Posted on 04/27/2020 8:12:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
A new kind of television advertisement has crept into our collective consciousness here in the age of virus. In an effort to show that they care, and you know, sell stuff, major corporations are inundating the airwaves with saccharine-sweet, super-sincere TV spots that are not a little bit dystopian. Indeed, the virus, it seems, is inescapable even when we cut to a few words from our sponsors.
You’ve all seen them. They include phrases like, “In this time, more than any other,” or “As we all rise to the challenge,” or “Stay safe, stay home.” The last one is particularly infuriating. I mean, I am home! I’m watching freakin television! Where do you think I am, a sports bar? I’m just trying to tune out watching “Friends” over here.
In a Dunkin Donuts ad, employees in one store are making masks. An AT&T ad like dozens of others is a for-profit celebration of frontline responders. There is ad after ad after ad of cozy indoor shots of parents teaching kids, people cooking, virtual happy hours, all of it.
And they aren’t even honest. A lot of families are at each other’s throats. What there should probably be is more Peloton divorce ads about couples who now hate each other, or some single guy sadly taping together used pizza boxes for the recycling.
It is honestly enough to make me long lovingly for the days “Mike Bloomberg for president” ads were more prevalent than grains of sand on the beach. Remember that? It was about 14 years ago, I think. But annoying as they were, those ads weren’t as cloying and Orwellian as the 30-second spots reinforcing lockdown orders while selling products.
We all know already about the shutdown. It’s not a public service to constantly remind us that we have barely left our houses for two months. One of the big reasons people watch TV is to escape this weird reality for a few hours, to settle into the world as it was, not as it is. But the next thing you know it’s back to hospital rooms and facemasks on the screen, stirring music swelling beneath. Just stop.
You know what I want from TV ads right now? I want pretty people with good, strong teeth pushing products that can dramatically improve my life. I want jokes, and celebrity cameos, contests and yelling. I want some affirmation that someday life will be back to normal, not constant reminders of the current drudgery.
A great danger in a long-term slow-motion crisis is that a narrative can start to set in across the culture. Increasingly. that is reinforcing a victim narrative. After all, there is little some Americans crave more than the mantle of victimhood. It is a message of powerlessness in which all we can do is heat up a can of baked beans and wait for the dictatorship of expertise to give us the all-clear.
Television ads play an outsized role in crafting that narrative. This is in part because TV viewership among Americans is so fragmented that we don’t watch the same news, or the same shows, but we do watch the same ads. It is one of the few forms of television that can still saturate society. Please saturate it with something other than shilling while putting on a coronavirus pageant.
There is a danger of wallowing. Yes, our lives have temporarily changed, but no, coronavirus need not be at the center of our every waking moment. In fact, if we let it be, we will all slowly go insane. So please, big companies and advertising companies, just cut us a break. Let us think about something else. I’ll buy it, whatever it is. I promise.
Conditioning, pure and simple.
You just know if O’bozo were still president, he’d be front and center of these celebrity PSAs.
I was hopping to see the Clydesdale in n 95s walking down the street spaced 6 feet apart
My only joy everyday is listening to the celebs talk about how tough it is staying in their large homes.
Knowing someone else is struggling brings hope that we are all in this together and I too will be making millions and living in a large home like them after this is all over........
These “wash your hands raw/stay away from everyone/wear your hazmat suit outside your home” ads have moved to my number 1 class of disgusting ads.
When you consider that the “just $19/month for my charity” and insurance ads from every company are now downgraded to 2a and 2b, that’s a pretty low bar to be following!
Recorded prior to the lockdown. But royalties live on.
Nope. If Obozo were president there would be a blip in “the flu” stats but no need for hysteria since everyone knows Obama cares and knows what is best.
But then again, he had his shot a flu tyranny and didn’t take it. Probably because he was afraid of what would come down on his head if he had encourage or pulled half this crap that is going on now.
He is probably kicking himself on how poorly he judged the Freeper tolerance for tyranny. Had he only known. He could still be president.
I made a note of those. We watched Shetland and I overlooked it in my list.
YesYesYes... and don’t forget the universal ending... “we’re all in this together.”
I love Shetland it was free at one time now you have to pay for it. Poldark was my favorite. I watched each season 5 times.
Started? I’ve been muting these idiotic ads for weeks.
They are all doing it regardless of the product. It’s good to know that they all love us but enough is enough
I’m so glad to see this post.
Because right now I want to punch anyone in the face who tells me about us all being in this together, showing kids playing dodge ball with rolls of toilet paper, playing and singing happy songs.
I want to scream WE ARE NOT HAPPY SHUT THE HELL UP!
But that’s just me.
Once again, I was feeling guilty, feeling how mean I am not wanting to join everyone else who is all in it together.
I want to spit and hiss.
The problem with these commercials, they work for a while. But only early on.
Once the silly people want their lives back that insipid advertisement only makes you feel worse.
I’ve been saying that for weeks. Everyone has to get into the act. And the sappy music! Enough!
“YesYesYes... and don’t forget the universal ending... “we’re all in this together.” “
Listening to Gov. Abbott here in Tx. about opening up the state, he started with the “we’re all in this together” theme and looks like he’s going to thank half the state for something before we get any real info. That thank everybody for everything deal is getting very old also. VP Pence did it on Rush’s show some days ago. Corpus Christi, Tx. has been having a pretty good news conference most days of the week with good info on COVID cases there and surrounding counties and various services available, but after few minutes they start thanking everybody (including the Spanish translator) and I turn it off then. I appreciate all that various types of workers have done but get so tired of some of this.
Did he say anything about the opening of salons?
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