I said in an earlier post that I really don't get advertising. Now I'm starting to suspect ad companies are just trying to fuck with us.
Richard and I were watching TV tonight, chillin, eating some cashews, saying word. We had just been laughing about this commercial where bedsprings seem to be stalking a mattress salesman. And then we apparently entered some alternate dimension.
The commercial immediately following that one started out normally enough. It was about one of those automated Shiatsu massage thingies that you try out for free in Sharper Image stores but never actually purchase. The ad went through the various benefits of buying one, noting that they work on the neck, back AND shoulders!! It was looking pretty good and the commercial was going smoothly.
BUT THEN THIS GUY. This dude sitting in the chair getting a massage from this robotic creation is finally massaged to his satisfaction and stands up and says.... "It makes you feel HUMAN again!" Commercial over.
...Just let that soak in for a second. It. Makes. You. Feel. Human. Again.
This raises several problematic questions.
1. Did this advertising company realize that there is a cyborg demographic, or a Pinnochio demographic, that they really need to reach?
2. Are they trying to communicate to broken people who have to stand up twelve hours a day at work and come home sore and tired and have no one to massage their neck, back and shoulders? People who are so worn down by life that they no longer feel a part of humanity?
3. The most pressing question, and one Richard and I speculated on for minutes after seeing this: IS THIS THE ADVERTISING SLOGAN FOR THIS COMPANY??
I think the only logical answer is that advertising companies are run by robots. Robots... selling robots... to robots. Now THAT'S a good slogan.
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I'm pretty sure they're marketing to people that feel broken. I had a long discussion with a coworker last night who is 31 years old and has been working 2-3 jobs for 12 years, just to stay on top of things. You have to deaden yourself to make it (discounting my approach which is to invest in a creative sense of humor!) out alive (as much as that may sound like a contradiction...). It is an appeal to brief pleasure in brief leisure, much like any other commercial- just a bit more blatant than normal, I suppose!
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