Everything I Needed To Know... I Learned From Television (Commercials)
Television commercials can be a wealth of information about the products they advertise... or they can be completely preposterous. Sometimes the most successful commercials are the silliest; as they create a humourous, and therefore positive, link with their product in your mind, they increase the chances that you will, upon encountering their product in a store, say, "Hey, I've seen this before..." With that in mind, here are a few lessons I've learned from some of the silliest - or most successful - commercials on television.
(Note: All of these commercials were, in fact, produced by the company whose product is in question, even though my descriptions may cast a bad light on the product :-)
- You shouldn't eat Pizza Hut pizza, because it will make you a horrible basketball player.
- You shouldn't drink Sprite, because, if you do, Grant Hill will arrive to run circles around you.
- As things get warmer, they approach a state of atomic decay. (A Chef Boyardee commercial states that its product is "so hot, it's almost radioactive.")
- If you use Firestone tires, a beautiful woman will shun you and give you her dog to express her opinion of you.
- You shouldn't eat Butterfinger candy bars, because if you do, the parole board will deny your application.
- You shouldn't drink Pepsi, because, if you do, you'll cause a lot of noise and everyone will stare at you.
- You shouldn't eat at McDonald's, because your girlfriend will invite your entire geeky family along.
- Don't drink Bud Light, because you'll break your nose and knock yourself out on a great big pole.
- If you use Microsoft, you don't have jack.
- Hot coffee is hot, but it feels really good to pour orange juice on one's crotch. (Jack in the Box commercial).
- Don't eat at Weinerschnitzel, because your mother will entice you to take a plunge off of a tall bridge.
More examples will be added to this list as they come to me, of course. Comments? Questions? Is there a commercial which you feel deserves mention? Let me know!
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J. Nathaniel Sloan
Last Modified: May 1, 1996