The Nightly News

Now I'm not going to take the time in this blog post to explain how your favorite news program is pushing a very specific agenda as set by their parent corporations. Nor will I make a big deal about how the Delaware Valley area news programs are entirely racist in their reporting of crime; having heard testimonials of people witnessing a crime committed by a white person that was ignored so that a news corespondent could run to the crime scene of a black person. The point of this posting is the blatant product placement in most nightly new programs.

With the holidays approaching, be aware of "consumer reports" about toys and less childish products being promoted or criticized by these stations. Keep in mind, they are owned by a parent company and want to promote the products of other companies within the parent company's family. NBC is one good example, owned by its parent GE and sistered by health care, aviation and transportation companies. If these companies have a good relationship with certain manufacturers pr brands, expect to see those products or services promoted. If not, as in the Chinese toy recall of early 2009 that led to significant American revenue loss, expect business partners to get slammed in the news by your favorite news anchor.

The product of sport is also heavily promoted. Even major religions don't have a place on the news as a regular segment, but American football and other sports do have a time slot devoted just to them. Ever wonder why 10-15 minutes of your news broadcast is filled with information about whatever sport is seasonally big? It's a 10-15 minute commercial for your local team to get fans excited so that their love of the game will grow and they will spend dollars on endorsed products and team logo emblazoned goods. The conversation about American football becoming America's fourth major religion possibly in front of Christianity, Judaism and Islam is a topic for another time, but only sports receive such devotion by the news.

Also, isn't it ironic how the news advertises heavily throughout the evening about some interesting story coming up in that evening's broadcast only to depress its viewers with a laundry list of crime and murder that has taken place that day or just recently. The juice of the program is of course the weather and that one or two stories advertised earlier, which when finally played after all the tripe reveal that there was no more substance to the story than what was already seen on the earlier ad.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've largely stopped watching the news altogether. I just find it to be uninformative and propagandist. Don't even get me started on the swine flu or the new health recommendations for women. In the words of Adam Curry, "Nothing to see here. Oooh look at that." The news to me is just a distraction from what is really happening in this country and abroad. Watch with discretion and at your own intellectual risk.

Microsoft Bing Commercials

What has search overload done to us? Well according to Microsoft's Bing commercials, it had created a population of computer users that know a whole heck of a lot about a whole heck of a lot of topics. However, that isn't the message Microsoft is trying to send is it? It would seem they are criticizing other search engines for providing a huge breadth of results only loosely tied to the query.

Any brainless internet surfer has heard of Google, if not from a popular television program then prom a commercial here or there. I challenge anyone to do a Google search on any of the words used in Bing ads and provide a list of irrelevant search results matching those in the commercials. Good has done a nice job and the proof is in the revenue it generates for its stockholders. Not only has the search engine performed well, but the revenue has been high enough to grow the Google business to epic proportions, now offering a mobile OS and Google version of many popular productivity programs.

So, to answer the question posed by these ads; search overload enables us to quickly and easily find specific, relevant information that would have otherwise taken quite a while on old webcrawler type search engines and saves us the drive to a library or the search through a book for a quick single fact. The claim that modern search engines can't possibly find what you are searching for is lie that can be debunked the next time you type "Google."

Sears Commercials

So Brett Favre walks into a Sears and says that he hates people who can't make up their mind when making a purchase. The sales guy tries to close the sale and the idiot football player says "ahh, I dunno". What kind of message does this send to potential customers?

Sears advertising is terrible to say the least. At least when they had Felicia Day in a short lived Blue Crew appliances ad, there was a small following of someone who wasn't just a mass market sell out. Now that they've lost the endorsement of a respectable actress who is well know and respected in certain circles, Sears has reverted to underqualified, uninportant sports celebrities such as Favre. It is football season after all and many beer drinking, football watching obese morons wearing old, paint-stained sweatpants will be watching lots of network TV controlled by major corporations such as GE. Ah NBC how I don't love you.

So to answer my previous question, the message is this; Favre left without making a purchase. Way to go Sears. You sent the message to your customers that even with a good salesperson who asks for the sale, you won't be able to sell a TV. Oh well, I guess the sales person (who works on commission) will be going home disappointed yet again. And way to not advertise your products, but only that you have a price-match guarantee. This is something that your main competitor, Best Buy, also has. What was the point of this commercial? The humor? The irony? Oh wait the point was to alienate more customers while trying to appeal to their love of football. I really don't think the huge bill you paid to Favre was useful in any way. Any one who purchases a product just because some celebrity endorsed it deserves to be disappointed. Wake up people. Celebrities are meaningless in your personal life. They are paid big bucks to advertise for a product and it has nothing to do with them actually liking it or not. They are just paying the bills and it's all a ruse.

Also, Sears never advertises for products other than appliances or lawn and garden equipment along with tools on TV. Do the rest of the departments in your store not exist? How do customers know what else you sell? They don't. That is why you are failing and will continue to fail when it comes to TV ads. Sears, it's time to grow up and get with the current market. Your old fashioned, out-dated practices will be your downfall.