Wed, 01 Oct 2003

Commercial Alert

You know, I'm fairly particular about advertising: I don't like to see it constantly, and sometimes feel bombarded at every turn by corporate messages. So when I stumbled across Commercial Alert I was hoping that perhaps this would be a venue in which to express my annoynace with the "27/7 advertising infomercial". Alas, these folks go about as far overboard as possible, straining the credibility of all who rail against the "buy now blitz" ... from the site:

The ads help create an epidemic of marketing-related diseases in our children, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and eating disorders.

Gimme a break, guys! The excess of hype can certainly be, well, ghastly, but implying that "marketing" is causing obesity, type 2 diabetes and eating disorders? I don't think so - being sedentary may in fact contribute to those kinds of conditions, but one needn't be over-marketed to be sendentary!

It seems as though no one can reach a "happy medium" anymore - either ads must be everywhere, or nowhere. Either they're vital consumer information or they'll give you herpes! What ever happened to "a place for everything, and everything in it's place"? Whatever happened to understanding excess, and understanding that "use does not equal abuse"?

Who knows ... ?

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