Monday, January 2, 2012

Advertising is wasted on me

I keep seeing commercials that will stick with me because I take them and let my mind run with them.  I take my initial reaction to the commercial and imagine what the advertising firm would think of my reaction.  I'm sure they'd be thrilled to know that these campaigns they spent so much time and money on are completely wasted on me. 

Maybe I'm not the target audience they are seeking, but I am a consumer, and so maybe someone out there cares about my opinion. 

The ones that always get me thinking are the jewelry store commercials.  My husband gave me a beautiful ring for Christmas, and he most certainly did NOT go to Jared.  He supported a local business, and saved money too!  I think those commercials are so ridiculous, because I can't think of a single friend of mine who would open a jewelry box and see a beautiful piece of jewelry and say, "Hmmm... I wish he would have gone to Jared." 

And as I posted just the other day on Facebook, those Kay Jewelry commercials are ridiculous.  Their slogan of "Every kiss begins with Kay" has bugged me for years.  And they have one of the creepiest commercials I've ever seen.  The one with the couple in a cabin in the woods and it's stormy outside?  That one really seems like it would be better suited to sell chainsaws than jewelry because whenever I see that commercial I am convinced that he only took her to that cabin to kill her and stash the body. 

If advertisers really wanted to sell something to women, who really should be their target demographic because we do the majority of the shopping, they would focus that type of energy on cleaning products that are easy to use and/or fun or gadgety.  While I have never heard one of my friends utter the phrase that bugs me so much, "HE went to Jared," I have heard them express such gratitude for help around the house. 

Swiffer Wet Jet should jump on that bandwagon and have a group of women having coffee and one of them bragging, "HE mopped the whole house!"  I guarantee you the rest of the women would ooh and aaah just as much as they do in the jewelry commercials.   Or Dawn dish soap could do one, "HE cleaned the kitchen!!"  Charmin could really score with "HE changed the empty toilet paper roll!!" 

Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but if you're going to flood the market with ads, at least make them worth watching, maybe even slightly realistic?

And while I'm on my rant, what's the deal with all the air in chocolate now?  Hershey's Air???  I haven't priced them, but I'm guessing they are more expensive.  So who is the brainiac who came up with chocolate full of holes that you pay more for?