I hate commercials. Not equally and not for the same reason, but almost all of them. you too? But why?
I don't hate them for what is usually said about advertising, namely that they lie. I would still swallow this, because I acknowledge that - to put it mildly - they do not show all segments of the truth. After all, advertising is there to foist something on me that I might never buy, so of course they embellish reality. Who would buy a super-supple washing machine, for example, if they were told that it would die a week after the warranty expires? By the way, in our age of buy-use-throw-buy-new, everyone knows that when they want to encourage water-saving with a "reliable" dishwasher, the manufacturer doesn't really care what we can save, just make the offer sound promising, let's pay and that's it. The machine may be reliable, but the advertisement is not.
What used to annoy me to death no longer bothers me anymore, namely the commercial blocks that frequently interrupt the movies. Or as Uncle Martin (Christopher Lloyd the Martian) puts it in the movie My Favorite Martian: You will never become a cultural species...if you mix movies with commercials.
The commercial break has two advantages. It's perfect for doing whatever you want instead of watching commercials, and also for my wife never being able to watch a single movie because she falls asleep during the commercials.
So what's wrong with the ads? Is it that they're usually bums? No, it's getting used to it. The fact that they offer a single solution to all of life's problems, the unbridled snacking of medicines and medicinal preparations? Because if we lived with all the "offers", we wouldn't live anymore. Well, yes, it's a bit disturbing. Especially when they ask: Do headaches slow you down too? What can be said about this? Oh, no, a good migraine will make my life better? The question itself is bullshit. But that's still not enough to make you hate them.
But what really turns me upside down is when it almost hits my face how unimportant I am. Not just me, the entire Hungarian market. This is communicated to us by those advertisements that are spoken in elegant English. I don't have a problem with English, I understand that language as well (others maybe not so much), but a company that doesn't respect us enough to synchronize its message, what does it want from us? And what are you advertising for? After all, he is not willing to spend so much on us to give his advertising a Hungarian voice.
I also can't stand it when, after a completely incomprehensible, jumbled sequence of images, they announce: We know what you want. You know the bad guy! You don't know me, I've never bought anything from you, so how on earth would you know? I mean, I wouldn't even tell you what I want, because there's no way I could get it from you.
And the thing that makes me angry, then again, is the vilely suggestive advertising. There is one, it belongs to a telecommunications company. Plus, it's disguised as Christmas! (This Christmas is not the figure with the same name.) Maybe you've seen it before. Kiscsávó returns home, singing the melody of Ó szép fenyő (Ó, tannenbaum), but with some disastrously messed up lyrics. Part of which is the vile message itself. The uncle asks about his degree, the aunt about his relationship, and the mother asks when the wedding will be. When the coma thinks: Someone save me now.
You can interpret this ad as saving you from oppressive relatives, but knowing the history of the advertising company, it seems to me that you should be saved from marriage and children. I wouldn't think this if I didn't know that just a year ago, the same company put the Transgender Handbook in the hands of its employees to use as a mandatory code of conduct. I think the creator of the advertisement also read it...
I didn't quite tell the truth because there are advertisements that I can tolerate. There are cute, witty, creative ones among them. Not the Amundsens, who see me as an eternal explorer (Discover this, discover that), but let's say the little green figures. Just Whooo. Although I don't know why I should buy a smartwatch that accompanies me everywhere. Just stay at home, I'll find you there by myself.
I didn't believe it, but a miracle happened (it's natural at Christmas!), there's an advertisement that I'm a big fan of. Its characters are Old Fool (Gyula Bodrogi) and Nyikhaj (Tibor Szilágyi), its message is love and reconciliation. I'm there for it not only because of the excellent performances of the two wonderful actors, but also because this commercial has a soul. When I hear its accompanying music, I rush to the screen and watch it for the twentieth time with a tight throat. Although it is an advertisement, the business is hidden deep inside it, a call, which means money for the company, but I am happy to pay from now on.
If there were only advertisements like this, you could really leave out the movies.
Author: György Tóth Jr
Photo: Shutterstock
