Television Commercials

Do you block out TV commercials, either by ignoring them or by hitting the mute button on your remote? Do you feel, as I do, that the makers of commercials, not necessarily the product manufacturers themselves, are responsible for the banal content that is obviously aimed at the lower third of the IQ ranks? Or do you boycott products that are part of these really bad commercials as you know the manufacturers must have approved & paid for them before airing? Obviously, commercial writers assume most viewers cannot think independently; Commercials writers assume viewers have short attention spans; Commercial writers use common stereotypes to ... Read Full Story

I don’t know what channel it is that I like to watch that seems to play the new Chemistry.com commercial every other 30 seconds, but I can’t stand it. However, I shrugged it off. Until about 10 minutes ago when my CD sent the link to the TV spot on YouTube (to hear the voiceover for a commercial of ours, not to hawk Chemistry). The sounds of hearing that commercial play several times through the office – with the stupid beatboxing line – I almost lost it. So what better way to vent my aggression than by posting my dislike for all to see. ... Read Full Story

(Above: London, April 2008. Bid-up TV.) Copyright Billy Macrae 2008 I've decided that one image per blog-post is actually okay- it concentrates the mind. So here's my current offering. Bleak as hell but it's been a bleak week! Sometimes I turn on the TV and what I see just beggars belief. Read Full Story

I really don't see the Mr T Snickers advert as homophobic. For those who haven't seen it, the advert shows Mr T firing Snickers from a machine gun at a man in running shorts while he heckles him, shouting "Speed walking, I pity you fool, you're a disgrace to the man race." Although his bottom jiggles at the beginning and a popular gay stereotype is the effeminate man, I think you'd have to read a lot into the advert to see the bottom jiggle as anything more than a man flailing slightly as he walks fairly fast. And tight shorts? They didn't look that ... Read Full Story

I guess I have been in a mole hole lately because Firebrand was just brought to my attention by a co-worker of mine the other day.  And of course, right when I look into it.... it might be pulled. Firebrand was an hour long show on the Ion network 11-12 nightly that focused on turning commercials into content for a show. Sounds like something only those in advertising like, unless it is one of those specials on NBC that shows "World's Funniest Commercials." So, needless to say, the show did not garner enough interest from investors  or advertisers, "It's the advertisers that haven't stepped ... Read Full Story