The Real Cost Commercials / Do We Have To?

mrb7 · Apr 11, 2014

mistercitizen said:
I've lived my whole life watching TV and I'd say very little of it is worth watching period.

I'm sort of the opposite. I've spent most of my life not watching TV, but I agree very little of it is worth watching.

Funny but true story, during the last presidential election I was working a job in the state of WA. I decided that I should watch the debates rather than read about them since demeanor and candor are so difficult to convey in print. Anyway, I had been renting this studio efficiency for about eight months at the time, I couldn't get the TV set up right, so I asked the girl who worked in the building how to do it. She asked me when was the last time it worked, and I had to admit that I had never turned it on before.

August West · Apr 11, 2014

mrb7 said:
Anyway, I had been renting this studio efficiency for about eight months at the time...

Got any good hot plate recipes?

mistercitizen · Apr 11, 2014

August West said:
Beats road rage Ben.

I just got my Mergress in the mail today...... so I'm all happy again.

Ben

Beav · Apr 11, 2014

Late on the conversation, but Ben.... your not alone. I happen to agree with most of what you said. "Big brother" has gotten completely out of hand as "we've" been dumb downed & everyone is on the dole. How's your health insurance? Did ya keep your plan? How about your Dr? Just wait until the full effect of this fiasco is realized... "We the sheep..." :angry:

I DO HOPE that you enjoy that Mergress!

Beav

oc_in_fw · Apr 11, 2014

mistercitizen said:
You're correct here. I mostly just wanted to say my piece. I know "keeping politics out" is a common stance on B&B and I almost always adhere to this. I definitely would not bring up anything political outside of the Barbershop.

Sometimes a guy just has to vent. I realize we live in a divided country and 50% of the population is not going to see it my way.... and that's liable to start problems. Obviously I'd like to have a voice or I wouldn't have posted on this one..... but I don't expect others to agree. It's all very subjective.

Ben

I don't think we are as divided as the news wants us to think we are. I will admit I am to the left of most of my co-workers, and probably a lot of people here, but while we may disagree from time to time on a few topics we still respect the other person's belief. THEY want us to think that we are divided just to keep us fighting amongst ourselves, while they quietly pad their bank accounts. We all want good for our loved ones and friends, the rest is just a bunch of minutiae (or manure, if you prefer :biggrin:

)

jazzman · Apr 11, 2014

Beav said:
Late on the conversation, but Ben.... your not alone. I happen to agree with most of what you said. "Big brother" has gotten completely out of hand as "we've" been dumb downed & everyone is on the dole. How's your health insurance? Did ya keep your plan? How about your Dr? Just wait until the full effect of this fiasco is realized... "We the sheep..."

I DO HOPE that you enjoy that Mergress!

Beav

Fantastic! I've been waiting for an opportunity to learn more about Obamacare! Didn't think I'd find it in this thread.

Borderdog · Apr 11, 2014

mretzloff said:
These commercials are not aimed at the well-educated, such as yourself, Ben. These commercials are aimed at younger and low-income crowds that may not have been so fortunate to have learned the perils and health risks of using tobacco products.

I get where you are coming from, but I tend to disagree. In 2014, if a person doesn't realize tobacco isn't a healthy option they've got bigger problems on their hands than being under educated and lower income. Nobody in the civilized world thinks tobacco is healthy anymore. At this point, 50% of the packaging on tobacco is taken up by warnings.

Montana has some pretty vile anti-meth advertising. It's a great cause and I agree with doing whatever it takes, but I didn't enjoy the experience of trying to explain to my then 3 year old why the lady on the billboard was cutting chunks of flesh off of her arm. He just didn't seem to grasp the concept of meth bugs. At least that advertising campaign was paid for by a private non-profit though.

mistercitizen · Apr 11, 2014

Borderdog said:
Montana has some pretty vile anti-meth advertising. It's a great cause and I agree with doing whatever it takes, but I didn't enjoy the experience of trying to explain to my then 3 year old why the lady on the billboard was cutting chunks of flesh off of her arm. He just didn't seem to grasp the concept of meth bugs. At least that advertising campaign was paid for by a private non-profit though.

Quite of bit of my disdain for this campaign is the tasteless and disgusting fashion that the message is being delivered..... sounds much like the anti-meth campaign you are referring to above.

Ben

mistercitizen · Apr 11, 2014

oc_in_fw said:
I don't think we are as divided as the news wants us to think we are. I will admit I am to the left of most of my co-workers, and probably a lot of people here, but while we may disagree from time to time on a few topics we still respect the other person's belief. THEY want us to think that we are divided just to keep us fighting amongst ourselves, while they quietly pad their bank accounts. We all want good for our loved ones and friends, the rest is just a bunch of minutiae (or manure, if you prefer )

Good point. I think we as a country are a pretty divided people in terms of who we vote for, but I do believe that the press and media pit the two sides against each other as much as they can..... well, because.... it makes for a good fight which is good business for them.

Ben

mistercitizen · Apr 11, 2014

Beav said:
I DO HOPE that you enjoy that Mergress!

Beav

The Mergress is great! Nothing like a good shave to make you forget about your overbearing government for about 45 minutes :thumbup1:

.

