I'm not a big TV person. I grew up in a home where TV was not a central part of our lives, and we didn't even have cable for most of my childhood. When we did watch TV, we watched PBS (Square One was my favorite PBS show) and Saturday morning shows (Hang Time, Saved by the Bell, and cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my little brother). Of course as I got older, I made my own choices about TV and became a devoted fan of my one or two regular shows and anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to discuss and analyze those with fellow fans. :)
However, even more than TV not being a big part of our lives, commercials were almost absent from them. Both of my parents practically have a conniption if you don't immediately press mute when the commercials come on. Since my TV viewing time is still pretty limited, I only see a few commercials. Lately though, I started thinking about commercials--are they effective or merely entertaining? I recently (out of the kindness of my heart) took pity on a telephone surveyor and answered a few of his questions. He kept asking me which phone or cable commercials and companies popped in my head first, and I drew a blank nearly every time. I'm sure that commercials do subtly influence me, but being the independent, strong-willed person I am, I don't think that really have that much of an effect on me.
Here are two examples from my current favorite commercials: There is an ad for a cell phone company where the dad travels around the world for business, each time sending a picture to his wife and daughter of his daughter's favorite stuffed animal. At the end, the picture is of the stuffed animal in front of the family's house. The little girl rushes out to see her daddy, and it's sweet, cheesy, and adorable. However, I don't remember the name of the company nor I am likely to switch my cell phone provider. It did make me slightly desire a camera phone but not enough to pay the extra bucks for it. Example 2-The high-maintenance bride who wants a cake with a pattern that matches her veil but a color that matches the bridesmaids' dresses, and the accommodating Publix bakery worker who has whipped up a sample before the bride even gets off her cell phone. (My favorite part of this commercial is when she comes back to the bakery to show the wedding photos to the worker.) Once again, a heartfelt commercial I connected with and enjoyed. Did it change me though? Not at all. I am already an extremely loyal Publix shopper so much so they should actually pay me for all the free PR work I did for them when they were first starting in Birmingham. This commercial simply affirms what I already believe about "shopping being a pleasure" there. If Bruno's did a similar commercial, would I shop there? Absolutely not.
So that is my diatribe on commercials. Are commercials effective or just entertaining? You be the judge. It's clear though that at least I like to think that they are not influencing my decisions. Lastly, it also seems clear that I am a sucker for sentimental commercials...just like Meg Ryan and Rosie O'Donnell in Sleepless in Seattle!
