Thursday, September 13, 2007
CONFUSED CAMPAIGN
They started coming in to the station late Wednesday morning, and they didn't stop.
Dozens of form e-mails...all the same except for the names.
Here it is.
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Dear WVIT (NBC-30):
Dear local television manager,
I am highly offended by the sexual content in the latest Hardees/Carl's Jr. television commercials known as "Patty Melt" and "Flat Buns."
In my opinion, they violate local community standards.
Because you are licensed to serve the public interest in our community, I request that you refuse to air these ads. If you are already airing them, I ask you to stop.
As required by law, please place a copy of this email letter in your station's public file, to be readily available to FCC representatives, specifically during the license renewal period for your station.
Sincerely, (fill in the blank)
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Obviously, it's an organized campaign to get these commercials off the air. And that's fine. If you see something you don't like, you should question it or complain about it.
The problem is...there are no Hardees or Carl's Jr. restaurants in Connecticut, or anywhere in New England.
The commercials don't air here.
But this campaign calls attention to them, and specifically, to those two commercials.
Now, people who would never have seen them WANT to see them...if only out of curiosity.
Naturally, we went to You Tube and searched "Patty Melt" and "Flat Buns."
The commercials are there, and they're what you might think, judging by their titles...eye-poppers that stretch the boundaries of good taste to their outer limits. Certainly nothing you'd want to watch with your kids.
While I'm not "highly offended," I fully appreciate and understand the e-mail campaign.
I'm told some kind of rule prohibits me from offering a link, but you can go see for yourself.
And that's what makes this campaign so self-defeating.
YOU HAVE TO TARGET THE CORRECT AUDIENCE!!!!
Hardee's/Carl's Jr.'s advertising agency must be shedding tears of delirious joy.
They should give all the local e-mailers free burgers for a year.
Because now we know. And we didn't have to.
Posted at 12:22 AM by Gerry
4 Comments:
There are millions of things more interesting to post than directing people to those commercials. Maybe you should have talked about something more interesting like how a school bus driver got canned for accidentally dropping a child off at the wrong stop and not having a parent waiting. While in Batavia, OH, a female principal is still employed w/ no jail time for leaving her 2 year old in her Mercedes during a 90 degree day. She apparently remembered to get the donuts for the day long meetings but forgot to drop her child off at day care.
Or, how about the New England Patriots videotaping debacle?
It's not that there's nothing out there to blog about. But, I guess at the end of the day, you're just a man.
I take it you don't have teenage daughters.
What's next? You're going to share your favorite pornsite w/ us? I'm sure you have many....
And the e-mails continue to our in!
I was off on Thursday, but Michelle, the high priestess of our blogs, advised me in an e-mail that she blocked 2 comments from people who were offended at the post.
One asked if I was going to share my favorite porn sites with you...
And the other suggested other things I could have blogged about, ending with, "but I guess at the end of the day, you're just a man."
Well...yes, I am just a man at the end of the day. And at the beginning of the day, and the middle of the day, too. I've learned to deal with just being a man, and the inherent pig-ness that entails.
And no, I honestly have no favorite porn sites, but if you'd like to share yours, I'd be happy to check them out, just as you obviously checked out those commercials, even though you didn't have to. You CHOSE to. Just like so many dozens of people chose to send those e-mails without the knowledge that these commercials don't run anywhere in the entire region.
And I hope you choose to monitor what your kids check out on your computer.
If Michelle chooses not to publish your comments, feel free to e-mail me directly at: gerry.brooks@nbcuni.com
Good news!
Michele (one "L") has handed me the keys to the car.
So the 2 comments I referred to previously are now here.
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