Monday, September 15, 2008

The Evening News

Watching the evening news is depressing. I don't mean all the depressing stories about the bad economy, never-ending wars and catastrophic weather events, it's the commercials that depress me. During the thirty minute broadcast I saw ads for products to help my osteoporosis and ads for men with an enlarged prostate. There was one for men who are concerned about their gray hair and one telling the wonders of vitamins for the mature adult. There was of course the ad with a couple sitting in two bathtubs on the beach, which always seemed a bit odd to me. The product they advertise is for erectile dysfunction with the caution about calling the doctor after four hours. These ads are a break from the constant barrage of mud-slinging politics, but they did make feel old.

My assumption from the ads is that only old people watch the evening news.

5 comments:

Sling said...

Or,they may be aimed at people of any age that get osteoporosis,grey hair,enlarged prostates,and erectile dysfunction from watching the evening news..

walk2write said...

That advertising trend might just change in a hurry once pension funds mysteriously start disappearing all over the country and ending up in foreign bank accounts. The house of cards called Wall Street is beginning to collapse. I actually get a laugh everytime I see the ED commercials. They remind me of the old television show with the horse. Maybe this condition has been around a lot longer than we have been led to believe?

just me said...

Unfortunately, I think your comment about the demographic that watches evening network news is correct. The ratings are skewing older as younger people get their news from other sources - like the internet. Therefore advertisers for these types of products are likely to flock to the evening news.

They also show these types of ads on sports programming - and I wonder what my 10-year-old son is thinking when he sees them.

Anne said...

I always thought that couple in those bath tubs should be in one tub together to get the point of the ad across.

thank goodness for tivo, i can zoom through the ads

Jennie said...

Commercials are insufferable these days, I always mute or change the channel.I like what someone said once that we'd never allow these people to walk in our front door and try to obnoxiously sell in our living room, so why allow them to come in through the tv!