A rant about.... the World Cup
Jun. 27th, 2006 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparkindarknessAnd another rant about… the World Cup.
Ok, this isn’t so much an “I hate it” as much as it is an “I don’t get it.” I’m no fan of football, beyond the general pleasure I get seeing lots of athletically fit guys running around in shorts and occasionally taking their shirts off I don’t see the attraction. Still, that’s not my beef. No, my beef, pork, chicken and entire farmyard are the bloody adverts! We have wall to bloody wall football. Furniture sellers, supermarkets, Argos, garden centres – ARGH every single bloody advert has a football theme.
WHY?! Are my fellow countrymen so obsessed that they’re more likely to buy a DVD player from Argos because the advert happens to mention football? What does football have to do with Argos anyway? They’re not even remotely related! Does anyone say “hey, furniture from that place will be cheap and good quality” “why?” “Because they have a football themed advert during the world cup! It must be good!” And no, it DOESN’T make the adverts more memorable because EVERY SINGLE BLOODY ADVERT FROM CREDIT CARDS TO CARS NOW INVOLVES FOOTBALL! It’s just one long football mass from beginning to end of the advert breaks.
I could UNDERSTAND if it were for trainers or a sports shop – hey, that makes sense. There’s the implication that the clumsy and inept can gain Beckham like skills by wearing a certain pair of trainers (ok, it’s doubtful, but hey, there’s a LINK). But for a super market? The link escapes me.
Which brings me on to the celebrities. Now, I can see Beckham advertising the aforementioned pair of trainers – fine. But him hocking Pepsi? What is his appearance in the add supposed to tell me other than the fact Pepsi can afford his huge fee? That he drinks Pepsi? Well, and? He likes Pepsi, he hardly has a reputation as a gastronomical connoisseur of any kind, why should I care if his taste buds find Pepsi more appealing than Coca Cola? That Pepsi will make me look like him or play like him? Nah, that’s just too dubious for even the dumbest man in the street. That Pepsi will get you what he got – the fame, the money, the wife? If so I think you’d see the biggest horrified boycott of Pepsi you could possibly imagine. And again, people aren’t that dumb. Is it a coolness thing? A Starbucks chic thing? (That somehow drinking something can make you cool). It’s Pepsi. Beyond serving temperature I don’t think any soft drink can be considered cool – can you imagine, “hey, he’s one of the cool kids, he drinks Tango?” No. Doesn’t work.
So why should I be in any way influence to buy Pepsi because Beckham is on the ad? Why should I shop at Asda because Michael Owen advertises them? Is there anything in his resume that suggests he has l33t shopping skills? I mean, I can understand Sainsbury using Jamie Oliver – even if the guy should be anally raped with an egg whisk, he’s still a chef. There’s RELEVENCY. But a football player? The same goes for any weird celebrity endorsement - if they're skill set is not relevent why do people care if various celebrities are pimping products?
I just don’t get it. I’m not even ranting at the advertisers here (cue demonic music) so much as I am ranting at the possibility that, yes, there ARE people in the country who buy Pepsi because of Beckham. Or shop at Asda because of Michael Owen, or eat those damn mints because that goal keeper (whose name I forget) appeared in the adds and cut his hair. Because that would be really depressing and really scary. It's sad to know people are that dumb. Sadder still that an industry has been built out of their stupidity.
Ok, this isn’t so much an “I hate it” as much as it is an “I don’t get it.” I’m no fan of football, beyond the general pleasure I get seeing lots of athletically fit guys running around in shorts and occasionally taking their shirts off I don’t see the attraction. Still, that’s not my beef. No, my beef, pork, chicken and entire farmyard are the bloody adverts! We have wall to bloody wall football. Furniture sellers, supermarkets, Argos, garden centres – ARGH every single bloody advert has a football theme.
WHY?! Are my fellow countrymen so obsessed that they’re more likely to buy a DVD player from Argos because the advert happens to mention football? What does football have to do with Argos anyway? They’re not even remotely related! Does anyone say “hey, furniture from that place will be cheap and good quality” “why?” “Because they have a football themed advert during the world cup! It must be good!” And no, it DOESN’T make the adverts more memorable because EVERY SINGLE BLOODY ADVERT FROM CREDIT CARDS TO CARS NOW INVOLVES FOOTBALL! It’s just one long football mass from beginning to end of the advert breaks.
I could UNDERSTAND if it were for trainers or a sports shop – hey, that makes sense. There’s the implication that the clumsy and inept can gain Beckham like skills by wearing a certain pair of trainers (ok, it’s doubtful, but hey, there’s a LINK). But for a super market? The link escapes me.
Which brings me on to the celebrities. Now, I can see Beckham advertising the aforementioned pair of trainers – fine. But him hocking Pepsi? What is his appearance in the add supposed to tell me other than the fact Pepsi can afford his huge fee? That he drinks Pepsi? Well, and? He likes Pepsi, he hardly has a reputation as a gastronomical connoisseur of any kind, why should I care if his taste buds find Pepsi more appealing than Coca Cola? That Pepsi will make me look like him or play like him? Nah, that’s just too dubious for even the dumbest man in the street. That Pepsi will get you what he got – the fame, the money, the wife? If so I think you’d see the biggest horrified boycott of Pepsi you could possibly imagine. And again, people aren’t that dumb. Is it a coolness thing? A Starbucks chic thing? (That somehow drinking something can make you cool). It’s Pepsi. Beyond serving temperature I don’t think any soft drink can be considered cool – can you imagine, “hey, he’s one of the cool kids, he drinks Tango?” No. Doesn’t work.
So why should I be in any way influence to buy Pepsi because Beckham is on the ad? Why should I shop at Asda because Michael Owen advertises them? Is there anything in his resume that suggests he has l33t shopping skills? I mean, I can understand Sainsbury using Jamie Oliver – even if the guy should be anally raped with an egg whisk, he’s still a chef. There’s RELEVENCY. But a football player? The same goes for any weird celebrity endorsement - if they're skill set is not relevent why do people care if various celebrities are pimping products?
I just don’t get it. I’m not even ranting at the advertisers here (cue demonic music) so much as I am ranting at the possibility that, yes, there ARE people in the country who buy Pepsi because of Beckham. Or shop at Asda because of Michael Owen, or eat those damn mints because that goal keeper (whose name I forget) appeared in the adds and cut his hair. Because that would be really depressing and really scary. It's sad to know people are that dumb. Sadder still that an industry has been built out of their stupidity.
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Date: 2006-06-28 12:07 pm (UTC)