Last Sunday night was just like any other Sunday night with
my roommate. She and I just chilled out and watched TV, and to nobody’s great
surprise, there was nothing on. What we did come across though were
commercials, and several of them. We all have been subjected to a seemingly
countless number of commercials. Whether it be on the Internet, on billboards,
or on the back of a box of breakfast cereal; advertisements are everywhere. One
particular advertisement that may be familiar is AT&T’s most recent
commercial promoting their Mobile to Any Mobile family plan.
The commercial begins with a teenage girl calling her
boyfriend to tell him that she is giving him the “silent treatment”. Her boyfriend is confused because she has
already called him several times, but she tells him not to worry because she
has unlimited calling to any mobile. He then tells her that she doesn’t know
how the silent treatment works, and what is her response? Nothing. She sure showed him.
Now I’m no relationship expert, but these two have some
serious communication issues. Having someone call you just to say that they’re
giving you the silent treatment? That’s harsh. Watching this commercial isn’t making
me curious about AT&T’s Mobile to Any Mobile family plan; it’s making me
wonder how this story ends. Do they resolve their differences? Will she call
him back just in time to end the madness? Or will her boyfriend be the first
one to break the ice?
Surely it is to no great surprise that my last paragraph was
laden with sarcasm. While I enjoy a witty commercial just as much as the next
person, this one is just painful. Why must I endure watching this lunacy? Whose
bright idea was it to incorporate the relationship of two teenagers into an
AT&T commercial? Now I have seen quite a few commercials in my day, and I must
say that I am quite disappointed. Shame on you AT&T.
I agree with your logic about AT&T completely. It feels like the commercial does a very bad job of advertising anything at all. I have seen (and heard) a variety of commercials that get so lost in some sort of story line that the audience is left wondering what they are being asked to buy. There are even some (in my area we have Bob Ruth Ford) that are so stupid that we will turn off the car stereo while they play. Perhaps the media industry should look into ways to advertise a product without the need of a stupid (and often unrelated) storyline.
ReplyDeleteI usually have problems with today's advertisements as well. We are trapped in this world where painful randomness is a selling point. Usually I don't remember what the commercial was advertising. I agree with you that the incorpation of a failing teenage relationship was probably a bad idea. Companies need to just advertise in ways that gets the consumer thinking about the product, not the commercial plot.
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