Advertising!

  

Well it's Fathers Day here in Australia this Sunday. As usual we've been assailed with adverts left, right and centre. I must admit I find most advertising rather silly,and vaguely incomprehensible.

I mean really, have you ever bought coffee beans because George Clooney swans about trying to get his fix? Or cat food because Eva Longoria dances around her lounge-room? Evidently, according to the blurb, Eva is trying to make cat food "sexy". Sexy ????? Cat food ?????

Really clever ads (and yes there have been some) are few and far between. I do find the so-called ad-jocks are a little behind the times. "Sex sells" is an old adage that may have been edgy in its day but really ....sexy cat food????

So now to Father's Day. "Show your dad how much you love him". Hey I love presents as much as the next person - giving and receiving - but I didn't know that the giving of a particular gift was an accurate measure of my feelings for someone. Advertising always goes for the jugular; portraying you as lacking in some way if you don't use or buy their product. And you're not a good parent/child/friend/spouse if you don't max out the credit card on a gift. Hey that's how we all know how much you care - cause if you really care - you will buy, buy, buy! So does the kid who saved a few dollars love their dad less than the one who has a few hundred to spend on dad? Well that's the measure the ad guys use.

And that's what I find hard to understand. I know very few people who believe all that ; and yet someone must; cause these ad guys still have jobs, spending millions on meaningless nonsense that assaults our sensibilities and often tries to guilt us into buying their product.

    Will my husband get something for Fathers Day? I daresay he will. I also know the thing he will treasure the most is spending time with the kids. Something that can't be bought or measured; and no-one can make a buck out of it.