A Different Perspective
My husband laughs at me when I see certain commercials. I tend to react either with tears, if it really touches my heart strings, or with disgust at the stupidity! There are those that insult intelligent thinking people, and others where people just do strange things, like walking off a building to sell insurance or try to make you believe chewing a certain kind of gum makes a person fall in love with another!
It’s interesting (and frustrating) how commercials often attack our personal value. We are blasted with information on dieting, sexuality, incontinence, dating sites, make up, hair loss (or growth) clothes styles or even material products like a car, house, shoes, accessories, drinks or snacks, and more that imply unless we buy the product they’re promoting, we will surely be less than appealing or an utter failure in life!
They also imply we are going to be rejected by those we love and care about. To have less than perfect eyebrows, teeth, skin, hair or other physical trait that is not equal to their standards, makes us less than those who are. And have you ever noticed that most every one of those folks making the commercials are the perfect weight and size and shape?
This is an insult to those who do not fit their criteria of perfect, including those who have a disability. There is nothing wrong with the way we look, dress size or shirt we wear, color of our hair, length of our fingernails or any other human condition! We are created different by design! Sometimes it means we have to work a little harder (or maybe a lot harder) to reach our goals. But the products with which we are inundated, is not a critical factor to getting us where we want to go!
Adding to the attack on our personal value, the speed at which our culture is changing, is downright frightening. Disrespect between adults, or children and adults, is at an all time high, while general behavior is exceedingly rude and obnoxious. Television demonstrates and insists on self-reliance and independence nearly as soon as a child can talk. There was a comedy some years back where the baby in the crib was the central character as we listened to his thoughts regarding his dating father and girlfriend. Or recently, in a commercial, a child in a crib was a finance genius and shared his thoughts on how we should invest money!
Sometimes commercials use shock tactics to engage listeners. They use horrific pictures of crippled children or animals to convince us we need to give money to help them. The same strategy is used to compel people to send money for veterans and other causes. I’m not suggesting the causes aren’t compelling and genuine. It’s how the advertising is done that causes me to recoil, including skewing statistics to manipulate how we think.
Our ‘perceived’ need is just that— ‘perceived’ by someone who has something to sell. It likely won’t be as ‘perfect’ a product at they claim. It’s not going to solve all our problems or make us as beautiful as the actor/actress! We are who we are: —-people with disabilities, tall, short, various sizes, shapes, colorings and more; just the way we were meant to be!
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-standing-indoors-3184396/