“That feeling of freedom, open highways of possibilities, has kind of been lost to materialism and marketing.” – Sheryl Crow
Since becoming minimalist, I watch far less television. I have learned that television rarely brings any significant value into my life. Worse than that, it often distracts me the very things that do. But, I am not entirely opposed to using television as a means for entertainment/relaxation on a limited scale.
And, just to be fair, I do appreciate entertainment as much as the next guy and often find enjoyment in sporting events and clever advertisements. But as somebody who has developed great frustration over the consumer-driven culture that we live in, I observe marketing with a skeptical eye. I often seek to determine the underlying promise of any advertisement and uncover what else, other than the product itself, marketers are trying to sell me.
Far too often, I discover their underlying message promotes foolish misconceptions about life. We would be wise to recognize and intentionally reject each of them. Consider just a few misconceptions on display in our most popular television advertisements.
7 Life Misconceptions Portrayed in Popular Television Advertisements
1. Happiness is for sale.
Marketers often seek to convince us their products will increase our happiness. From soda and alcohol to fashion and automobiles, happiness is offered to us in our very next purchase. I was surprised at the level of boldness some products used in promoting this misconception. Coca-Cola (“Open happiness”) and Volkswagen (“Get in. Get happy.”) stand out significantly. The truth of life is that happiness cannot be purchased no matter how hard we search for it in material possessions. And advertisers do a great disservice to their audience by promising it in temporal packages.
2. Self-confidence can be quickly found in the right purchase.
Every person desires to be comfortable in their skin and self-confident in their abilities. We have an ingrained desire to accomplish, succeed, and make something of our lives. But many of us are held back by a lack of self-confidence. Thus, we desire any quick advantage to find it. This again is a common theme among marketers and many will offer it to us in exchange for our dollars. Both Audi and Speed Stick (among others) employ it. But putting your confidence in an automobile or stick of deodorant is not the same as finding it in yourself. Instead, focus on your strengths, celebrate your uniqueness, and learn from past failures rather than dwelling on them if you want to learn how to be more confident.
3. Youth culture represents the pinnacle of life’s seasons.
Advertisers idolize youth culture and our society rewards them for it. For example, watch this Taco Bell commercial. Apparently, the “youth” season of life is to be among the most praised, promoted, and desired. And while I often look back on my college years with fond memories, I have come to the conclusion there are far greater things to accomplish in life than rejecting authority and staying up late. I have learned the value of family, service, contribution, mentoring, and improving the lives of those in community around me. Maturity and wisdom have taken root. And the only reason I’d want to relive my youth is to do it all differently.
4. Sex is the ultimate goal.
Sex is best enjoyed and brings the greatest fulfillment in a committed relationship. For marketers to esteem it in any other light is painful for me to watch—especially with two young children in my home. My hope is that both of them—and society—will grow to appreciate all the beauty and value and perspective that women bring into our world. Marketers that seek to sell their products using women as objects of sex to be conquered are degrading to both males and females. I am not expecting the trend to end anytime soon, but Axe Body Spray, Fiat, and GoDaddy stand out as some of the worst offenders.
5. To watch television is to experience life.
Network television advertisements often use this misconception when promoting their television shows (to be fair, movie studios do the same). In their marketing, to watch their show is to experience life at its fullest. They appear to offer the very best thing you can possibly choose to do with your next 30/60 minutes. Coupled with the subtle lie that everyone else is watching (#1 Show / #1 Network / #1 Movie), this becomes a motivating sell. We begin to believe that if everyone else is spending their evening watching… I must really be missing out. But you are not missing out. Life is not meant to be observed. Life is meant to be lived.
6. Adventure/Respect is discovered in the right automobile.
The automobile industry doesn’t sell just cars anymore, it sells respect, confidence (see above), and adventure. After all, with most cars nowadays driving well past 100,000+ miles, marketers must sell us something different than a simple mode of transportation. Some will seek to convince us their vehicle is good for the environment… some will promise us respect and envy… others will promise us adventure. But they are all wrong. A certain model/style of vehicle will not bring the promised results. It will get you from Point A to Point B. And there are far greater places to earn respect and find adventure than a car dealership.
7. A website will solve your life problems.
Cars.com promises to make buying a car simple and easy. GoDaddy.co promises wealth and luxury. They are both over exaggerating. Websites offer information and inspiration, but they do not solve your problems. They will not accomplish the truly important things in life for you. Hard work, dedication, discipline, and focus result in the type of life change many of us desire. Too often, websites and the over-delivery of information only cause us to postpone the hard work necessary to secure lasting change in our lives. Don’t look for a website to solve your problems. Look for them to provide inspiration. But then, put the computer away, and get to work doing something about it.
