Ever channel surfed or glanced up from your beer at the sports bar to see something you thought was a news bulletin? Only it wasn't. After a few seconds, you figured out it's a commercial. Ever wonder how many other viewers are watching and not able to make the distinction? I do.
There's a flight of spots for something called the Tax Relief Hotline that I've seen lately, mostly on the CW - every frickin' break - that just kill me. They use a double layer of crawls on the lower third of the screen just like certain news channels, and chroma key an actress playing a reporter in front of the White House or the IRS. And then they cut to pool footage of President Obama saying tax relief is on the way, blah, blah, blah. I love the small print, unreadable on a small TV, stating that this is not a newscast and that the government is not endorsing this service. Legally, their butts are covered. Ethically, they are going straight to Hell.
I've got a real bug up my ass about advertisers making spots that look like newscasts. It's dishonest, deceptive, and just plain annoying. And what's worse, the people who should be raising the biggest stink about them because it can do the most damage to their profession - the journalists - don't seem to care. Why doesn't the News Department, the entire department, walk into the the sales office and demand, "Knock it off. How would you like it if I went around telling people I sell for this station and I can get them a better rate?" Yeah, I know... Money talks. But that doesn't excuse using images and words of the President to sell your crap.
And I know the President has more important things to worry about, but you'd think somebody connected with The White House could put a stop to the misuse of the President's image. Hell, if they can put the hammer down on dolls of the First Daughters, they can surely tell these hucksters, "If we catch you using the president to sell your crap again, say hello to a Secret Service detail."
Don't we have enough people making flying fools of themselves and stunning congressional representatives at town hall meetings shouting outrageous lies and repeating Internet fables and junk political truthiness created by pseudo-journalistic talk show hosts to boost their ratings and ego? Do we really need another source of misinformation disguised as "news" in the form of shoddy advertising practice? Will ad agencies and the clients they represent figure this out on their own, or will it take an FTC or FCC crackdown to wake them up?
Or is it really worth the trouble? Are most viewers doing what I do? Laughing at it and tuning it out.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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1 comments:
It has to start with a news director who has enough backbone to throw sales people out of the newsroom. Then, you have to have a GM who is even capable of spelling the word "news" to back-up said news director. I threw out my share of sales people, but backing was scarce. I even had a threat from a local hamburger jockey that he would pull his ads if I repeated a story that suggested not everyone was on board with going to war - and sales/the GM acted like it was the end of the world. Sorry folks, but in true journalism, you hear both sides - not just the side that makes you feel warm and fuzzy in your nether-regions, or gives you self-validation because an overpaid, self-absorbed, agenda puppet paid attention to you for five seconds on the phone and said "you're right, my friend" and then hung up. Sadly, most people need that just to give them something to talk about for the next month and to make them feel like they have some authority or intelligence. People want to be told how to think and what to feel in a 10 second sound bite. Don't hand them anything that requires them to think or forces them out of the happiness of their self-absorbed little world. It's all about them. You want to feel like you have validity!? - do something in your own community where you can see a difference. Don't waste 45 minutes of your life waiting on hold just to get a pat on the back from someone who doesn't know you, your community and couldn't care less because, quite frankly, you're not rich enough and really aren't important enough for them to pay attention to. End the delusion. Don't look to drug addicts or divorced alcoholics (in constant recovery) for guidance in your life. Start looking closer to home.
This is why crap will continue - it's king because money reigns over all. By the way - to the burger jockey - your burgers taste like salted cardboard - Dave Thomas/Wendys got it right. Oh, and for anyone who thinks I'm one of those money-haters who wants everyone to live on wheat germ - Bloomingdales, Pottery Barn and others love me and I want my next car to be spelled B-M-W. How did I get here? By searching for something more than a ten second sound bite and not believing everything someone tried to shove down my throat as truth.
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