Lolly Lolly Lolly

There are many commercials out there that I don't much care for, but now and then I come across commercials which irritate me to no end, because they have dreadful implicit messages, many of which seem counter-productive to their own goals. This evening I came across one such commercial.

You see, the commercial in question (whose creators I would like to shake) is for Rogers Cable On Demand. Here's the basic gist of it:

We pan through a room in disarray whilst the sounds of bickering children are heard. Finally we settle on a dad with his three kids (daughters all, I believe) and he puts on Fairly Odd Parents (which is a surprisingly enjoyable little show, by the way). Everything grows quiet and mom arrives to ask how the day was, and dad says fine, or somesuch. First of all, there's the stereotype of a dad whose kids run free until he slaps them in front of a TV. Heaven forbid we should encourage real parenting in which we actually address behaviours rather than just shutting them up. But here's the real clincher, which makes me wonder what they're really trying to say is so great about their product. As the kids watch that brilliantly on-demand programming, they are literally slumped there, unblinking and slack-jawed and essentially in a walking coma. Seriously. If you get a chance to see this commercial, pay attention to them. It's not exactly a glowing advertisement for stimulating pasttimes. What are they thinking? "Get Rogers On Demand so you can fall back on ineffective parenting, limited familial interactions, and to undernourish your intellect." Idiots.

On a more positive note, I came across this curious little on-line article today. It seems that someone somewhere has created Kool-Aid Pickles. I can't quite decide whether to be mortified or intrigued. They look so ridiculously disconcerting, with their whacked-out colouring, and I'm not sure if pickles should have cherry-flavouring at all. I will admit that I once bought these Raspberry Vinaigrette pickles, and though pleasant enough, I can't imagine eating them all that often.