Open Writing

In the almost seven decades of broadcast TV in the USA, the style and content of the commercials that support it have continued to evolve. They started out as simple, unsophisticated endorsements by a live presenter or a personality, in real time. They were informative, if you believed the pitch, and in some cases lengthy, since airtime wasn’t as costly as it is today. According to Wikipedia, the world's first television advertisement was broadcast on July 1, 1941. The watchmaker Bulova paid $4 for an ad. on New York station WNBT before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies

As TV personalities began to emerge, such as the comedians Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, and the originator of the “chat show,” Jack Parr, commercials were woven into the program as an endorsement by the star. Interestingly, after eventually falling into disuse, this format reappeared in later years as dog food Alpo ads. in the Johnny Carson late night show, faithfully delivered by side man Ed McMahon.

Humor gradually crept into the commercials, often through the use of cartoon characters and live animals. Though very popular with audiences, statistical analysis by journals such as Advertizing Age, showed that humorous commercials did not promote sales as successfully as did more direct messages. Most people could remember the commercial, but not the product associated with it.

Some of the best humorous commercials still circulate on the Internet, and the most successful of the jingles, or catch phrases associated with them, became part of the lexicon, if only briefly, as in “Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is,” the antacid jingle. British TV also contributed many such phrases, especially those uttered by the Typhoo Tea monkeys – “Do you ride tandem?” And the hilarious cartoon series featuring the Esso blee dooler.

At first, the commercials were shown in natural breaks in the programs, but this became counterproductive because audiences used the commercial break to replenish their refreshments, or take a toilet break. If, as many people did, they were watching TV during the evening meal, the break was also an opportunity to serve dessert. So then the breaks were inserted in mid-performance in order to hold the audience’s attention. The most annoying manifestation of this technique still is the ads. that are shown just when you think the program is about to begin.

As the major networks have increased the cost of airtime, so the ads. have become more punchy, and visually more arresting, if your eyes are quick enough to take them in. These days it’s not unusual in the US for a 30 second commercial to cost the advertiser a million dollars or more. On a major sports occasion such spots might be aired several times!

Given the cost and the short duration of commercials, it’s reasonable to think that advertisers would want to pack in as much information as possible, but in reality that is far from the case. Today’s ads. are all about the sizzle and not the steak. Automobile companies are probably the most guilty – a quick shot of a hood ornament, followed rapidly by another of a sculpted hub cap, then a tour of the interior, emphasizing the cockpit-like layout, the luxurious leather upholstery and the on-dash GPS screen, and it’s all over. Did you learn anything? Probably not.

An alternative is the other psychological approach of appealing to the wannabe image of ourselves. Outside a swanky hotel entrance, a tall, slim, bronze guy (always a guy) in an Italian made suit and Gucci shoes is leaning casually on a Ford something or other that looks fast even when it’s stationary, but in the end is just your average family shopping car. Amazingly, a steady stream of gorgeous, fashionably dressed women carrying Barneys or Sacks Fifth Avenue shopping bags, is walking by, their dewy eyes fixed adoringly on our hero. Even more amazingly, he plainly cares nothing for this adulation, turns slowly towards his pet, and lovingly caresses the simulated leather steering wheel, drawing attention to its realistic molded stitching.

Counter to the brief, staccato style of most modern commercials, a format called “Infomercial” has emerged in the past two or three years. These are program-length productions featuring relatively low-cost, mundane products such as DIY tools and gadgets, or kitchen equipment. They rely on constant repetition of the message, accompanied by demonstrations of the product’s use in solving seemingly endless construction or culinary problems. Possessing such a device immediately makes the user an expert, and always for $19.99! Order now by phone and they’ll throw in a set of kitchen knives or screwdrivers.

I watch TV for a couple of hours a day at most, and then it’s the, supposedly, non-commercial Public Broadcasting Service, which is anything but. Recently, on the rare occasions I have watched commercial TV, I noticed another trend in ad. style. These commercials are more nuanced, less “in your face,” and subtle to a degree that it’s difficult to decipher exactly what is being pitched. The spokesperson, or voice-over, delivers a mumbled message that’s equally difficult to decipher. Perhaps the creators are operating on the principle that curiosity killed the cat, but this cat isn’t about to be sold.

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