Advertising Phobia

Cola Boy recently posted about new and interesting ways advertisers are trying to peddle their wares, in this case, "The L Word." His post reminded me of an experience... The Story We have a favorite gay guesthouse in Fort Lauderdale. It's one of our favorite places to stay. It's luxurious, the guests are friendly, the staff is friendly, and it's just an all-around relaxing getaway. On our most recent trip I was talking to the newly-promoted general manager, a cute, 30-something guy who had always been extremely friendly and happy to see us. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned he'd been in advertising, an account manager or something of that nature. Interesting change from advertising to hospitality, probably not that big a stretch, but no big deal at the time. Later that same day I went to the office looking for some bananas (for eating...I'd just worked out at their gym...get your minds out of the gutter!). The manager was there and cheerfully pulled a bowl of fruit from the kitchen and offered it to me to choose what I liked. There was a mixture of ripe and less-ripe bananas in there, and he said, "Do you prefer ripe bananas? I personally like them on the ripe side, a little sweeter." I prefer less-ripe bananas. If they get too ripe, I find their texture too mushy. So I picked a less-ripe one and thanked him and went on my way. Our little conversation, however, had set off all sorts of bells in my head. I felt as though he was trying to pursuade me to pick a more-ripe piece of fruit, and I understand why. If it gets too ripe, he has to throw it out. But I felt as though his little confession of fruit-preference was intended to sway me. It didn't feel genuine. And I began to wonder if his smiles and cheeriness were part of the game or if I were being too paranoid. Somehow, the knowledge that he'd been in advertising had colored my perception of him. The Generalization Have you ever noticed how our society has become an endless stream of advertising? No matter what we do, there's always a sponsor, a banner, a button or patch, a logo, a brand-identification scheme, something intended to make us feel good or bad about one product or another. Something is always there to change or reinforce our perceptions. How it Affects Me The ubiquitousness of advertising has made me very suspicious of anyone or anything affiliated with that industry. Nothing gets me to change the channel faster than Billy Mays' voice. He barely gets through his intro, "Hi! I'm Billy M--" and I have dived (dove? diven? whatever...) across the couch, spilled my drink and elbowed Chris in the stomach, snatched up the remote, and changed the channel. The 700 Club, Fox News, anything is better than Billy Mays. I use Tivo religiously. If I'm watching a program that isn't recorded, I'll pause it to give me a buffer so I can fast-forward through commercials. I pay to listen to satellite radio because I can't stand the endless stream of obnixious car commercials on regular radio. WMMO, 98.9, in Orlando is the only normal radio station I've ever heard that's done commercials half-decently. I wouldn't doubt it if there is a documented psychological disorder related to advertising. Is there an advertising phobia? I might have it. The Conclusion This makes me sound like a jittery, paranoid conspiracy theorist. "Everyone is out to sell me something." Even though everyone is out to sell me something, I'm not really that paranoid about it. The manager at the guesthouse is still a nice guy. I just am a little sick of all the advertising. And I don't mean to offend those of you in the advertising business. We all gotta live. I just think it's gotten a little out of hand. This blog post brought to you by the friendly folks at Joe's Morgue and Clothing Emporium, "You stab 'em, we'll slab 'em! With style!" Buy one, get one free*. Yes, you too can have a BMW for $199/month**. Sorry this got so long. If you've made it this far, you win a free trip to Tahiti***! * Buy one item of $50 value or greater, get one item of $0.50 value or less for free. ** The cheapest one, with a $30,000 down-payment. *** Free for me. You still have to pay for it.