OPINION: Who’s writing obnoxious TV ads, anyway?
I always wonder what fat-cat, moronic CEO is paying hacks to come up with these vapid blurbs. The occupants of corner offices in marketing firms have convinced clients of the effectiveness of these campaigns, probably through subliminal messages on promo vids. I can imagine the popping of champagne corks in posh board rooms during self-congratulatory celebrations, and gloating over how another clueless insurance company executive has been fooled.
Granted, there's not much room for creativity. I figure about half of the blurbs are plugs for either insurance companies or Big Pharma. Most of the Big Pharma adverts are aimed at people like me, who have psoriatic arthritis. These periodic interruptions are generally feel-good ditties guaranteeing you'll feel good if you persuade your doctor to prescribe. But even if the insurance of the put-upon patient covers these drugs, he'll be paying
I'm guessing Big Pharma is counting on the fact that most viewers just catch the high points of the commercial out of the corners of their eyes, and don't read that fine print or listen to the softly intoned warnings of the narrator. I used to take Jardiance for Type 2 diabetes until at the beginning of 2018, my insurance company decided I needed to take Invokana instead. Invokana didn't work nearly as well as Jardiance, but it turns out the insurance company,
Insurance companies used to put out pretty funny commercials, and occasionally still do. I was disappointed when
But why "Liberty-Liberty-Liberty... LIBERTY" Mutual threw over the earnest bits in front of the Statue of Liberty for "LiMu Emu ... and DOUG!" is beyond me. I did see another clip shot in the harbor, but it offered up some guy who had lost weight and gotten hair plugs, and it didn't make much sense. But the emu deal is the worst of the latest lot. Why would a man -- even if he is a nerdy, bologna sandwich-eating one -- partner with a large flightless bird wearing sunglasses to sell insurance? I've never thought about buying a policy when I've seen this dubious duo, but I instead think about the emu story that's long been a staple of newsroom lore.
Several years ago, when the bottom fell out of the emu market, area ranchers started releasing them, much to the misfortune of one driver careening around the curves on
The dead emu was pretty offensive, especially in the early stages of deterioration. But not as offensive as the "what's-up-with-your-partner" LiMu. What's up seems to be a desperate ploy to come off as clever, and it really doesn't work. My apologies to Liberty customers who beg to differ.
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