Thanks to the great cultural advancement that is the DVR, I can watch plenty of mind-numbing TV without commercial interruption. But sometimes, as I’m fast-forwarding to the next diagnosis on House, I catch a spot that looks intriguing.
Lexus has their annual December to Remember campaign going on. The ads start with a little boy or little girl speaking directly into the camera, a voice from the past, reminding you how excited you were to get that Atari or that pony, and how you thought that was the best Christmas ever.
Parents and siblings interact with each other in the semi-sepia tinted background while self-centered, spoiled Johnny or Sarah is childishly unaware that Christmas is about something bigger than expensive toys.
The commercial ends, of course, with the little child from your past taking you aside and saying SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY THIS YEAR, NUMB NUT, AND REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON, YA BIG DOPE.
No, shockingly, the commercial ends with the stunning revelation that the best Christmas ever would be one in which you get a Lexus.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that school kids are often introduced to logical fallacies and critical thinking by exploring advertisements. Check out this lesson plan for a quick review of logical fallacies (or this site for a comprehensive list) and how they show up in everything from magazine ads to infomercials to Super Bowl commercials to blogs.
Which isn’t to say that all logical fallacies are bad. Grampa sent us the dog house commercial last week. Dick thought it was hilarious, and I think he learned a lot from watching it.
Why are some ads so grating, and others, every bit as commercial and fake and obvious, turn out to be just plain entertaining? Are you willing to forgive a multitude of logical fallacies as long as something is also funny and clever? And at what age do you start pointing out the logical fallacies to your children?
Jane
Tags: advertising, christmas, lexus, logical fallacies
Subscribe by email
I did the EXACT same thing this week. I stopped the Tivo to watch the big wheel kid and was just LET DOWN by the insipid ending, while watching House!
Mike said, “THIS is why you don’t get to hold the remote!”
There is NO WAY a Lexus could top the Big Wheel Christmas. NO WAY. Just suggesting it is such a letdown that it makes me HATE Lexus.
I can forgive those fallacies if the commercial doesn’t take itself seriously, and/or is bald-faced in its aim to convince you to buy their product. I get offended at commercials that think they are really clever in surreptitiously convincing you to buy their product.
And I didn’t find the dog house commercial funny at all. It was a funny idea, maybe, but I would LOVE a new vacuum for a present, mine is horrible! And extra memory? I’ve been asking for an external back-up drive for my photos for 6 months now. It reminds me of the tire commercial a few years ago, where a woman receives a set of new tires for a baby shower gift, and that was a “joke.” Man, do you know how much a set of nice, new tires costs??? I would keel over if someone gave me a free set of tires.
But I did think it was funny, the idea of men being thoughtless gift-givers. My hubby didn’t buy me anything for our anniversary, or for Mother’s Day. When lambasted, he decided to step it up for my birthday – he bought me bath soap. Yeah. Maybe that commercial is funnier than I thought.
Oh, and I forgot to add, about the Lexus commercial: yeah it’s irritating, but the fact that they are suggesting *anyone* buy a WHOLE FRIGGIN CAR for a Christmas present should be a good indication that whoever they think they are appealing to aren’t interested in a lesson in morality.
Yep, that right there is a big part of why we don’t watch TV. Do wish I had Tivo because there are some shows that are interesting but the crap that my kids are exposed to isn’t worth it. We’re a clearplay movie family here.
This commercial you are referrin to drives me crazy — such a shameless attempt to sell. There are a couple I like — the “silent night pampers” one. The “Citizen Soldier” one at the movie theater. I am so ultra critical of advertising — it drives hubby crazy. I will will always make some comment on how I could do it better or how dumb it was.
Thank goodness for DVR!!!
Sorry, but I have to agree with the add. If I got a Lexus it would be the best Christmas ever for me.
Adventures in Crunchy Parenthood — No, I totally agree. Would LOVE a new vacuum (whatever “dual bag” means), and ANYTHING for my computer would be much-appreciated. Once my father-in-law convinced Dick to get me some jewelry, when what I’d been asking for for months was a video camera (we were moving to Egypt). Dick’s dad said women hate anything electronic. Luckily, that smart man (Dick) kept the receipt!
My favorite line was about the stay-at-home mom job. Dick is so great, 99.9% of the time, but he’s still stuck his foot in his mouth a time or too.
Memarie Lane — After today, I’d have to agree with you, if it came with roadside (i.e. garage-side) assistance!
I love commercials — good commercials. This is probably why I ended up in advertising. I had a manager once who said “local advertising makes you buy, national advertising makes you cry” (and I can’t believe I just repeated that). On a certain level it is true. The big ad campaigns are in place to make you yearn, long, desire for the product/service that they are selling while local advertising just wants feet in the door. My husband I use the DVR to record our favorite commercials and then show our friends (we are truly ad-geeks). We love the Sonic commercials and most Apple commercials. The lexus commercials drive me crazy EVERY Christmas though — do people REALLY buy a car as a Christmas present? The answer must be yes because they do this campaign EVERY year.