Ben

mrb7 · Apr 11, 2014

oc_in_fw said:
I don't think we are as divided as the news wants us to think we are. ... THEY want us to think that we are divided just to keep us fighting amongst ourselves, while they quietly pad their bank accounts. We all want good for our loved ones and friends, the rest is just a bunch of minutiae (or manure, if you prefer )

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

The long job I spoke about earlier in the thread lasted about 18 months total, and my compadre in the studio down the hall and I worked daily at what might as well have been a partner's desk in room smaller that some walk-in closets I've seen. He and I were polar opposites on politics, but I have to admit that we had some of the most engaging conversations I've ever had in my life. Why? Because neither of us were sucked into the talking heads game of "hate the other side" on topics.

And as you said, both being about the same age, married about the same length of time, and both having one daughter as an only child made us practically like peas in a pod, except we finalized our rationalizations one slightly left, and one slightly right.

Both of us think the "national leaders" are out to delude us into thinking the "other guys are bad."

Even McGovern and Nixon, probably the bitterest opponents in political elections, were not personal enemies. I'm not contending that they were BFF by any means. But they had respect and acceptance of each other.

Attack or defend the ideas, but not the man.

auk1124 · Apr 11, 2014

My biggest beef with the anti-smoking commercials is that they show some poor wasted soul, with her throat ripped out and her bones poking through her skin, right at suppertime in the Eastern US. It isn't enough to shock us with an image of a soon-to-be-corpse, but they have to ruin our meals too.

Same thing with the pet shelter commercials that show a poor abused dog or cat with missing eyeballs. Stop trying to manipulate us with horrible imagery and let us eat our supper in peace.

oc_in_fw · Apr 11, 2014

mistercitizen said:
Good point. I think we as a country are a pretty divided people in terms of who we vote for, but I do believe that the press and media pit the two sides against each other as much as they can..... well, because.... it makes for a good fight which is good business for them.

Ben

One of the bad side effects of the 24 hour news cycle- you have to generate profit. Sensationalism boosts viewership which raises ad revenue.

mrb7 said:
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.

The long job I spoke about earlier in the thread lasted about 18 months total, and my compadre in the studio down the hall and I worked daily at what might as well have been a partner's desk in room smaller that some walk-in closets I've seen. He and I were polar opposites on politics, but I have to admit that we had some of the most engaging conversations I've ever had in my life. Why? Because neither of us were sucked into the talking heads game of "hate the other side" on topics.

And as you said, both being about the same age, married about the same length of time, and both having one daughter as an only child made us practically like peas in a pod, except we finalized our rationalizations one slightly left, and one slightly right.

Both of us think the "national leaders" are out to delude us into thinking the "other guys are bad."

Even McGovern and Nixon, probably the bitterest opponents in political elections, were not personal enemies. I'm not contending that they were BFF by any means. But they had respect and acceptance of each other.

Attack or defend the ideas, but not the man.

+1000

mrb7 · Apr 11, 2014

mistercitizen said:
because.... it makes for a good fight which is good business for them.

It is the job of the talking heads to sell whatever stuff the advertisers are pitching. For a long time it has not been their job to give us unbiased reporting. Hence my disdain for TV. I haven't had one for years. And I've never missed a Super Bowl, or a World Series game because of that.

August West · Apr 11, 2014

Where can a guy get a decent hot plate recipe around here?

garyg · Apr 11, 2014

mrb7 said:
+1 on that. Mine has been gone for years.

But without marketeers, how would you know that you needed a plastic box that told you what to do? Oh, now the 'puter serves the purpose, or the Twits I hear of?

jazzman · Apr 11, 2014

I spend a fair amount of time in a cigar store lounge where I'm almost a token liberal. When the doctors, cops, electricians, and retired military officers discuss their conservative political views with me, they always make more sense and are more knowledgable than the TV conservatives and conservative politicians, and the conversation is always respectful (without being wimpy).

mrb7 · Apr 11, 2014

August West said:
Where can a guy get a decent hot plate recipe around here?

Sorry, we were spending you're tax money for meals. Use it or lose it. We ate out a lot. But boy were the local restaurants glad we were in town.

August West · Apr 11, 2014

mrb7 said:
Sorry, we were spending you're tax money for meals. Use it or lose it. We ate out a lot. But boy were the local restaurants glad we were in town.

It all evens out.

mistercitizen · Apr 11, 2014

jazzman said:
I spend a fair amount of time in a cigar store lounge where I'm almost a token liberal. When the doctors, cops, electricians, and retired military officers discuss their conservative political views with me, they always make more sense and are more knowledgable than the TV conservatives and conservative politicians, and the conversation is always respectful (without being wimpy).

I just think that the media makes each side of the political spectrum look completely unrealistic and foolish. They are either bashing one side relentlessly, or they are doting the other side into the answer that they want to broadcast. You're a good man for mingling jazzman, real people are not much like the talking heads we see on the TV and cable news channels.

Ben

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The Real Cost Commercials / Do We Have To?

mrb7

August West

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Beav

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Fridays are Fishtastic!

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Borderdog

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mistercitizen

mistercitizen

mrb7

auk1124

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!

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August West

garyg

B&B membership has its percs

jazzman

mrb7

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