A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living. {Rudolf Steiner}
Del Taco has a commercial out that promotes the “Classic Combo Deal.”** It’s a commercial with a strange set of characters. A young boy is faced with a dilemma on whether or not to purchase something from the big menu. He ultimately does when a barbarian, Samurai warrior, and a bee-bearded man tell him to.
Bizarre commercials are not new. They’re strange for two reasons: to grab our attention and to keep us from channel surfing. Another reason may be to help us remember the advertisement so that we will talk about it at work the next day; spreading the word creates interest and interest may mean a future purchase.
But I also think there is something else at work here.
Suppose that by holding our attentions these commercials (and by extension the advertising executives) are saving our minds. Suppose they are improving our memory skills. Suppose that by remembering commercial after commercial we are opening new synaptic channels, helping us to remember things that really do matter when the time comes. If this is true, we’d have to thank the men behind these bizarre commercials, wouldn’t we? Sure we could call the commercials mind-clutter, garbage, even nuisances but we’d still have to recognize them for the good they do.
Television has wrecked our attention spans. It’s not the only cause, but it is one of them. We channel surf the minute our attention is bored, and for most this is a frequent occurrence. We interrupt the program often to make comment, not giving the television our full attention. We give it our immediate attention and only for seconds at a time. Commercials have evolved because of this. They’ve evolved from the mundane to the funny and now (certainly, in more recent decades) to the weird.
As for me, I don’t mind whether they are for the good or the bad; certainly not when they give me a giggle in the middle of a busy and hectic day. In fact, I may just try something from that “Classic Combo Deal” as soon as the bee-bearded man returns my email.
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English
Weird Commercials
by Tyler Gant
There are some weird commercials on the television these days. You have to admit this is true. Well … if you’re one of those rare birds that watches no television then perhaps you have the right not to admit this.
Del Taco has a commercial out that promotes the “Classic Combo Deal.”** It’s a commercial with a strange set of characters. A young boy is faced with a dilemma on whether or not to purchase something from the big menu. He ultimately does when a barbarian, Samurai warrior, and a bee-bearded man tell him to.
Bizarre commercials are not new. They’re strange for two reasons: to grab our attention and to keep us from channel surfing. Another reason may be to help us remember the advertisement so that we will talk about it at work the next day; spreading the word creates interest and interest may mean a future purchase.
But I also think there is something else at work here.
Suppose that by holding our attentions these commercials (and by extension the advertising executives) are saving our minds. Suppose they are improving our memory skills. Suppose that by remembering commercial after commercial we are opening new synaptic channels, helping us to remember things that really do matter when the time comes. If this is true, we’d have to thank the men behind these bizarre commercials, wouldn’t we? Sure we could call the commercials mind-clutter, garbage, even nuisances but we’d still have to recognize them for the good they do.
Television has wrecked our attention spans. It’s not the only cause, but it is one of them. We channel surf the minute our attention is bored, and for most this is a frequent occurrence. We interrupt the program often to make comment, not giving the television our full attention. We give it our immediate attention and only for seconds at a time. Commercials have evolved because of this. They’ve evolved from the mundane to the funny and now (certainly, in more recent decades) to the weird.
As for me, I don’t mind whether they are for the good or the bad; certainly not when they give me a giggle in the middle of a busy and hectic day. In fact, I may just try something from that “Classic Combo Deal” as soon as the bee-bearded man returns my email.
** Watch this commercial in the media box above.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
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