I don't think this completely applies to the M18-24 demographic like it does to the M25-35 group but we'll include them anyways:
Three questions:
1. Who do you think prime time advertising is aimed at?
2. Who do you think films based on comic books are marketed towards?
3. Who do you think films based on toys from the 80s are marketed towards?
If you watch prime time at all, you'll no doubt note the overwhelming amount of commercials featuring a) popular songs that people in the above age groups would be familiar with that have been b) re-recorded featuring some breathy, tired-sounding female vocalist. Do you think they do this to make "our music" less threatening so the commercials appeal to a wider audience (ie our parents)? GUESS AGAIN. No one ever had to sing your dad a lullaby to get him to buy a Buick; your dad fought in Korea or Vietnam, your dad drank alcohol at night like you drink Starbucks in the morning, and your dad had a five o'clock shadow by ten a.m. every damn day. No, that lullaby is aimed squarely at YOU.
So why is that? How did Madison Avenue arrive at the conclusion that our generation needs to have our mommies singing to us in order to get us to buy a toaster?
I suggest we look to the most bankable trend in film we've seen in decades for the answer: producing films based on comic book characters from when we were kids (note that producing films based on the toys we played with is quickly becoming an equally bankable trend). What does this illustrate to the world, other than that we're a little too nostalgic? Shouldn't we be looking forward rather than attempting to retreat all the way back to the womb? Advertisers pick up on it and now I have to listen to lullabies during every commercial break. When the entire world thinks 30-year-old American males are incapable of letting go of their childhoods, something is profoundly wrong.
In the book versions of the Dr. Lecter tales, Clarice Starling would go and sit in front of her running washing machine during times of duress. Why would a person do that? Thomas Harris knew why - it's because it's rhythmic & wet sounding and would remind someone on some level of being inside the womb. Wait til Madison Avenue figures that out, guys. All your commercials will have womb sounds playing in the background for you.
I would suggest that we do something about it. I'd suggest that when Ghost Rider 2 comes out, maybe instead of flocking to the theater like we did when Green Lantern was released, maybe we should all stay home and watch First Blood instead.
But I'm not going to suggest anything, because I'm not sharing this blog with anyone until I'm sure they're not a pussy.
Three questions:
1. Who do you think prime time advertising is aimed at?
2. Who do you think films based on comic books are marketed towards?
3. Who do you think films based on toys from the 80s are marketed towards?
If you watch prime time at all, you'll no doubt note the overwhelming amount of commercials featuring a) popular songs that people in the above age groups would be familiar with that have been b) re-recorded featuring some breathy, tired-sounding female vocalist. Do you think they do this to make "our music" less threatening so the commercials appeal to a wider audience (ie our parents)? GUESS AGAIN. No one ever had to sing your dad a lullaby to get him to buy a Buick; your dad fought in Korea or Vietnam, your dad drank alcohol at night like you drink Starbucks in the morning, and your dad had a five o'clock shadow by ten a.m. every damn day. No, that lullaby is aimed squarely at YOU.
So why is that? How did Madison Avenue arrive at the conclusion that our generation needs to have our mommies singing to us in order to get us to buy a toaster?
I suggest we look to the most bankable trend in film we've seen in decades for the answer: producing films based on comic book characters from when we were kids (note that producing films based on the toys we played with is quickly becoming an equally bankable trend). What does this illustrate to the world, other than that we're a little too nostalgic? Shouldn't we be looking forward rather than attempting to retreat all the way back to the womb? Advertisers pick up on it and now I have to listen to lullabies during every commercial break. When the entire world thinks 30-year-old American males are incapable of letting go of their childhoods, something is profoundly wrong.
In the book versions of the Dr. Lecter tales, Clarice Starling would go and sit in front of her running washing machine during times of duress. Why would a person do that? Thomas Harris knew why - it's because it's rhythmic & wet sounding and would remind someone on some level of being inside the womb. Wait til Madison Avenue figures that out, guys. All your commercials will have womb sounds playing in the background for you.
I would suggest that we do something about it. I'd suggest that when Ghost Rider 2 comes out, maybe instead of flocking to the theater like we did when Green Lantern was released, maybe we should all stay home and watch First Blood instead.
"Back there you're the law. Out here, it's me. Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe." -*INSTANT CHILLS*
But I'm not going to suggest anything, because I'm not sharing this blog with anyone until I'm sure they're not a pussy.
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