Pet Peeves -- Mass Media

Mass media obeys the maxim my dad uses all the time, "Nobody ever went bankrupt because they underestimated the intelligence of the general population."

Not only do we absolutely positively need to spend, spend, spend! to get the latest plasma big screen TV (otherwise, how could we possibly enjoy 'the big game'?) but we also need to buy the biggest SUV possible, just in case we need to haul junk from A to B (because we needed to buy that junk!). It's a vicious circle of rampant consumerism.

But it goes deeper than that. Once we've turned off our minds, we stop thinking objectively about the ads.

Water

This one's for some boutique drinking water or filter or something, running in 2007.

The scene opens with a glass of water, and a woman flushing the toilet. As the toilet flushes, the water in the glass looks like it's being flushed too, and the level falls, and then refills. The point these guys are making is, "You're drinking the same yucky water you flush your toilet with."

Oh my god! I'm going to die! What can I do? I'd better buy their product, quick!

To anyone with half a brain, the real point they're making is "you are flushing your toilet with perfectly good drinking water." How do you think people from the "3rd world" view this ad? Mass media portrays us all as not only complete idiots, but spoiled and wasteful as well. Thank you!

Politics and Money

Here's one that ran in Ottawa around 2006 (paraphrased for brevity).

The federal government used to pay 50% of the cost of health care.

How much do you think it pays now?

14%.

Isn't it time the federal government started to pay its fair share for something that Canadians say is their #1 priority?

What a slick piece of work that is! Those "bastards" in the federal government are screwing you and me out of our "rightful" share of the money.

So... whose money is it anyway? Let's say I pay my federal taxes from my left pocket, and my provincial taxes out of my right pocket. All that ad is really saying to me is that I should pay more money out of my left pocket, instead of out of my right pocket.

Wow, that's going to make a BIG difference in my life, let me tell you. That left pocket was starting to get bloated and heavy!

Let's think some more about this, though. Once the federal government pays more in health care (i.e., once you and I pay more out of our left pocket for health care), do you really think that the amount coming out of our right pocket will go down? Fat chance!