Blame TV

Which came first: the problem or the commercial?

I watch a fair amount of TV. Always have. I love TV. I credit Hodge Podge Lodge with giving me my first awareness of Mother Nature. I watch it very closely. And it makes me wonder... is it influencing our decisions or mirroring our habits? I'm guessing a good part of both.

Take commercials... toothpaste ads glob on the stuff... no one needs that much toothpaste on the brush. We all know that. Or, um, do we? How ARE we supposed to know that, if every time we see a commercial or ad, they have that much stuff on it? Oh sure, it SAYS on the package to only use a pea-sized amount. But I know their game. They are counting on people not being a voracious label-reader like me. So what does the average consumer do? Why, they do what they see, of course. What they see over and over and over again. It's drummed into their heads, not even remotely subconsciously. Blatantly. So this is on purpose, for sure. You'll use more than you need and have to buy more product than if you used it the way it is supposed to be used. You know, according to the tiny print on the package no one reads. They ain't dumb. They're out for a buck. Your buck.

On commercials and TV show, they run the water while brushing teeth. Always. Why? I was watching a sitcom where, not only did they have one scene where the couple very obviously ran the water the whole time they conversed over their tooth-brushing, but in another scene, the same woman used a tissue to wipe a little makeup off her face and then flushed the tissue instead of throwing it away. It was made obvious because it was part of a joke set-up: the toilet clogged. I'm wondering what the writers of this show have against water. I'm not sure why they feel the need to run water like that. Is it because we do it, or do we do it because we keep seeing THAT? Why can't the writers be a tiny bit more aware and responsible? And does it affect the toothpaste commercial if they DON'T run the water the whole damn time? And might we subconsciously pick up the message to turn off our water?

I know. Here I go again with the little things. "Oh, GG. You're so... picky." Yeah. I am.

Then, there's that Glad Trash Bag commercial that just sets me off every farkin' time. Those two boys on their oh-ha-ha-cute-funny pretend news show where they talk about Mom and the slipping garbage bag as she throws away the meatloaf-oh-yuck that no one ate. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? WHY is it OK to talk about/validate SO much waste of food??? In what world?? And it's supposed to be CUTE and funny?? Can we stop already?

So I ask... do they have commercials like that because they think they have us pegged and are reflecting OUR waste and stupidity, or do we think it is OK to waste and be stupid because of THEM? Hmmmm....

Yup. Just another thing that makes me crazy. Heck, I'll never run out of material. No worries there.