horse, based on the smiles on a lot of women (despite the fact that Bob has a wife, known as Mrs. Bob) and the double meanings are out in full force. Bob gets a "big lift" from the pills and the "big" jokes go on and on. Incidentally, the founder is in federal prison for 20 years for ripping people off with these pills. It took a long time for people to come forward, they were too embarrassed to admit they bought the pills or were inadequate in "that" way.
The commercials by a very famous actress for a certain yogurt drink are also getting a bit irritating. She chats with women who constantly point to their lower regions while complaining about irregularity. It seems like this yogurt drink will have women (men are rarely in this equation for some odd reason) as regular as clockwork with nary a trouble in this world.
There are many others - that song "gotta go gotta go, gotta go RIGHT NOW!" with regard to overactive bladder, sees men and women dancing around like lunatics, leaving meetings, dates, the movies and golf games and running like the devil was behind them, to the bathroom.
"Where does depression hurt? Everywhere." This is one commercial that I actually find completely depressing in itself. Maybe it's supposed to; but I always feel down, even if the medication advertised promises to make me feel better.
Most diet pills can make anyone run for cake. They dutifully (and very professionally) inform us that fat tends to accumulate on our bellies, thighs and butts. Some "Institute" did a study and figured that out. And here I was thinking all the fat ended up on my ears and toes. Thank God for that commercial or I'd never have known! And it's good to know a pill will melt it all away...at about $150 a bottle.
The headache commercials for a cream you rub on your forehead would give anyone a migraine. Telling me to "apply directly to the forehead!" five hundred times in one commercial is unnecessary, I got it by the 137th repetition.
A deodorant commercial from years ago bragged that it lasted three days. The good looking actor is smiling, talking about how he doesn't need it today (because he used it yesterday) and may not need to use it tomorrow. Meanwhile I dread to think what the rest of his parts smell like after three days...my condolences to his wife and coworkers.
One non-health related commercial I hate?
I have to call Billy Mays out here. Does he really need to ROAR HIS HEAD OFF AT ME to tell me what cleaner, detergent or other home product works (so that I don't have to)? Billy has been assaulting my ear drums for too long now - which actually makes this health related! How does Billy not have laryngitis at this stage? He has been screaming into my living room for years. Every time I'm relaxing and watching a show (which is rare) I see his bearded face come on the screen and I race for the remote so my ears aren't blown away by Billy shouting at the top of his lungs that I should call the number below for a very special offer. Billy, dude, relax! It's just shower cleaner!
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What health care commercials have a positive reaction from you? What ones turn you right off?
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Add a Comment5 Comments
OMG, I hate Jack-in-the-Box commercials (menopausal woman, making fun of therapy, etc)! UGH.
August 11, 2009 - 8:07pmThis Comment
Poor Billy Mays...now dead.
June 29, 2009 - 9:01pmThis Comment
I feel bad for the kids these days growing up watching these commercials for medical products that have more side effects than cures.
Seriously, guys....this whole thing looks like the pharm industry doesn't know how to create drugs.
June 29, 2009 - 8:46pmThis Comment
I have to say that I simply don't "get" the point of the two bathtubs that migrate everywhere from the mountaintops to the seashore with the actor and actress playing a couple who use a drug that helps erectile dysfunction.
When was the last time a guy you know wanted to soak in a bathtub, anyway?
And clearly I'm too literal, but when I see that, what I imagine is all the behind-the-scenes work it takes to move those damn bathtubs from place to place, fill them with water from some unseen source, and then get the couple in the tubs looking amorous -- yet separate.
So this drug says to me: If he has ED, and he takes this drug, he'll want to hang out with you but in his own tub?
Like I said, I'm too literal. But honestly, it's just silly.
June 5, 2009 - 8:46amThis Comment
I have a friend who was in the Marketing/Advertising industry. He was a big corporate guy who became sick (literally) when he realized how deceiving this industry was. I met him after he had left the industry and in his own words he said: "I used to work for the devil himself!"
I do not watch TV much, but I can see his point of view. I think too many Americans take the bait and believe everything it is said about new drugs. We are a very gullable society that has been trained (or should I say "brainwashed") to accept what we see on TV, read on magazines, or find on the Internet. Sex sells! Size sells! A "quick fix" sells! The collapse of our economy is the result of societal dynamics that was been shaped by the advertising world all across the board.
June 3, 2009 - 11:46pmThis Comment