Posted on 04/19/2006 11:03:03 AM PDT by JZelle
A couple of weeks ago I was felled by a particularly nasty flu. Too sick even to read, I listened to radio and watched television for long hours every day. What I heard and saw was not conducive to recovery. I admit to being a little "out of the loop" as I almost never watch entertainment television on the major stations. But the level of vulgarity that now seems utterly ordinary is just unbelievable. Bud Light has a series of radio commercials that celebrate "Real Men of Genius," a very tongue-in-cheek tribute to the ordinary guys whose greatest accomplishment, these ads seem to suggest, is filling their bellies with light beer. One of these "tributes" was aimed at "Mr. Supermarket Produce Putter Outer" and went like this:
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I never heard my father use vulgar language--my father or my mother.
And my children have never heard me talk that way. They never will.
Maybe you should have listened to your mother.
Fixed it for you. Good beer sells itself.
But something has to be done.
Well said.
I always hear the change the channel argument--not sure how you do that when you are out in public. It never fails that I hear someone talking vulgar walking through a store--often times they are talking on a cell phone.
I read the ad copy provided by Mona, and it seemed more bawdy than vulgar. "Girls Gone Wild" and Howard Stern are vulgar. Some works of literature containing a similar level of bawdy or suggestive writing as the ad are considered great works of art.
No, I am not saying the ad is great art or literature. If people think it is inappropriate for the radio, they should complain to a station's sponsors.
If Ms. Charen is upset about vulgarity in the Bud Lite commercials, wait till she sees the animated bears in the Charmin bathroom tissue commercials. And don't even get me started on the Victoria's Secret ads. These have been known to shut down the noisiest Thursday night poker game instantly...
I can't remember the product, but they had one radio ad where two women were talking to each other in seductive tones. "Is this your first time, etc. etc." It made you think they were talking about getting it on with each other and then turned out to be something else entirely of course. I sent them a letter that I didn't like the ad and they responded that it was some kind of ironic comedy blah, blah, blah. I was hearing this on a radio station that plays all conservative talk radio BTW. I think the radio station or the company got enough complaints because it was soon never heard from again.
"Have you been to your local mall lately?
You can see and hear things that just make you shake your head and wonder who raised this kids?"
I'm on my way right now! Thanks! [grin]
In my opinion, we all need to speak right up when teenagers speak like that young woman did. Just pipe right up and say, "Watch your mouth, young lady!"
I've done it many times, and it shuts the kids right up. They can't believe that some adult has told them what to do. Try it. You'll feel better, and the kids will get a lesson from an adult.
Many of the "Real Men of Genius" ads are very clever and funny. Some are vulgar and are not even subtle about it.
The shampoo ad I find embarrassing even when I'm watching TV alone, much less when I'm with the wife and kids. (Although I do recall the wife sort of giggling at that one the last time we saw it.) I've never had any kind of sensation from a shampoo, although a friend of mine tells me that one version of Head and Shoulders makes his head feel as if it were covered in ice.
I haven't seen the Hardee's Paris Hilton ad, but we don't have Hardee's here. I did find it on a google search, but the way it's described, it's probably not something I want to view here at work.
I thought the Pepto ad was kind of funny, although I can usually can do without explicit references to vomiting and excretory functions. We all know what Pepto is for. But, of the ads Mona mentioned, this one is at least about the product it is advertising. How are the other ads really about the merits of Bud Light or Herbal Essence?
One thing she didn't mention was the evolution of toilet paper ads. Back in the day, we had ads with Mr. Whipple imploring his customers not to squeeze the Charmin. "But it's so squeeably soft" replied the customers, and they proved it by brushing a few squares against a cheek. Well, any toilet roll all rolled up is going to be soft, even the dreaded Scott one-ply, and we all knew that the cheek on which Charmin's softness was demonstrated was not the cheek on which it was actually used. Not even close. But, just in case we didn't get it, the toilet paper companies have decided to become more explicit with their ads. So one of them has an ad that is obviously a take-off of the old expression, "Does a bear s**t in the woods?" and another has people wiggling their clean, fragrant and happy backsides, which are clean, fragrant and happy due to the use of a certain toilet paper.
I hate to imagine what is coming next.
1. It's too cheap and easy. I'm a paid professional; I should be able to come up with something more clever and creative than the scatalogical jokes you might hear in a junior high locker room.
2. No matter how funny they may be, they will offend some listeners, and you're not doing your client a service by alienating potential customers. I always say, the first priority is to sell the product, but priority #2 is not to actively drive customers away.
BTW, my nominee for the most disgusting commercial (even though it's not nearly as graphic as most) is the one for the diarrhea medicine where the guy is suddenly struck with an attack while he's in the hotel hot tub with two women and has to quickly rush out with his knees together. I may never get into another hotel hot tub.
I've read volumes of books I'd have never touched otherwise, rediscovered some old hobbies, found a few new ones, listen to a lot more music and my dogs and I get enough exercise to ensure we all sleep soundly virtually every night. These days, I often wonder how I ever had time to watch TV.
All of my news comes via internet or radio. I'll buy the rare DVD to watch on my laptop, and even more infrequently, I'll actually pay admission at a theater for a movie, but I'm willing to bet that on any given day I feel far more on top of current events, and more satisfactorily entertained than most people who rely on their TVs. I remember dad always calling the TV, 'the idiot box,' and now, years later, I fully understand why.
I do have to admit that maybe once every two months or so, I'll hear a radio ad for a History Channel special and wish that I had a TV, but investing in a TV and contracting with a satellite or cable service for one hour of quality entertainment every 60 days passes no cost-benefit analysis criteria of which I'm aware. When I first set out on my TV-free lifestyle, there were moments of self-doubt when I feared becoming 'out of touch' with contemporary culture. Now, when I look at contemporary culture, I miss it in the same way I would miss being out of touch with a bucket of arsenic or an aquarium full of rattlesnakes.
I don't understand what you mean.
Why shouldn't their ads be tasteless? Their beer sure as hell is!
"What are you going to do with that art history degree you just earned? That's right, you're going to get a nose ring, and work at a fancy coffee shop, and pour fancy coffees."
Those are darn funny. Sure they stretch the limits on taste sometimes, but they're selling BEER!
Some people seriously need to lighten up - we've gone through this in the 50's, 60's 70's 80's - sure it gets cruder and more crass. Remember the Archie Bunker show?
America will be alright.
Or you can live with TV and buy/rent a DVR.
DVR allows you to spin past the commercials and get to the program. No more watching those stupid commercials..
IMHO, that's the only way to view TV any way.
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