I have come to hate many of the commercials I see on TV. Once in a while, a commercial will really strike me as funny and I'm so taken by it, I think, because it's rare that I like them. And newspaper ads or print marketing in general? Oh, don't even go there. But, let me explain.
Yesterday, I was watching a commercial for Minute Clinic. Not that there's anything wrong with Minute Clinic, because it is a good thing for many people, but ... The commercial showed a woman in a skirt suit (which looked all too familiar to me) and she's rushing around in the morning trying to get ready and trying to get her kids out the door. She looks at her watch and the announcer is saying something like there's no time. Then she's at her office and she's trying to get things done. Again, she looks at her watch and we all hear again that there's no time. Then she's off to the grocery store and she's in a rush (again, this entire commercial is looking ALL TOO FAMILIAR to me) but now she acts as if her throat is hurting.
So what does she do? Why of course, she just trots on over to the Minute Clinic, because, as the announcer says so matter-of-factly, our time is so precious that when minutes count, blah, blah, blah. Then, after she is "healed" at the Minute Clinic, she picks up her kids from school and says, "Should we go to the park?" Like the Minute Clinic miraculously just made time for her to spend two hours at the park with her kids?! You've got to be kidding me.
Like I said, there is nothing wrong with the Minute Clinic or any clinic like that. What I was so incredibly disheartened by, is that we are being forced to believe that we don't even have time to be sick anymore. The message we constantly receive and the message constantly reinforced is you literally only have one minute to take care of yourself. Don't even think about being sick, because there's too much work to be done for Corporate America and there's too much work to be done at home.
Wow. That is so sad to me. For women in particular, I think this becomes a serious issue. We all hear that we really need to take time for ourselves. But, that never happens because the message is there's no time to take time for ourselves. Obviously, that's why we have the Minute Clinic.
Okay, that was Gripe No. 1. Onto No. 2.
I've seen multiple newspaper inserts on great deals on TVs "just in time for the Superbowl." What's worse ... this amazing phenomenon of TVs being on sale just for the Superbowl was actually on the news. The news, people! So, instead of saving my money or putting it into an investment account or just buying groceries so my family can eat, I'm being told that I can get a great deal on a 700" TV just for the Superbowl. Are we insane? Last time I checked, the unemployment rate was still pretty high.
I will admit, there are really great deals on TVs right now. And I know every holiday and every big event we can tie a bow on makes for a market company's dream, but, oh the pressure to go out and buy a new TV just for the Superbowl! We have to do it, because the Joneses down the street just bought one and they got 60% off. I'm just stunned that none of us stand up and say, "Stop treating us like idiots. We're not going to buy your stinkin' TV because we really don't need one for a football game." And maybe that's it; maybe I'm not a big enough football fan to know how important it is to watch the Superbowl on a brand new TV. Or maybe I'm just not wealthy enough to have the disposable income to go buy a brand new TV on a whim, or because I saw a great deal in an ad somewhere.
Or when it comes down to it, maybe it's the fact that I tend to buck authority and that I bristle at being told what I should and shouldn't do by someone who really doesn't know what's best for me. But I just want to urge my friends to really evaluate the messages that we are inundated with every second now. Are these really the values that we hold? Like I tell my kids, "Do you really NEED that?"
Maybe this is why I don't watch much TV anymore. I still want to believe that if I have strep throat, I can take at least a day to recover and I can take the time to see my doctor. And, I still want to believe that the TV I bought three years ago is good enough to watch this weekend. But maybe, just maybe, if I watch all of the million-dollar commercials during the Superbowl (on my 3-year-old TV) I'll find one I do like. We'll see.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the Victoria's Secret commercials ...
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