Ripped from today’s newswire:

The Chinese government is banning certain TV commercials during mealtimes.

"Television and radio broadcasters’ advertisements should respect the customs of the masses…and are not allowed to air commercials likely to disgust audiences, for example medicines for hemorrhoids and athlete’s foot, sanitary napkins and other hygiene products," the Beijing Times said.

Teachers have complained that punning commercials mislead young minds trying to hone Chinese characters. A recent commercial for cough medicine replaced the first character for a common expression meaning "demands immediate attention" with the word for "cough."

Good job for me that I work in the US and not in China.

- PW

commercials likely to disgust audiences

Isn’t that a bit redundant?

DJ

[quote author=demijohn link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=0#2 date=09/25/03 at 17:59:23]
Isn’t that a bit redundant?

DJ

Come on, DJ. You’re talking about my CALLING.  ;D

- PW

Dang!  PW,  if you’d not posted so fast you’d have seen I just, MOST elequently defended your ‘calling’..

In fact, I did see it and thanks. Actually, it’s no easy matter to tell a story in 60 seconds and even less so in 30. Which doesn’t mean that most commercials aren’t crap. But the good ones can be SOOOO good.

Anyone see the award-winning Ikea "Lamp" commercial? Genius.

- PW

I missed the lamp thing, what channels is it on?  were you involved in it?  

Unfortunately not. I wish I had been. Evidently, you CAN tell a story in 60 seconds or less. I’ve seen 180-minute movies that were less interesting.

No, I have to concentrate on Preparation H commercials to air between 6 and 8 pm.  ;D

- PW

You wanna see another great ad example, do a Google search on "Trunk Monkey". Priceless.

[quote author=Palewriter link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=0#6 date=09/25/03 at 23:06:24]
Anyone see the award-winning Ikea "Lamp" commercial? Genius.

The "Lamp" spot was brilliant. I completely fell for it (because I’m a huge sucker for personification).

[quote author=stickler link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=0#9 date=09/26/03 at 10:15:08]Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

Great citation, even if it probably does require some qualification….

Henri

[quote author=M._Henri_Day link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=0#10 date=09/26/03 at 11:04:11]
Great citation, even if it probably does require some qualification….

And now that it’s been noticed, I do believe it’s time to change it.  :)

[quote author=KatyBr link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=0#11 date=09/26/03 at 11:10:02] ... and the point here, Henri?  and the quote is not quite accurate for reality says the real quote is:Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is forcing others to live as one wishes to live.

Du calme, chère Katy, du calme ! The «point» was, simply, that I thought the sentiment expressed in the citation thought-provoking, all of which I attempted to subsume in the word «great». As for the correct form of the citation itself, Bartleby has the following to say on the matter :

The Columbia World of Quotations.  1996.
NUMBER: 64633
QUOTATION: Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
ATTRIBUTION: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Anglo-Irish playwright, author. repr. (1895). "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," Fortnightly Review (London, Feb. 1891).
BIOGRAPHY: Columbia Encyclopedia.
WORKS: Wilde Collection.

I myself wasn’t around at the time, however, and Mr Wilde (if indeed, it was Mr Wilde) didn’t make the remark to me, so in the event you know of a more reliable source which reports a different wording, I’m certainly prepared to listen….

Henri

I have nothing to add; I just want to see what happens when I attain 151 posts.

Carry on.  ;D

eta: I was rewarded with another star and new Agora designation. Yay me.  :D

Come on, DJ. You’re talking about my CALLING.  

I know, I know (talk about redundant.) Commercials do have their good points. Why if it weren’t for TV commercials:

- Some people would never get anything done around the house.

- Baseball fans would all fall asleep by the fourth inning

- Roula Lenska would never have enjoyed her fifteen minutes of fame

- etc. (I’m sure there are others)

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Just kidding

DJ

Congratulations on your sesquicentennial, stickler… no, wait… that would be years.  Anyway, you get the point!

;D

-Tim

Commercials do have their good points.

Indeed. Apart from their keeping me solvent, how else would Joe and Jane Public:

- ever get a bathroom break?

- ever have known anything about the Dell interns?

- ever have been aware of the miracle of bleach?

- PW

(who knows about canned laughter; now, what about canned booze…no, wait…)

[quote author=Palewriter link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=15#18 date=09/28/03 at 15:07:17]
Indeed. Apart from their keeping me solvent, how else would Joe and Jane Public:

- ever get a bathroom break?

They could buy a DVR (Digital Video Recorder), one of the best known brands is TiVo. "Pause" the TV; have as long a break as they like; "resume" the TV, skipping over any commercials that they "missed" until they catch up with live transmissions.

Magic! (But bad for PW, so don’t tell anyone else.  ;))

But bad for PW

Actually, it’s not that bad for me. It’s worse for the public in general. When commercials become less effective, advertisers look for alternative channels.

The revenue loss for the commercial networks means less money to make new programs. We’re already seeing something of this in the rash of reality shows (cheap, cheap to produce), crappy old movie reruns and the pathetic lack of good, new ideas in network programming. This will drive more viewers to the cable and pay-per-view alternatives, thus reducing network budgets even further. Soon, all a network like CBS will be able to afford will be talkshows and so-called realtity shows.  

While all this is going on, us advertising vultures will be looking for other channels. Product placement, Internet pop-up windows and more junk mail, for example.

- PW

[quote author=Palewriter link=board=omni;num=1064517837;start=15#20 date=09/30/03 at 12:56:56]While all this is going on, us advertising vultures will be looking for other channels. Product placement, Internet pop-up windows and more junk mail, for example.

Add one to Benjamin Franklin’s list:

In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and advertising.