Ads

I recently have heard two advertisements that have really bothered me - one on the television and one on the radio.

First, the one on the television. The company behind the advertisement is Visa, and the ad is set to the song "When the Saints Come Marching In." The ad has several New Orleans Saints fans purchasing different fan wear and items - this ad was obviously filmed before the football season began, because the Saints have been a real disappointment this year, so Visa would have probably picked the Patriots to represent them instead. Anyway, as the various fans are buying their gear, they are paying for it with Visa. Then, after several Visa payers, a guy steps up to the counter wanting to pay for his gear with cash. The music in the background stops, he receives dirty looks from the cashier and fans behind him, the cashier and he exchange money, and as the next person in line steps up with his Visa, the merry music begins again. Then the final screen of the advertisement reads "Life takes Visa."

Let's dissect the real meaning of this ad. I think it says, "Hey, don't pay cash if you can for your purchases. Pay with a credit card instead, and then you can not only pay once for your item, you can pay for it over and over again in interest. Or maybe you won't pay for it at all, and then you can declare bankruptcy and start all over again." What kind of message is Visa trying to send to the viewers? It's obviously not financial responsibility. But then again, if people were financially responsibile, then how would Visa make all of its money? I'm not against credit cards - I rarely carry cash and use mine all of the time. But with the financial state many Americans are in right now, I think the commercial is not portraying a healthy way of spending money.

On to the next advertisement - the one on the radio. This one I heard this past weekend coming home from vacation. I'm not positive which beer was being advertised, but I'm pretty sure it was Busch beer. The tag line at the end of the advertisement said this: "If at the end of the weekend you have a clear conscience, then you either have a really bad memory or a really boring life." I have two things to say about this philosophy. First, if having a clear conscience means having a boring life, then I will take the boring life any day. And second, I have a clear conscience after the weekend (and on the weekdays for that matter,) and I don't consider my life all that boring. Maybe I just have a different kind of fun than the people on the radio.