The Bonnie View of Commercials

I actually like commercials. I know they are necessary if we are to get the programming we want and I very often enjoy them. Commercials from years ago stay with me and occasionally we talk about old commercials and wonder about the people that acted in them, especially the kids. I would love to see some of the commercials come back using the same people all grown up.

I am, however, amazed at the number of really bad commercials on TY. There are commercials with grammar so terrible that you can tell they are done by the new, young ad house stars, young people who think they are all that and a bag of chips. Unfortunately, education now doesn't equip students with good grammar or the ability to spell. Witness the number of people on TV who say "Me and my friend went to a show" or other equally bad statements. I am surprised that these commercials, which are vetted by lots of people at the ad house and the advertiser, make it to air. I suppose advertisers are trying to be modern and to relate to the younger generation.

I am not surprised by the number of commercials that make men look bad, especially white, middle-aged men. They and Scots seem to be considered fair game for advertisers to show in a bad light, either evil or stupid or irrelevant. Considering how men are treated in the real world, I guess this was to be expected.

THE CAPITAL ONE CARD. All the bad men in the commercial are shown as vermin, things to be despised. Of course all the vermin are white, middle-aged men. Considering how hard the banks have tried to integrate women and minorities, I would think they would be insulted by these commercials. Not only are they vermin, they are bigots and racists!

FORD MUSTANG. A man spies a Ford Mustang and decides to run and jump into the car. Of course being a dopey, incapable man, he lands on the door frame injuring his private parts. Why on earth would Ford think that injuring a man's most precious commodity would make him find their car appealing?

NABOB COFFEE. This is a whole series of commercials, all equally disgusting. In one a man pours his coffee, trips and throws it on a hanging rug. He wrings it out of the rug and drinks it. This is so repellent that I change the station when I see it coming. Yuck!!!

FEBREEZE SCENTED CANDLES. This one features a woman and a man - well sort of a man. The woman is enjoying the scent while the girly man is trying to make a move on her. Are there no real men available for commercials? Nobody could make me believe that this man would be even vaguely interested in that woman or any other woman.

DC WAFFLE CUP. Nice series of commercials, cute and suggestive but quite innocent. Perfect casting with just the right contrasting of sweet and sexy.

HOME DEPOT. They ran a whole series of commercials with families consisting of Mom and kids. The message was that a man wasn't necessary to do repairs or upgrades. Being a divorced woman with kids I know that often this is true but equally often I needed help from men to get the job done. The big problem is the message that is being presented everywhere that Dads are not necessary and the current abysmal behavior of kids belies this premise.

I notice that Home Depot has recently run a commercial featuring a man who is apparently capable of being taught how to do things. My guess is that they got lots of complaints about the women-only commercials.