Can you believe it's been 10 years since we've started seeing all those commercials for erectile dysfunction? Seems more like 100. I remember when they first came on TV and I thought "what did he just say?" The boys were seven and five years old. Nothing like trying to distract the kids during a commercial break so you don't have to explain the use of that drug in a 90 second span.
Well, now the latest commercial is for women who worry about unplanned pregnancy. They can now ask their doctor about a procedure called Essure. When I heard this commercial I thought "what did she just say?" I don't know if it's just me, but ummmm, can anyone else see a connection here? What do you suppose is going to happen if someone is having a daily drug-induced erection? I'm thinking it could lead to some unplanned pregnancies!
There does seem to be a commercial for a pill or procedure for just about any condition these days. Conditions you didn't even know existed. Conditions that no one is too embarrassed to discuss. Like, an overactive bladder, bad breath, bad gas, an overactive appetite, the inability to get it up and keep it up and then the inability to think ahead about birth control. Conditions that make you cover your ears and scream "la, la, la, la....I can't hear you." For each one of these conditions is a commercial that makes you stop and say "what did they just say?" Ed and I still don't understand the connection, however, between erectile dysfunction and two people sitting in claw foot bathtubs with a mountainside view. If anyone can shed some light here, please do enlighten us.
The disclaimers for these commercials are hoot. Do you really need someone to tell you that if you're having an erection lasting over four hours straight (no pun intended) that you need to seek medical attention before you pass out from loss of blood flow to your brain? There are so many conditions that would prevent you from being on their medication that they may as well just spell out who can be on this medication. You'd have a better chance of taking this medication if the disclaimer was something more along the lines of "people who wear purple for more than three days in a row, are left handed, naturally blond, like sushi, have lost their job in the last 18 months, own a cat named Muffin or have a diabetic guinea pig are eligible to take this medication."
Another type of commercial I find particularly amusing is for makeup, or more specifically lipstick, that stays on for 16 hours! What? Unless you're a display in a wax museum , I don't think wearing lipstick that doesn't need to be reapplied for 16 hours is a good thing. Don't these people eat, drink, talk, or use napkins during the waking part of their day? I can't even go 16 minutes without having to reapply my lip gloss (which by the way will be a topic all by itself in some future posting).
My problem is that unless a commercial is going the comedic route, I expect it to be somewhat realistic. I know, that's just stupid thinking. After all, nobody features realism when it comes to selling their products. Also, when I watch TV, I continually talk to the TV and try to rationalize commercials, movies, or our favorite TV shows. This is one of the things that my mom does that drives me absolutely berserk, and yet I find myself doing it to Ed. He often looks at me like he wants to say "shut up" but instead just smiles and nods his head. For instance, a music video came on and this guy and girl were riding on his motorcycle. Of course, neither one of them had on a helmet, and she was wearing a camisole type shirt which exposed lots of skin and all I could think about what was how her body would be scraped beyond recognition and the major head trauma she would suffer if they had an accident. I don't even remember what the song was--just how she wasn't being very practical. Yea, you might be in love girlie, but as soon as you wipe out on that bike and rip you're skin off, he's outta you're life.
Just this morning I heard a promo for a feature coming up on one of the local news stations about "what to say and not to say to someone you know who has lost their job." I thought "do people really need instruction on how not to be an insensitive boob?" What could someone possibly be saying that would warrant such a feature? Maybe something like "You lost your job? Wow, you must have sucked at whatever was you did!" Perhaps it's something more along the lines of "Good luck getting another job in this economy. You're screwed! And no, I can't loan you any money." Fortunately, for Ed, he has not encountered any such insensitive morons. Everyone seems to know just what to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment