April 10, 2020
The Long Haul
Day 22
Who exactly is thinking about buying underwear in the middle of a global pandemic? Are you sitting at home worrying about the leaves that are clogging up your gutters? Does it really seem like a good time to stock up on Frog Tape? Is this really the best time to buy a Buick? That said this may be the perfect time to get that self-winding, string trimmer you have been dreaming about.
CNN, MSNBC and FOX advertisers think it is the perfect time to buy these things. Or more accurately, they believe it is the best time to promote these things.
Cable news is on 24/7 in many homes around the world, viewers watching breathlessly as reports of the coronavirus unfold one deadly statistic after another.
Cable news networks broadcast Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press briefings everyday. Yesterday the governor reported that more than 7,000 New Yorkers had died from Covid-19 related diseases.
Just before Governor Cuomo spoke an announcer, speaking in an equally dark tone, declared:
“What average underwear feels like!”
This was followed by an image of a grotesque, animated character, clothed only in briefs, his privates being tightly squeezed in an old hand-crank, meat grinder. The perfect image of tighty-whities making life miserable! We are left to ask; “Why don’t I have ‘Buck Naked Underwear,‘ a problem solver sold by Duluth Trading.
Move to five pm and cut from Wolf Blitzer to Tommy John. No, not the baseball player. Not the surgery either. Yes, the underwear company, creator of “The Big Adjustment” commercials, no explanation needed.
My favorite has to be the commercials for roof-gutter, leaf filters. In this ad a group of worried, shell-shocked, middle-aged, middle-class consumers have assembled in a meeting room. The crisis: their roof gutters are clogged with pesky leaves, Armageddon is just over the horizon. The cavalry arrives on the backs of a leaf guard, sales team and the end of times is brushed aside. The relief in the room is palpable, as one consumer proclaims: “I’m sold.”
Advertisers are a necessary evil. Without advertisers and subscribers there would be no cable news to watch. I tolerate the commercials, usually with the sound muted. I am not much of a consumer, little catches my eye in normal times.
But these are not normal times and I am really curious about the strategy behind these advertisements. So I have ignored the mute button for a couple of days.
Cable audiences are larger than ever and they are captive. They will be for weeks to come. So there is some method to this madness.
But! But! But!
Nobody has any money! And they won’t have any cash to spend frivolously for a long time.
The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that 16.8 million Americans, about 11 percent of the workforce, have filed unemployment claims in the last several weeks. Homebase, a company that supplies scheduling software to small business told University of Chicago researchers that 40 percent of its clients have shuttered their doors. Many are not expected to ever reopen.
Everyone is pinching pennies, worried about rent and food and diapers and hand sanitizer and perhaps beer and booze. Who, quarantined at home, goes through their underwear drawer and wonders: “Now is the time for a fresh pair of Buck Naked briefs?”
The president talks about reopening the economy next month. More sober minds suggest it will be later and warn that Americans will return to work slowly and in stages. Money will be tight for a long time. Perhaps more importantly, consumers will be saddled with debt and unpaid bills and less likely to spend freely. Scientists and medical professional worry a second wave of the virus could hit and cripple the economic recovery. For now, we seem to be listening to the scientists and medical professionals first and the politicians last.
Some companies have worked the virus into their advertising. Some are subtle. A take-out pizza company proclaims proudly that once a pie is in the oven, it is never again touched by a human until the customer eats it. CVS Pharmacies are promoting free-home delivery, a real service for their customers, especially seniors.
Some are blunt and deceptive like the many shameless commercials for Medicare supplementary insurance. These are designed to make the product look like a government-created Medicare supplement. Yes, a close read of the ad makes it clear it is not a government program, but the look, feel and text of the commercial are designed to intentionally suggest otherwise.
Finally, is there anyone in America who suffers from mesothelioma who is not already a part to the class action lawsuit flogged several times a day on cable TV? It is not possible!
Enough said about advertising! Today when I tune in Governor Cuomo, my index finger will again strike the mute button when the camera cuts to commercial.
Be safe!
