Day 298
It’s the holiday season … I’m doing stuff around the house … I have the TV on, in the background, for company. Every third minute, or so it seems, some commercial is blaring out louder than the programming that I have on at a mere whisper level.
I am being bombarded by commercials.
It’s the beginning of the cold and flu season. I know. I get it. There are commercials for nasal sprays and mucous busters and migraines and the whole lot. What I don’t get is that Ricola commercial … a soothing lozenge for sore throat sufferers. Why do they always ask if someone has a Ricola (rih-CO-la) and then they have that Swiss guy at the end of the commercial yelling out … RICOLA (as in … REE-coh-la)?
It makes me crazy! Does this not bother anyone else? If I go into the drugstore what do I ask for … a rih-CO-la or a REE-coh-la?
I was up late the other night and kept the TV on out of sheer dumbfoundedness (if that is a word) as it was one amazingly wild product promotion/commercial after another.
My favorite was definitely the ear wax vacuum. Seriously. Someone has made a tiny vacuum that sucks out a person’s ear wax. Eww! The commercial showed some moron shoving a Q-tip into his head so violently I’m surprised it didn’t pop out the other ear! I guess if people were gentler with those cotton swabs there wouldn’t be a need for an ear vacuum. Go figure – another person making their fortune off of idiots!
The other commercial I just “love” is the one where the guy is shouting about some laundry product. The original guy died … and the company apparently thought screaming at potential customers was the way to go, so they hired another guy who shouts. And he’s Australian. So, a shouting Australian is supposed to make me want to buy their product. Um, don’t think so.
Have you noticed how many people on commercials are Australian lately? Where do we live? I’m confused.
Of course, this is the time of year for all sorts of toy commercials … the most annoying of which is the commercial for Stuffies … some stuffed animal toy with secret compartments. Mom will love that when she finds Junior’s left over (moldy) peas smushed in a secret pocket come next week.
Where are the holiday commercials of my youth? Where is the snowman gliding along hills of shaving cream on his Norelco electric razor? Where are the funny commercials about “eating the whole thing” for Alka-Seltzer? Where are the Jolly Green Giant and Mr. Clean? What happened to that guy who shoved Salvo laundry detergent bars up from the inside of the washing machine? And where IS G.I. Joe with the Kung-Fu grip?
I miss them.
I have laughed at a few lately though … my favorite being the commercial for the Oikos Greek yogurt saying if you eat it, then anyone you are looking at turns into John Stamos. It’s pretty hilarious. The women do such a good job. Watch for it – it’s pretty darn funny.
I’m still a sucker for the Folger’s coffee or Hallmark card commercials. At this time of year – they always get me. They should be followed by a Kleenex commercial. I’m sure Kleenex sales would rise ten-fold.
In any case … I think I’m commercialed out – meaning I need to turn off the TV. But before I do maybe I can get an important TV offer phone number … one never knows when they might just need an ear wax vacuum.