1. The Macy's commercial where Jessica Simpson, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, etc tell 'Virginia' there really is a Santa Claus. The commerical feels cold, hollow, and manipulative in its effort to invoke a spirit of warmth and magic. The words each of the stars say have no impact they don't lead to anything new or special.
I don't like the overuse of celebrity names in marketing. I understand having one or two special famous brands at the store - but they're throwing everybody in the mix and it seems crass. Of the celebrities they have, I only trust Martha Stewart.
That commercial makes me not like Macy's.
2. The Glade commercial where the housewife tries to pretend that Glade is more than what it is - an air freshener. She gets caught being a snob and everyone laughs. Ugh. According to this marketing scheme, nothing is good enough until it is beyond what you can afford and its totally cool to pretend something isn't what it is. In these economic times, it seems people should be proud of finding a product that does what its supposd to do at an affordable price. Or, maybe Glade is expensive for what it does and they're trying to imply its so good it could be a designer thing and is worth even more, so be glad you're only partly overpaying for it. Either way, I feel manipulated. And I don't like the message it sends about people's value and worth and that we have to lie in order for people to think we're okay.
Then, I don't like it even more when I see the same housewife do it again and again with different products. Grrrr!
On another note: do we still call people 'housewife'? Mostly I hear 'stay at home Mom'. But, in this commercial I can't tell if she has kids. What do we call women or men without children who don't work outside the home?
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