The Long Haul
Day 22
Who exactly is thinking about buying underwear in the middle of a global pandemic? Are you sitting at home worrying about the leaves that are clogging up your gutters? Does it really seem like a good time to stock up on Frog Tape? Is this really the best time to buy a Buick? That said this may be the perfect time to get that self-winding, string trimmer you have been dreaming about.
CNN, MSNBC and FOX advertisers think it is the perfect time to buy these things. Or more accurately, they believe it is the best time to promote these things.
Cable news is on 24/7 in many homes around the world, viewers watching breathlessly as reports of the coronavirus unfold one deadly statistic after another.
Cable news networks broadcast Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press briefings everyday. Yesterday the governor reported that more than 7,000 New Yorkers had died from Covid-19 related diseases.
Just before Governor Cuomo spoke an announcer, speaking in an equally dark tone, declared:
“What average underwear feels like!”
This was followed by an image of a grotesque, animated character, clothed only in briefs, his privates being tightly squeezed in an old hand-crank, meat grinder. The perfect image of tighty-whities making life miserable! We are left to ask; “Why don’t I have ‘Buck Naked Underwear,‘ a problem solver sold by Duluth Trading.
Move to five pm and cut from Wolf Blitzer to Tommy John. No, not the baseball player. Not the surgery either. Yes, the underwear company, creator of “The Big Adjustment” commercials, no explanation needed.
My favorite has to be the commercials for roof-gutter, leaf filters. In this ad a group of worried, shell-shocked, middle-aged, middle-class consumers have assembled in a meeting room. The crisis: their roof gutters are clogged with pesky leaves, Armageddon is just over the horizon. The cavalry arrives on the backs of a leaf guard, sales team and the end of times is brushed aside. The relief in the room is palpable, as one consumer proclaims: “I’m sold.”
Advertisers are a necessary evil. Without advertisers and subscribers there would be no cable news to watch. I tolerate the commercials, usually with the sound muted. I am not much of a consumer, little catches my eye in normal times.
But these are not normal times and I am really curious about the strategy behind these advertisements. So I have ignored the mute button for a couple of days.
Cable audiences are larger than ever and they are captive. They will be for weeks to come. So there is some method to this madness.
But! But! But!
Nobody has any money! And they won’t have any cash to spend frivolously for a long time.
The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that 16.8 million Americans, about 11 percent of the workforce, have filed unemployment claims in the last several weeks. Homebase, a company that supplies scheduling software to small business told University of Chicago researchers that 40 percent of its clients have shuttered their doors. Many are not expected to ever reopen.
Everyone is pinching pennies, worried about rent and food and diapers and hand sanitizer and perhaps beer and booze. Who, quarantined at home, goes through their underwear drawer and wonders: “Now is the time for a fresh pair of Buck Naked briefs?”
The president talks about reopening the economy next month. More sober minds suggest it will be later and warn that Americans will return to work slowly and in stages. Money will be tight for a long time. Perhaps more importantly, consumers will be saddled with debt and unpaid bills and less likely to spend freely. Scientists and medical professional worry a second wave of the virus could hit and cripple the economic recovery. For now, we seem to be listening to the scientists and medical professionals first and the politicians last.
Some companies have worked the virus into their advertising. Some are subtle. A take-out pizza company proclaims proudly that once a pie is in the oven, it is never again touched by a human until the customer eats it. CVS Pharmacies are promoting free-home delivery, a real service for their customers, especially seniors.
Some are blunt and deceptive like the many shameless commercials for Medicare supplementary insurance. These are designed to make the product look like a government-created Medicare supplement. Yes, a close read of the ad makes it clear it is not a government program, but the look, feel and text of the commercial are designed to intentionally suggest otherwise.
Finally, is there anyone in America who suffers from mesothelioma who is not already a part to the class action lawsuit flogged several times a day on cable TV? It is not possible!
Enough said about advertising! Today when I tune in Governor Cuomo, my index finger will again strike the mute button when the camera cuts to commercial.
Be safe!
I LOVE the mute button - probably going to be the first button on the remote to get stuck someday!! I prefer to record my favorite shows and watch later to zip through the ads, most shows having between 4 and 7 sections of nonsense ads!! GRRRRR
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