Some of the worst advertising in America is for television news.
Generally speaking, it’s overblown, bombastic, ridden with overwrought clichés, and as subtle as an anvil dropped on your head. Someone must have gotten the idea that yelling at your audience is effective, because that approach has spread across America —and go from city to city and you’ll see that all the news promos look alike. I’ll admit that I’ve occasionally been part of the problem, but I’ve tried during my career in broadcast marketing and promotion to do work that was not…well…stupid.
Naturally, news promos have always been a ripe target for parody —and here’s the best one I’ve ever seen, from The Daily Show:
4 responses so far ↓
Experienced Cynic // August 8, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Mr. Stewart,
Home. Run.
Hilarious!
Experienced Cynic // August 8, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Eye,
And they wonder why you wrote a blog? If I had to make that kind of crap every day (or even once a month), I’d skip the blogging and go straight to the Great American Novel.
Or arsenic.
Mr. Friendly // August 11, 2008 at 8:12 am
Rob,
Can’t see the video from here. Yet, I do have a question: Why are men (especially married with kids) portrayed as borderline developmentally disabled in nearly all television advertisements?
Thanks
Rob // August 13, 2008 at 5:43 am
I believe that’s because so many TV commercials are targeted at women, Mr. Friendly.
The depiction of men as inept, foolish, and self-important goes WAY back; it’s an age old technique in theatrical comedy, opera…and now commercials.