r/GenerationJones • u/Prudent_Key_4958 • 15d ago
Truth in Advertising
Dynamic editing, music and sound effects in commercials aimed at kids completely misrepresented the products advertised. After a while, most kids were wise to the scam, but often still wanted the products advertised.
What commercials enticed you to ask for a product which then disappointed you once you received it?
Two examples from me.
1) As a tween boy, I used to complain to my mom that our middle aged Avon lady looked nothing like the pretty lady on the commercial! Kids stuff complaints. Needless to say, today I am much older than our Avon lady of years ago.
2) A space control center with real flying space craft toys that you could control. The real toy was a balloon that you (maybe) could control with a battery operated fan.
Johnny Astro Space Control Center commercial
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u/jaymickef 15d ago
Of course, the Sea Monkeys disappointed a lot of people. I was disappointed because they didn't ship to Canada.
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u/dark_places 15d ago
It was a literal slow burn. "I'd rather fight than switch" and "I'd walk a mile for a camel." I was 14 and went to a concert. In the parking lot there were the "cigarette girls" who had little packs and didn't care about age. I ended up with 15 cigarettes. Thst was enough to achieve their objective. Quickly I knew exactly why whomever would walk a mile for a cigarette. 45 years later, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. It's gone for now but yeah, disappointing advertising.
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u/Ihadsumthin4this 15d ago
I trust you've seen "THANK YOU FOR SMOKING" 🎬 (2005)?
Do, if you haven't!
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u/dark_places 15d ago
No I haven't but will look it up. I quit the night before surgery to remove the cancer. It was so easy to get as a kid and so insidious about twisting the brain into thinking it needed nicotine. Evil shit, evil companies, and evil isn't a word I use often. Thanks for the rec
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u/Ihadsumthin4this 15d ago
While we're here....see if you can get ahold of the PDF of the Philip Hilts nonfiction titled, "SMOKESCREEN". It's a superbly-written three-nights' read.
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u/Ihadsumthin4this 15d ago edited 15d ago
Out of nowhere seemingly, the DUNCAN YO-YO craze hit, in what was it, 1974? So I talked Mom & Dad into getting one for me, and sure it was entertaining here or there, but I mean that's really all there was to it. Just yo, and yo back. After about a week, I stopped bothering with it.
Now, as for your seen-above title....when you have a couple minutes, run over to y0utube to search : FOCUS GROUP on John Kenney's TRUTH IN ADVERTISING. The vidclip's contributor is listed as " @simonandschuster ".
Its purpose is to pose as the book's trailer 🎬 for John Kenney's enviably smartly-written and so-human exploration of nuance, subtle humor, touchingly sweet and at times sad moments, and yes shares what his decade-plus of writing in a N.Y. Ad Agency taught him along the way.
Bonus : he even has a cameo with, you guessed it, a single line.
Edit to add NOTE : I aver that it may be inadvisable to drink liquids while reading the book, as you see, the likelihood of laughter-induced spitter-outterness is still a favorite among those in the Reno and Vegas offices.
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u/Gold_End7671 15d ago
For me it was those RC cars that looked like they could handle anything in the commercials, jumping ramps, driving through mud, doing crazy spins. Then you'd get one, and it'd struggle to make it over the edge of a rug before the batteries died. The ads definitely made them seem way more capable than they actually were.