The other night I was watching television. I haven’t watched TV in quite a while – except for the odd game at a bar somewhere – because I haven’t had cable or an antenna, so it’s been DVD or nothing for the past 6 months. But when I rearranged all the wiring of my home entertainment system the other week, presto: TV! Not just networks, mind, but Discovery Channel and the Cartoon Channel and IFC and Sundance and all the other lovely things that so effectively kept me from getting anything accomplished before I went away last year. Now, the good thing about not having had TV for so long is that I often forget I have it, which not only means I’m not camped out in front of it 24/7, but also that every time I turn it on I get a little tickle of gleeful surprise, like… well, I guess it’s just the teensiest bit like Christmas.
That was a lot of exposition, but I feel it’s important to note up front that I haven’t been paying attention to these things for some time. What I noticed the other night was that when commercials came on, instead of taking the opportunity to channel-surf (and haven’t commercials always been the Pavlov’s bell of the remote?), I quite often paused to watch. What’s more, I found quite a large number of the spots really good. Sometimes funny, sometimes intriguing, sometimes just solid work. It occurred to me for a fleeting second that if I’d been able to stomach sticking it out in the advertising world, I might have been working on spots like this by now, and wouldn’t that have been fun. Of course, most of the Account Supervisors must be about my age by now, which would make a lot of sense. Obviously, those spots appeal to me. They were developed by people my age, in similar urban environments, who share a lot of my cultural references. I never thought I’d hear Tones on Tail in a financial services commercial, but there you have it. So what I’m wondering now is this: has it always been like this? If I had been in my early 30s ten years ago, would the advertising of that period have appealed to me as much as the current stuff does now? Or does this represent some sort of evolution in the industry?
One thing that occurs to me is that I only rarely remember the product/brand associated with the spot after it’s over, even when I remember the ad itself quite clearly. And with few exceptions, the ads for which I do remember the products are the ones I really dislike, not the ones I enjoy (case in point: the H2 print campaign from last year – I still don’t think I’ve seen a TV spot for one of those monstrosities, which is good because all I can think of when I see an H2 is how very much I want a rocket launcher). It seems possible that advertising is actually growing closer to the film world, at least in the sense that commercials now have discernible plots, production design that goes beyond logo placement, cool effects and sometimes even some bitchin’ camera work. Is this the result of all those disgruntled former film students stuck in the corporate grind, or have my standards just become alarmingly low? Or has actual television programming grown so poor that commercials look great by comparison? I’m a little concerned by this. Perhaps I should seek help.
Also, and still on the topic of television, I have a new favorite show. Favorite in the sense of can’t-look-away more than wow-this-is-inspirational, but still. Have you seen the talk sex lady? Last week, I was flipping through channels on mute when I came across a small older woman behind a desk, holding a cock ring. I was so shocked I had to turn up the volume. She was explaining to someone on the other end of the phone line that this device could be lubricated for easy removal, and “doesn’t catch in the pubic hair like rubber bands.” Now, entirely aside from a woman old enough to be my grandmother magically producing sex toys from under her desk and demonstrating them on national television (remind me sometime to tell you about the sound-activated vibrator – she was on about that one for ages), does this mean there was some guy out there who had previously been using, um, rubber bands to prolong his erection? Yikes.
And finally, a little something non-tv-related that made me very happy today: a fan letter to Grace and Mercy. I want to give this woman a big fat hug.