When TV ads were brilliant
THERE’S an advert on the telly which irritates me. One of many in fact. A computer generated (CGI) baby elephant at a drinks party rejects the nuts because they’re not the brand being advertised. Like many modern TV ads it has elements of comedy without actually being funny. It purports to be cute. Yuk.
Cute animals and other fluffy fantasy creatures abound in commercials now thanks to CGI and I wonder if it’s because they’re a safe bet and can’t be accused of being inappropriate, sexist or stereotypes.
In the past TV ads were often little jewels of wit and creativity, frequently more memorable than the programmes themselves.
The ones from the past stick in our minds. We all know that happiness is a cigar called Hamlet, that Oxo gives a meal man appeal, that hands that do dishes can be soft as your face thanks to mild green Fairy Liquid and that Yellow Pages will help you find a copy of Fly Fishing by JR Hartley.
TV ads seemed the work of clever people with a sense of fun. Every other young person wanted to “go into advertising”. But now, although there are great special effects and some stunning visuals, (plus the occasional rock anthem to brighten things up) adverts have turned into box-ticking exercises which require visible proof that they are piously diverse, inclusive and don’t tread on anybody’s toes. Beware an inadvertent slip up which could lead to accusations of sexism, racism, trans-phobia, homophobia or body shaming.
Rather than the sophisticated slapstick of Leonard Rossiter spilling Cinzano over Joan Collins, many ads are relentlessly mawkish. No longer about simply selling goods (“Buy this jam, it’s nice”) they are locked into the ghastly business of promoting “values”.
Thus commercials for banks are sob-fests of sentimentality designed to give the impression that banks actually give a damn about their customers and are more like a branch of social services than rapacious profit sharks.
Will this commercial cause offence to someone, somewhere, to some hitherto unrecognised minority? The question hangs over everything. Take the Cadbury’s Milk Tray Man. They brought him back a couple of years ago in a heavily ironic way. But in the #MeToo era? A man climbing into a woman’s bedroom. Forget it.
The quick wit of a great TV ad – in fact all comedy – often means subverting a stereotype such as the perfect housewife or the inept husband. That may be hard to understand if you’re a literalminded, offence-taking thicko. Of course many ads from the past seem appalling now (those that insisted smoking is good for you, for instance). And it is a sign of a real and positive change in society that little Daisy-May Demetre, a double amputee can be a successful child model for River Island.
But in the rush to be as anodyne and bland and safe as possible so many of today’s TV commercials have become what a commercial should never be. Boring.