Does Mikey Really Like It?

Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitacker

With the Internet, television, and IPhones at our finger tips, we have a lot of exposure to commercials. Some of the new commercials I do not know what they are selling or advertising until the end of it. Today, commercials and advertising take up a lot of time and space on television and depending on who the audience is, the product may or may not sell.

They say the first commercial on TV was a Bulova watch advertisement which aired in 1941.The ad cost the company $9, $4 for airtime and $5 for “station charges,” according to reports. The commercial only reached, at best, a few thousand people: Only 4,000 TV sets had been installed in New York at that time.

I was watching some old ads from the early years where I saw Superman eating Sugar Smacks; the Alka-Seltzer boy helping out a tired hunter with the plop plop fizz fizz, two dancing cigarette packages; and the ever favorite “My bologna has a first name.”

None of us who were alive during the early years of television can ever forget Dinah Shore and , “See the USA in a Chevrolet.” Nor can we forget “Brusha brusha brusha” toothpaste, new Ipana. There was a delightful old commercial about Fluffo and of course there was Snap, Crackle and Pop.

Cereal commercials have always been popular with the kids as they used to come with some type of toy in them. Remember the commercial of a little boy eating cereal and the ad said, “Mikey likes it.” Remember the Maxwell House coffee commercial and “Good to the last drop?”

One of my favorite ads has been the Orkin Man. They are funny as the big bugs and pests try and outsmart the Orkin Man who has all the stuff to get rid of the creepy crawlers. In one scene, a family goes on vacation and comes home to a bunch of bug invaders who are playing music, dining on good food and having a dance party. The first thing the family did? They called the Orkin Man.

Some television ads feature movie stars and I usually think, “If this product works for them, maybe I should try it.” Shampoo has always intrigued buyers. They will advertise a certain shampoo and show someone with beautiful long hair and of course we all want to go out and buy it.

Today there are some commercials which really confuse me. They will advertise and promote a new pill or medicine which is guaranteed to cure an illness. They report on what the new pills will do for them and we watch and wonder if it may help with our allergies, high blood pressure, arthritis, or diabetes.

Following the big promotion of just how great this medication is, they tell of all the side effects it can have. Some of these meds can cause bleeding, anxiety, swelling, hives, liver damage, loss of appetite, dizziness and could possibly cause death. Wow. I think, I would rather suffer. I am curious how these effects are determined and if they cause all this uproar, why sell them?

Super Bowl ads are very popular. Companies work all year and pay millions to get a spot on the Super Bowl game. Some of the best ones were: “Where’s the Beef?”; Betty White and Snickers; and one about the cheating Coca Cola man.

This ad depicts a Coca Cola delivery man and when he is delivering coke to a store, he gets a Pepsi out of the machine and cameras catch him as Pepsi cans go rolling all over the floor.

Have you seen the Aflac Duck or the tiny Geico lizard? Those are attention getters. There is one ad however, that even makes me channel surf. It is one in which a bunch of different people sing loudly, “It’s my money and I need cash now!” That is the Wentworth one.

Another funny one is a father and daughter up late at night going, “Mmmmmmmm” as they eat Greek Yogurt. Well, “Mmmmmmmm.”

Do you like today’s commercials or those from the past? Have you ever channel surfed when a commercial comes on? If you could be in a commercial, What kind would it be? Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.

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