One indicator that the new television season has launched and that viewers are returning to their couches to watch it is the increased level of complaints on social media about the commercials.
And while both Twitter and Facebook launch campaigns to trumpet how effective they are at bringing audiences to those new shows, these newish mediums are also making advertisers painfully aware of how easy it is to offend (sometimes permanently) the very demographic they most want to embrace.
Two days into the hockey season and there are already fans swearing off a beer or liquor brand for running the same commercial during every single pause in the action –- sometimes twice.
And there is the non-stop derision from those offended by one political party or advocacy group’s support or dismissal of one of the issues of the day.
Perhaps most vocal are those who feel ambushed by ads for condoms, flavored lube or other sexual enhancements that pop up while they’re trying to watch something with their kids.
For my money, a lot of these complaints arise because the ads in question just aren’t good enough. Beer companies assume we’re all low-IQ jocks. The ones advocating opt for the extremes instead of trying to appeal to basic common sense and reason.
Meanwhile, those shilling sex products seldom feature people either sex can imagine boffing no matter how desperate they might be.
I think the latter is mostly because the vendors of those products pussy foot around what their wares are designed to provide.
Not so the manufacturer of “Poo-Pouri” which goes into great detail about the benefits of its little spay bottle and does so with an approach unlikely to offend anybody.
Except maybe the folks at Apple.
It’s a commercial you’ll likely never see on Canadian TV. And more’s the pity.
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