Image: AP/PepsiCo
Sandy @ModernSimplicity says
Great insights Joshua. I normally love the “entertainment” factor when it comes to Super Bowl ads, but there were definitely some this year that made me uncomfortable, especially with my two little boys in the room (can you say blech on GoDaddy?!) I did enjoy the Budweiser horse commercial tho ;)
Janet says
Great observations, Joshua, but I can’t help but think that we have the TV that we want and deserve.
My work brings me in contact with dozens of elementary school aged children. The majority of students have learned the lessons of materialism and overconsumption all too well – I see it start in earnest in the second grade. And these same 7 year olds also know what the TV show “Cheaters” is all about. Yet every parent I speak to insists that their child/children are not allowed to….(fill in the blank)…like their neighbors’ children are. Well, somebody has to be allowing this listening and viewing because I see the results.
I realize that I am probably in the “extremist” minority that thinks it is a sign of a much larger disorder in our society when a family cannot watch a football game without being embarrassed in front of each other – and when the half-time show is reminiscent of stage shows that used to warrant a raid from the local police. We do have the power to put an end to this if we want. We don’t have to watch. Our children would be the better for it. How many of us are willing to make the sacrifice?
Kate@organizationforthetypeB says
Hi,
I really enjoyed this post. I am also not a tv-watcher, but we went over to my MIL’s to watch the game with the family. Big mistake to think even watching a little bit of the game would be appropriate for my son. I found most of the commercials to be in bad taste. Don’t even get me started on the half time show, I wanted to cover my son’s eyes. But, then again, what did I expect? Anway, I really enjoyed your post and your thoughts echo my sentiments exactly.
Kate
Heidi of 'Operation Organization - MN' says
“Hard work, dedication, discipline, and focus result in the type of life change many of us desire.”
Couldn’t agree more!
Jenn | Chara says
Fantastic post Josh! I will admit, I laughed at the nursing home commercial! :) You make many valid points about how our culture in the US has become about instant gratification and entitlement.
Even though many of the ads were as you mentioned, I felt that the “God Made a Farmer” & The Budweiser Horse commercials were very touching. They were memorable commercials because they pulled at the heart. As Amy says, yay for hard work & integrity!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Amy says
I actually don’t remember any of the Super Bowl ads except for this one:
So God Made a Farmer…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sillEgUHGC4
…and that to me says something. Big round of applause for hard work and integrity!
Heidi of 'Operation Organization - MN' says
yes, though given the ad was sponsored by a car company there is an indirect suggests that hard working and dedicated farmers choose to drive their particular automobile. ;)
Carolynn says
As in all of life…you take the good with the bad and chose your path. Living in the heartland I know the importance and sacrifice of life of a farm. I sooooo loved the Dodge and the Budwiser commercials…I have watched them a few more times and they still bring and tear to my eye and also make me smile. I don’t even remember the rest…
Daniel Aipa says
I totally agree with you. I didn’t see it but my family back in Hawaii told me about it so I looked it up. It made me want to get my own dodge and head home to the islands and get back to working on the land. I’m proud to say my family is a dodge ram family.
Daniel Aipa says
Aloha. Great thoughts. Although I’m football fan, I wasn’t able to see all of the commercials but I still watched the game online while I did some cleaning. Your point about “To watch television is to experience life” I felt was spot on. How many times am I in a conversation with a group and they are talking about a TV show and are surprised when I haven’t watched it or even heard of it (I don’t own a TV). Then continue to tell me that I need to catch up with the times. I feel I experience life much more than sitting in front of a television to be entertained by other people’s problems and dramas. Awesome stuff Joshua. Much Mahalo for your insights.
Terry Hadaway says
Great thoughts. I just wrote a blog post about an endangered species that is on few people’s radars—the thinking human. Because thinking leads to change and change moves people away from self-gratification, thinking is avoided. We let the media tell us how to be significant and how to be happy. Our brains are like a time share… we only use them once a year! If you want a competitive advantage in life, give thinking a try. There aren’t many people doing it these days!
MelD says
Anybody here read/reread Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World lately?
It filled me with fascinated horror when I was a teenager in the late 70s but my most recent reread made it clear that we are, incredibly, not too far off this distopia… I tried to research how come Huxley would realise the future popularity of TV when he wrote it in 1931 (the very first commercial TVs were sold from 1928, I discovered, but the new technology was extremely limited until after WWII) but it doesn’t seem that other people notice this much, at least, I could find no observations. Truly amazing. He was right about the cult of youth and beauty, too, amongst many other things – quite a wake-up call.
PS when my girls were younger and saw ads, I would remind them that it was just TV and not reality – one time my eldest daughter was delighted when we got a free sample of a product she’d seen advertised but it turned out to taste awful: one cured daughter!
My youngest miraculously stopped asking for the latest Barbie dolls and toys after we moved to an area that didn’t have cable and so-called “kid-channels” (back in the 90s), so that solved that, too. With only a few national channels with few or no ads and then only videos, we managed to dodge the negative effects pretty well and all the girls have grown up critical. Sadly, the “bigger/better” TV age has now also reached Switzerland.