Whoa, it has been more than a year since I posted to this blog. I gotta get back on the stick. Look for weekly entries from here out.
I have never understood the visual used in commercials for Cialis of the two bathtubs.
First, why two bathtubs? If I am going to ultimately do what Cialis is supposed to help me do, I’m surely not going to be laying the groundwork for it with his and her bathtubs for me and Mrs. Gonzo. This is a one-bathtub scenario (for those of you having trouble with the visual image, I am sorry).
Second, those bathtubs are always in the most unlikely places—the beach, in the middle of a field of flowers, whatever. How did they get there? Those tubs are heavy! Did the couple have to haul the water all the way to the tubs? How did they keep it warm? We all know what a cold bath does to your sexual drive. Maybe that’s why they need the Cialis. I know I’d be too tired to do anything after dragging those tubs out there.
I think about these things, and I know I am not unique. If something in a commercial bothers me, I know it bothers other people, too. When I see those spots I’m not thinking about the benefits of Cialis. I am thinking about the hernia I am going to get hauling those bathtubs (erectile dysfunction is only one of many things us men have to worry about as we get older).
Evidently those spots bother someone else, too. Witness the article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times by Dan Neil, their famed auto journalist. The Times, probably under pressure from the same demons haunting most newspapers these days, has decided to get more work out of Dan, so they have him multi-tasking in the business section, mostly writing about marketing related issues. Check out the article at http://www.gonzomarketers.com/blog/ED--L.A.Times.pdf. Neil is a great writer.
A bill is currently snaking its way through the U.S. House of Representatives that would “’treat as indecent’ ads for erectile dysfunction cures between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.”
I don’t like it when government starts to limit free speech and the media, but I equally dislike it when companies ignore common sense and air these types of spots while I am battling with my grandson between Hannah Montana and CNN.
It comes back to the old adage of yelling boner!—I mean fire!—in a crowded theater. Free speech and a free media means that we use them responsibly. My grandkids don’t need to know about erectile dysfunction right now. They just want to see the next episide of SpongeBob SquarePants—as soon as they get the remote away from me. It shouldn’t be too hard because I’ll be falling asleep. Just thinking about those bathtubs makes me tired.
Comments