What's Pissing Me Off Today: Radio Commercials

I listen to the radio. A lot. As in while getting ready in the morning, all day at work, and often when I'm at home in the evenings and on weekends as well. And the radio station I usually listen to seems to like playing the same commercials over and over and over again. They seem not to realize that, even if it's a good commercial, hearing it ad nasueum will make me want to not buy their product. But when it's an annoying commercial, that's when I want to go postal.

Case in point - this one commercial which, although it mercifully appears to have been discontinued, was played so often, and was so friggin' annoying, that I think I'm permenantly scarred by the memory of it. It was part of a series of rather funny commercials for Haagen Daaz ice cream where "Haagen Daaz" was used as a sexual innuendo. Things like "My friends say they get Haagen Daaz everyday, but that can't be true, can it?" But this one commercial had a guy complaining that now that he was married, he didn't get "Haagen Daaz" as much as he used to. To paraphrase: "We are busy. Kids. A mortgage. Susan's career." But he says the words "Susan's career" with such contempt that I wanted to reach through the radio and throttle him. He's not complaining that his career takes up time. He's entitled to his career, but how dare Susan have a career. Gah!!

Also on my hit list: Carnation Breakfast. There are two commercials on the air right now - one featuring a man, one featuring a woman. In both of them, the voice of their "Busy Day" starts telling them about all the things they have to do that day and how Carnation Breakfast is sooo convenient to fit into said busy day. The man's day consists of getting to work, important meetings, getting promoted before lunch. And the woman's day? Getting the kids up, fed and ready for school. Now I have no doubt that in the majority of homes, women do more of the childrearing then men do. But it is by no means universal. And furthermore, it is not, in my humble opinion, a discrepancy that we should be supporting. News flash Carnation Breakfast - men can get their kids ready for school too!! Women have important meetings and get promotions too, you know!! Gah!!!

Ah well, at least I've gotten that off my chest. And, for the record, there is one radio commercial that I do like: the one for Mini Wheats. Everyone put your spoons together for new strawberry flavoured Mini Wheats. Sing it with me now: Mini Mini Mini Mini Wheats!

Hey! I just googled the song and found that, apparently, this commercial is also on that new fangled contraption, the television: