Tag Archives: advertising.

want to buy a ….

11 May

Some time ago I made mention of some of the more unusual radio and TV commercials that I was hearing .. adverts for all sorts of crazy things, from burial plots to the funeral plans that help you on your way to them.

BUT  a couple of days ago my (nowhere near 50something) daughter  pointed out that she had been streaming a USA station where she was hearing a non stop run of ads for adoption of real live children. I couldn’t believe it …adoption

I struggle to imagine going about my business and hearing an ad that’s meant to make me think about adopting a child  … and having a spontaneous thought, yeah I think I will do that, right after a get my hair done and pick up the groceries.

I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry… but I guess its a reasonable thing to wonder about on Mother’s Day.

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would you like drugs with that ?

18 Mar

So I was listening to the radio in the car this morning and I had one of those  “YES YES YES moments”  and cracked up laughing when I heard them discussing TV advertising in the USA.

After three trips to America I can honestly say the ads still amuse me ….

We just can’t compete … but the funny thing is that they are (most often) not meant to be funny.  I have never  before heard drugs, creams, medications of all kinds advertised like ‘must have’ consumer items… whipping up a market and creating a need like they are the latest fashion accessory.

You can just picture the ’50 Something’  folks glued to their TV set  thinking ….

“wow I think I better get me some of that latest  heart failure, blood pressure, high cholesterol, (insert  whatever is your favourite medical condition )  drug, right now, it sounds great. Oh and look at that super packaging !”

…and the ad goes on to list ever possible disclaimer related to the drug itself in a cheery and matter of fact tone…. in other words it may help your problem … but it could kill you in the process.

If you are wondering what I’m banging on about … take a look at this ad for Spiriva (an asthma type medication) but make sure you see it through and listen to  ALL the possible side effects …. would YOU take this drug?

Spiriva Commercial

 Thank god pharmaceutical companies  have not stooped to commercial mass marketing here … yet!… BUT I’ve gotta say it’s  wildly entertaining…

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trainspotting…

3 Mar

After another fabulous day of amusement riding the New York subway…I reckon we can almost claim ‘local status’. Today we’ve been uptown, downtown, cross town and out of town, with only a couple of slip ups which were quickly sorted.

As always though the best part is the people watching (well it’s sure not the scenery given that at one stage,  we travelled almost 25kilometres underground and underwater, to the far reaches of Queens….just to get a feel for ‘the burbs’). The thing is that by the time we got there almost every one of the curious characters was sound asleep… mouths gaping heads nodding.. even Mr 50 Something managed to nod off and start mumbling to himself. But MY real treat was seeing a guy that was the spitting image  of Homer’s dad, Grandpa Simpson… complete with his trademark protruding ‘rubber’ lips and high receding hairline… I just wanted him to speak just to consolidate that image (but by then HE was asleep too).

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The other interesting subway observation is the ‘in-carriage’ advertising … (SO different from our Aussie adverts) …Some of it cryptic, but most of it overt .

‘call 1800-DIVORCE’…placed right alongside ‘call 1800 – BANKRUPTCY’

Just a couple of the cheery travel messages bought to you by the New York Subway system.

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