About a year ago, my kids were talking about commercials and asked me what their purpose is. I told them that they are here to advertise and get us to buy certain products. That is strange they said, because for them, commercials have no persuasion power what so ever. Really??!
My daughter has nice, thick long hair, just like mine when I was her age. She goes through conditioner very fast and a few months ago, she asked me to get her a new bottle, but “not just the cheap kind, I want the Pantene one”. I asked why and she said, because it makes your hair shiny and nice. Yes, commercials are definitely not influencing her! 😉
When I was in elementary school, there was this Kellogg’s commercial with a happy family sitting around a table in a beautiful kitchen, sun streaming in through the windows. A friend of mine told me that that was how she would imagine my family having breakfast in the morning. It wasn’t the case back then and certainly isn’t today. Although Kellogg’s is sometimes on the menu in the morning, what we usually have is a collection of very tired individuals, except for one eight-year-old, who is at his best at 6:45 in the morning and talks everyone an ear off.
I don’t think that there is anyone who isn’t just a bit influences by commercials because you would really have to be living in a cave not to be exposed to them, at least a little. What the commercials want is to sell us is the dream of a better, healthier, simpler, happier, better looking life, and who wouldn’t want that?
Rationally, we know that by having a cup of Nespresso will not make us meet George Clooney in a mansion in Italy, that by buying an Ajax spray will not have our house sparkling clean in 30 seconds’ time or that drinking a bottle of Coke will have us dancing around some tropical beach while looking great in a bikini.
Dreaming is not a bad thing, but staying within reality (and our means of spending) also isn’t. Buy only what you need, don’t believe everything that you see (or hear) and remember that happiness cannot be bought – except maybe for those cleaning wipes, that really do make my life easier! 🙂
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