AT&T husband /abusive wife commercial

@Finn dAbuzz,

Agreed.

I was re-reading your earlier post about this. Lots of agreement from me to that as well.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

But the ad provokes the reactions, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

The reaction is mostly emotional, as evidenced by a quick look at the comments on the web. The A2K discussion is the most intellectual (in the head) that I have seen on this so far anywhere...the prime reaction is a visceral hate of this commercial, from women as well as men. This brings up the question of why if this gets such a negative reaction is it still playing, and on heavy rotation no less?

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

But the ad provokes the reactions, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

The reaction is mostly emotional, as evidenced by a quick look at the comments on the web. The A2K discussion is the most intellectual (in the head) that I have seen on this so far anywhere...the prime reaction is a visceral hate of this commercial, from women as well as men. This brings up the question of why if this gets such a negative reaction is it still playing, and on heavy rotation no less?

Because for some reason the negative reaction is not being attached to AT&T.

There's nothing in the commercial that suggests AT&T services could have anything to do with the terrible relationship of these two people and as much as people hate either the wife or the husband they don't hate the fact that they've witnessed this depressing scene. In fact, people like movies and tv shows that portray runied relationships so it's highly unlikely that anyone is getting mad at AT&T for bringing them this brief view of a terrible marriage,

It may also be that most people don't even realize that its an AT&T commercial.

If the commercial is getting a lot of buzz (and the ad agency can certainly measure whether or not it is) and AT&T isn't getting a lot of complaints and hate mail, then you keep the commercial running and ride the buzz.

I wonder what they are going to do for the next ad in the campaign.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

This ad sure seems to poke at a lot of sore spots for people.

My reaction to it is primarily "what?" and a squint at each character as they speak, and a feeling that they deserve each other in their obliviousness.

I think the reactions to the ad are more thought-provoking than the ad itself.

Yes it does, and the question is not why, because that is fairly obvious; but why make an ad of it... People are great imitators... We always want to follow the latest fashion, and not be too far ahead or behind... No one has the courage of their individualism, and no one wants to follow a loser in his choices... People want to follow winners in their choices... The sad fact is, that every relationship may at times have days like that; but no one wants to be reminded of what they would rather forget, of what they need to forgive and forget if they will have a relationship at all...

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

Because for some reason the negative reaction is not being attached to AT&T

Very possibly....and maybe AT&T gets a pass as a reward for daring to talk about something that is taboo but real, under the cover of humor. I would be very interested to see the market research that BBDO has that told them that this commercial is a good idea, and that keeps them from pulling it and apologizing.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

But the ad provokes the reactions, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

I think that it does, and that the reaction was intentional... It is aimed at unmarried or divorced youth to re-enforce their feeling of superiority over the older generation, and confirm them as happy in their hi-tec, but single lives... When you see people like those portrayed, and you say: If that were my wife and my life, I'd kill myself, and they are not yours, then you can say hey; I got a life worth having, even if it is not... The thing is, that it is families in need of near constant communication that is the largest part of the market for phone services, even if it is already saturated... So is the youth market...

In my opinion, ads should not sell products, but joy, lust, and rarely, happiness...

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

But the ad provokes the reactions, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

The reaction is mostly emotional, as evidenced by a quick look at the comments on the web. The A2K discussion is the most intellectual (in the head) that I have seen on this so far anywhere...the prime reaction is a visceral hate of this commercial, from women as well as men. This brings up the question of why if this gets such a negative reaction is it still playing, and on heavy rotation no less?

All ads, and all successful arguments are to the emotions... The place of reason in our lives is over rated.. Our goals are all irrational, and this is to say emotionally based, and our means of reaching our irrational goals is with reason... If you want some one to act differently, help them to feel differently..

1 Reply

@Fido,

That's incorrect, re ads or arguments.

You take it that way since you think emotionally yourself.

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@Fido,

Quote:

It is aimed at unmarried or divorced youth to re-enforce their feeling of superiority over the older generation, and confirm them as happy in their hi-tec, but single lives...

I dont buy this yet, but if true this would certainly throw a wrench in to my "corporate america sucks" argument, with a corporation breaking a taboo of silence because there is money to be made by doing it.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

That's incorrect, re ads or arguments.

You take it that way since you think emotionally yourself.

The people who are up in their heads (usually not really, they only deceive themselves into thinking that they are) are the weird ones....

1 Reply

@panzade,

The weird thing, Panzade, was it was HER mom/dad/Grannie who did all the encouraging for the she-devil to marry me.
(Okay. She wasn't a she-devil, just a narcissistic damaged person.)

I would have been perfectly happy to have continued our six month shagalicious bang-a-thon ...

(yes. It was the 70's. Huge bellbottoms and belt buckles the size of dinner plates. I liked it because I could wear shoes with three inch heels.)

but, nooooooooo, we (and my two little boys) had to get married, get out of my nice apartment near the University and I had to start ignoring all the sympathy gifts that began arriving unannounced. (How about first, a new refrigerator? and then ........ the new bed.??
Say....um... I would have liked....)

But I digress from the thread: try this experiment tonight if you are a TV watcher. Watch the commercials, jot down the products sold and which gender (if any) gets the better focus, comes off as the smarter one, however you want to put it.

