I laughed when I first saw this cartoon. I thought it might be good for one of the Friday Funnies. Then as I was reading it again the truth of it hit me and it wasn’t so funny anymore. No, I don’t mean that I believe that I’m not good enough (most of the time). I’m talking about the the truth in this being the message that many commercials portray in some sense. It’s subtle, but it’s there. I like to watch commercials or look at ads, and try to figure out what emotion they are trying to get to. I’ve done this ever since I took a class at my Bible college on Adolescent Psychology a few years ago, where the professor, Dr. Kailer, pointed out that this is what good advertisers do. They think of an emotion or insecurity that is common among the group they are selling to, and fit that into their ad in order to catch our attention and convince us that we need their product in order to be happy.
Picture an average, nondescript woman getting out of her convertible at a gas station, hair a mess. She walks into the gas station bathroom and amazingly finds bottle of shampoo and conditioner. Then you see the men and another average woman outside the bathroom listening to the orgasmic moans emanating from the closed door. Nest thing you know the woman walks out of the bathroom with the most beautiful, shining hair you’ve ever seen. Everything about her is suddenly breathtakingly perfect. The men are ogling her, and the other woman is jealous. The newly transformed goddess spots the other woman, tosses the bottle of shampoo to her and gets in her car.
Do any of you remember this commercial put out by Herbal Essence? It ran a few years ago, and had several other variations of basically the same scene. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to make the connection that obviously using their shampoo will make you beautiful and sexy - appealing to men and the envy of other women. What woman can say that this is not exactly what we all want, deep down inside (or maybe not so deep)? Sales for their product increased by almost 6% after those commercials started airing in 2001 (despite my personal boycott of them).
Advertisers are good at what they do, and they know how to get to us. It’s so sad to see that we’re more likely to watch a commercial and believe what they say, than we are to remember the truths the God has given directly to us in the Bible. Who are we really listening to? Are we listening to God when He tells us that we are “made in His image,” Genesis 1:27 (which is perfect, by the way), and that according to Psalms 4:6-7 He has filled us with more joy than anyone else could? Or are we believing that we need the latest hair product, makeup, car, drink, cloths, vacuum, etc…to be happy?
I challenge us all to pay attention the next time a commercial or magazine ad draws us in, and figure out what it is that it is appealing to in us. Then think about what Jesus would have to about that.
2 lb frozen hashbrowns
