I love it that my kids are hooked on Scooby Doo and The Pink Panther. They’ve been checking out the Flintstones and the Jetsons pretty regularly too. Brisco is even taking a liking to Krypto the Superdog. I don’t remember watching that one much, but the song that goes with it sure is catchy.
Sorta like all the commercials that are gaining their attention as well. It’s crazy the kind of stuff that catches their eyes…and ears. I first started noticing it one day when Brisco said, “Mom! There’s a blue guy on TV and he said, ‘There’s smart, and there’s K-Mart smart!’ That’s funny. He’s little, but he’s not people.” Of course I was totally confused.
Their favorite commercial for a while seemed to be the Holiday Inn spot that plays “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” while workers quickly prepare the guest room as if they are the grounds crew during the seventh inning stretch. The boys would always stop whatever they were doing and say, “Look! They’re fixin’ to rake the carpet!”
After that it seemed they were hooked on the commercial advertising New Era baseball caps. I’ll set the scene: After walking yet another batter, Cole Hamels of the Phillies looks up to see what everyone supposes is his pitching coach standing on the mound. Cooper recites his lines, “Come on, Cole. Keep pounding the corners! Get ‘em to chase one outside.” Then Hamels says, “Who are you?” And the camera cuts to two little kids in the stands just shaking their heads, embarrassed once again by their father’s intrusion. And Brisco finishes it up with an “Aw, Dad! Not again!” Like Mastercard, it’s priceless.
As of recent, Brisco seems to have fallen pretty hard into the advertisement trap. He’s the perfect candidate for a trip into the black hole of “want” created by professionals who market every toy under the sun to children who think they “need” it all. Their strategy has not failed to make an impact on this one. Monsters, board games, flying saucers, and a dozen other toys he’s never seen or heard of, but has decided after a 20 second blip on the screen that he just might like them. “Can you get me that? I wanna eat that! Oooh! I want that! Mom, can you just get me everything?”
Then there are the commercials that don’t make a bit of sense even to the adults watching them, much less to our two kids. Of course, that’s no matter. They still walk around the house saying, “Copy. Copy. Copy. Copy.” “Crab. Crab. Crab. Crab.”
The music really gets their attention as well. They used to like the baseball commercial that just had a lot of clicks on it. Mouse clicks, and then all the MLB products. Now they like the one Taco Bell does for black tacos. Yesterday while getting himself dressed for bed, we overheard one of the boys in the back saying, “Black eye. Black dog. Black taco.”
They both wanna try the yogurt that the lady in the story sucks right out of the cup. And Brisco swears he wants to eat the straight-outa-the-box toaster strudels. I can’t convince him that he’s already tried them, and they simply weren’t up to his standards.
Even the car commercials seem to catch their eyes. At first, Brisco was considering a new Mustang. “Mom, can we get that car with the glass hood? It will get us to the beach faster.” But now I think he’s decided the one he really wants is the BMW. Great taste. Dream on.
Then there are the ones that you wish they’d never seen at all. “Mom! There’s the talking window again!” Thanks Viagra. Or, “Outa my way, freak!” Way to go Doogie Houser. I’ll give you a call on that cool new phone when my kid gets a naughty note at school for rude behavior or foul language.
It seems implausible that my five year old has now been introduced to Slim Shady via a commercial for the newest version of the Wii. Pretty sure he hasn’t a clue who or what Slim Shady really is (or means). Frankly, neither do I, but he sure does like the beat.
And just when I’ve about decided to disconnect the cable altogether, my little sugar tooth convinces me that all is not lost. That yes indeed, there is some redeeming value to television commercials in the 21st century. As he looked up one morning from his near-empty, oversized, Halloween pumpkin full of candy…hands sticky from Starbursts, Tootsie Roll stuck in the back of his teeth, and remnants of chocolate built up in the corners of his mouth…he said, “Hey, Mom, do you think we can get some of that multi-grain toast?”
And that’s All in a day’s work!
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