I think it would be fun to have a tally here of your results.
~~~
If I'm so dumb then why did you marry me?
.-.-.-.-.Joe(Oh yeah, well thanks for the excellent shagging as well, dear.)Nation

1 Reply

@Joe Nation,

Quote:

But I digress from the thread: try this experiment tonight if you are a TV watcher. Watch the commercials, jot down the products sold and which gender (if any) gets the better focus, comes off as the smarter one, however you want to put it.

another good one is to keep a tally of the sex of the people in the commercial when the commercial is not a gender specific pitch....when they could use either males or females and not queer the pitch....My tally runs 60/40 in favor of females, and even worse when kids are used. I count both the tv commercials that I happen to see as well as print ads. The ad agencies certainly think that we dont want to see little boys, or maybe that little boys bring up emotions that get in the way of thinking well of the product that is being sold.

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Whatever the case, I'm sticking with Verizon.

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

This ad sure seems to poke at a lot of sore spots for people.

My reaction to it is primarily "what?" and a squint at each character as they speak,
and a feeling that they deserve each other in their obliviousness.

I think the reactions to the ad are more thought-provoking than the ad itself.

Is the ad an insult to marriage ??

2 Replies

@OmSigDAVID,

Is the ad an insult to marriage. Yup. If, that is, you are one of the believers in the partnership of said life condition and its possible link to nourishment, love and enjoyment of each other.

Joe(weren't you listening?)Nation

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

That's incorrect, re ads or arguments.

You take it that way since you think emotionally yourself.

No one thinks emotionally... Thoughts deal with concepts and reason... I am emotional and I give a great deal of time and thought to my emotions, and I may be said to feel my way through life, I call it, by the braille method, yet, I do not think emotionally... Freud noted it, and Nietzsche made reference to it, and it was in reaction to the age of reason, but we are not very rational, or rationally minded... Reason does play a part in our lives, but most often it provides the means to ends that are not at all reasonable...

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Quote:
It is aimed at unmarried or divorced youth to re-enforce their feeling of superiority over the older generation, and confirm them as happy in their hi-tec, but single lives...
I dont buy this yet, but if true this would certainly throw a wrench in to my "corporate america sucks" argument, with a corporation breaking a taboo of silence because there is money to be made by doing it.

The whole market is saturated... Who are they looking to buy their product??? Who is the target of this ad... Who will enjoy it, or be inspired by it to buy their product... I cannot frame the question in such a fashion that the answer becomes clear... We all have to take a lot of **** in life, and the willingness for people to accept ****, or properly, injustice to have the goods of social living is a great impediment to change... What is happening all over is that the good of social living is denied while the **** we must take to have it is increased... Perhaps the idea of these wealthy looking white people worrying over pennies is a great metaphore for the pointless endless struggles of the whole society, but then, that would be where att wants us rather than what att wants to remind us of...

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

ossobuco wrote:

That's incorrect, re ads or arguments.

You take it that way since you think emotionally yourself.

The people who are up in their heads (usually not really, they only deceive themselves into thinking that they are) are the weird ones....

You remind me of a neegro I bought a number off of in NYC, many years ago... He said: I LIKE upstairs... That was his word for getting high..

We all live in our emotions... To know who some one is, is to know how they feel... What they do is what they think, and what they think and are comes out of how they feel... I think you have to have a pretty good life, and ones affairs under control to be able to safely feel, experience life through ones emotions without resort to drugs or serious therapy... It very often hurts to feel... It is easy to get into a mod of always rubbing ones emotional oweees, and yet to be able to feel is the full-ness of life; and to have to deny ones emotions even from ones self is to fly blind... People who learn to think, or act too much without emotion are a danger to all of us...A lot of people have computers where their hearts should be, and they can never feel the consequences because their lives are all about escaping personal consequences... If they cannot feel their own pain, or their own love, how can I expect them to feel mine???...

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@OmSigDAVID,

OmSigDAVID wrote:

ehBeth wrote:
This ad sure seems to poke at a lot of sore spots for people.

My reaction to it is primarily "what?" and a squint at each character as they speak,
and a feeling that they deserve each other in their obliviousness.

I think the reactions to the ad are more thought-provoking than the ad itself.
Is the ad an insult to marriage ??

Marriage should be insulted... Marriage is simply a form of relationship... The idea that the straights want to deny the gays marriage, and the gays want it when they already have the better part of marriage in the relationship itself is ludicrous... It is just a form... It is the rules and agreements and oaths that people make... That is just the start... When people are in it, they realize, if they have a brain, that the thing is dynamic, give and take, fluid... A relationship is like an infinite game where both sides gives up the idea of winning individually, and tries to win as a team... They may at times be critical, and the relationship is inevitably unequal, but it should never be exploitive because the object is to form a good team to achieve the good of life... In this commercial, the wife has conceive of her husband as a loser, and herself as a loser for sticking with this loser... The form may be their excuse for sticking together, but the form is not enough to justify their doing so... Like all losers, they are dominated by their fear... So the form of marriage has power over formally minded people... A marriage of people in a society where divorce is so easy, and where honor means so little, must be held together by mutual desire... A form, like marriage, and even one so broad as Society must be made by the good and living relationship within it... Just as many marriage relationships are rotten, so is the relationship of our society... This ad is an insult to marriage... And all forms not filled with good relationships should be insulted, and dismantled... We put our lives into forms and we must get our lives back from them... The relationship in this ad is toxic and the form is only a shell... What is the point of maintaining a shell when it takes energy to do so that will never be returned???

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

Old people sitting side by side in outdoor bathtubs is offensive.

You won't think that way when you're old !

Besides, they are trying to sell sex to old people.

1 Reply

AT&T husband /abusive wife commercial

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