Friday, March 12, 2010

Commercials you'd prefer not to see on TV

I have a Useless Trivia widget on my Google home page that provides information that is sometimes funny and sometimes bizarre, causing me to wonder who looked up the odd information. It is a source of amusement for me when I repeat some of these items to Bill and watch his expression.

Today's item states that Playtex made U.S. history in May 1987 when TV networks began airing its commercials showing women wearing bras. Prior to this, either torso mannequins were used, or female models donned brassieres on top of their outer clothing.
I know that graphic is a Maidenform print ad, not a Playtex ad that ran on TV, but my Google search didn't find an image I liked. The unusual hat (is it a bird attacking her head???) made this a more interesting choice.

I remember some people being embarrassed by these ads as well as the ads for feminine hygiene products. Men who laughed at the silliness of women being embarrassed  found the shoe on the other foot when Viagra and Cialis commercials began airing.
And let's not forget Bob, the guy in the Enzyte commercials! 
There aren't any current commercials that I find embarrassing but some are annoying, some are confusing (what were they selling?) and there are some categories of products I'd like to see go away, namely prescription drug ads.

I trust my doctor to decide if it is time for me to begin using a drug and which one might be best for me. Do any of us need to tell our doctors (for example) we want what Sally Fields is taking? Do we really believe she takes Boniva or is she a well paid actress doing her job?
And speaking of her pay, how much of Boniva's cost covers her salary? Even without a recognizable face endorsing a product, TV commercials are very expensive. I know the high cost of drugs isn't solely the result of commercials, but it is a pet peeve of mine. I wrote the checks to cover medical insurance for my husband's company for almost two decades and prescription drug coverage went up drastically each of the last five years I made those payments.

Rather than further rants about medical costs and insurance coverage, I am going to stop and ask which commercials bother you, either specific ones or types of products.

To end with a bit of humor, as our population ages, perhaps every other ad should be for a memory enhancing drug, preferably sold at all check-outs so that we are likely to buy it and use it. Just look at this spoof of the above Cialis ad:

4 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

Oh my goodness too cute and you are so right!

Hey - in that first picture did you notice the waist? And what's more - I think they did have waists like that back then!

What happened?
sandie

KTW said...

I despise Bob. It's just a fact. It's tough to explain to your 7 year old when they ask about some of these commercials that I REALLY feel shouldn't air at all hours of the day.

But one little funny...a couple of years ago the hubs was having some... *ahem* ....problems. These problems required that he take Flomax. He always sets his meds on the counter at night so he'll remember to take them in the a.m. When Perri (then about 10 years old) saw the Flomax sitting there, she says "Wow. Dad's taking that old man medicine!" LOL!

Sewconsult said...

I remember the days of feminine spray or tampons that would embarrass the heck out of me.

Anonymous said...

I think comercials are getting just a little to personal these days and I don't think some of them need to be on TV. When some of them come on my hubby and I just shake our heads. The gel commercial is the worst. I won't go into further detail. I hope you have a great week.