Technology commercials encourage people to be isolated jerks

This particular brand of jerk I can't stand. People are already annoyed by selfish technology users interrupting conversations for texts, talking loudly in public places, and just plain' ol being an isolated jerk. And now we advertise that as the very reason to go out and get the latest and greatest now shiny plastic toy.





Oh, joy. Because being stalked is hilaaaarious.



Your parents have quirks? DROWN THEM OUT WITH TECHNOLOGY.
(If my parents ever sang together, I would cry.)

There's another cell phone commercial I can't find right now, and I think it has the T Mobile girl in it and some creepy-looking guy who whines that he can't see the big game fast enough. So she gives him a phone and he grabs out out of her hand, watches his game and just kinda ignores her.



Slightly less of an isolated jerk, but still apparent.
More when I find them.

That Toyota commercial makes me sad. Singing together with the family on car rides is awesome. And it's not like the parents were even bad singers!

As much as I loves me my technology, I don't want to use it to isolate me from the world, and that's especially a problem for kids.

Maybe, but can you think of one song, any song, you'd be willing to listen to continuously for three hours? Of course, it's one of those exaggerated "wacky" commercial set-ups you're not supposed to think about closely. Have they just been driving around for three hours, or did they keep on singing as they were doing other things? Are they now banned from local stores because of they sang it as they shopped? Do they have some form of musical Tourette's?*




*I wanted to say "Terpsichorean Tourette's," but that's dance, not singing. Darn.

I've seen the car commercial. One question: how old are those parents? The song they're singing was popular when I was in school (grade school for the original version, high school for the Juice Newton version). Wouldn't it be more likely to be a song from the late 90's/2000's?

Let's highlight the problem, then advertise the fact that we are selling you a phone to eliminate phone problems.

Well, not so much isolated as just desperate and needy.



Yeah, pretty much all isolated jerks. Including the girlfriend who apparently wanted the guy to ask her out six months before she broke up with the other one.

technology owns, get bent haters

I'll admit, I like my computer. It's allowed me to meet a lot of people I'd likely never get to meet in real life. It's broadened my horizons. It's taught me that people are simply people, irregardless of their age, race or sexual orientation.

I own a cell phone, but I carry it solely so I have some way to either call one of my sons or a tow truck if something happens to my car. Beyond that, I don't use it. If I want to talk to someone, I do it from home. The idea of being tethered to the rest of the world (even people I know and love) 24/7 creeps me out.

I was waiting at the Mental Health Center for my appointment Tuesday, and this woman had her phone fixed so that instead of buzzing or ringing when she had a text message, it would loudly announce "There is a text message waiting for Donna!" I don't know who Donna was talking to, but in the 10 minutes I was in the waiting room, that phone went off two dozen times. All I could think was "Jesus Christ, can't they just say what they have to say all in one go? Did you send your husband to the grocery store without a list, and he's having to text you every three minutes because he can't remember what you told him to buy?"

It was annoying as fuck. As are the people who sit in the waiting room and carry on loud, highly personal conversations with their friends. No really, honey, I don't WANT to know what you and your boyfriend did last night. For chrissakes, woman, there are small children in the room!

It's like the concept of personal space has vanished. Well, I'm sitting here, and I have a cell phone, and my life is obviously more important than anyone else because someone calls/texts me every five minutes!

BFD, Princess. And I swear, if you start to discuss your sex life in intimate detail when there are small children in the room again, I'm going to pitch your pretty pink blinged-out cell phone under a passing truck!

It's not just technology ads. Remember those Cheeto ads? If you don't... they all involved someone who was slightly annoyed by someone else, playing nasty pranks on the other person. Pranks like stuffing cheetos up the nose of someone snoring; or smearing the cheeto slime on a very expensive white jacket. Some of them were harmless, but others looked possibly life-threatening.

Or the commercials teaching kids that it's okay to steal cereal.

think of the children

Drabbler wrote:

Or the commercials teaching kids that it's okay to steal cereal.

Are adverts like that actually allowed in the States? I'm 90% certain they're not allowed over here - I think one of our rules is that you're not allowed to show anything which would depict law breaking in a good light. They banned a series of adverts that involved someone stealing panties from a washing line (weirdly, it was for paint) until the advertisers brought out a series showing the thieves putting them back.

Lexin wrote:

Drabbler wrote:

Or the commercials teaching kids that it's okay to steal cereal.

Are adverts like that actually allowed in the States? I'm 90% certain they're not allowed over here - I think one of our rules is that you're not allowed to show anything which would depict law breaking in a good light. They banned a series of adverts that involved someone stealing panties from a washing line (weirdly, it was for paint) until the advertisers brought out a series showing the thieves putting them back.

... Is Drab referring to Trix or Lucky Charms? In one case, it's the rabbit stealing them, not the kids. In the other one, I dunno, they're never shown stealing it, just chasing him.



Is it cool if I date your girlfriend when you've died a horrific death that I have witnessed, caused by your own ignorance? Cool.

He'd probably take a picture of it with his cool Windows phone. Instead of, you know, trying to help or something.

Though I'm not sure what he'd be able to do at that altitude.

Lucky Charms, Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, a few others. In some of those Trix ads, the rabbit gets the cereal by legitimate means, and the kids still take it away and eat it themselves, so those would also count.