Have you noticed how entertaining, clever and sexy our adverts are getting
Forget watching BB, Desperate Housewives and Lost instead why don’t you tune in and drop out to the latest adverts, they are so much better than our programmes.
Since the beginning of the 2000’s we have been treated to some of the most outrageous, wickedly funny adverts and they are just getting better and funnier.
The Ad men are not content with us consuming the product but they also want us to buy the CD, the image and the T-shirt.
The Lynx commercial spurred the British public to buy the music CD, we’ve bought a clicker a la Ben Affleck and we are weary of using our text thumb like Virgin’s advert with Busta Rhymes.
This is the dawn of the new age of TV adverts. Gone are the days when the ad break was just the chance to pop a minute meal in the microwave, or perhaps go for a toilet break - you can actually enjoy watching commercials.
But is it the celebrity endorsement of the product which attracts us, or is it that we enjoy seeing celebrities doing outrageous things that makes adverts such a compelling watch?
Last night I watched in the space of three and a half minutes: the Marmite squeezy bottle, Activia solution to "digestive discomfort", discovered the secret to eternal youthful skin, saw that annoying “blub, blub” advert for 3 mobile, watched Charlotte Church chomp on some crisps and Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria strive for body perfection in a bottle.
Although the marmite advert made me laugh, the adverts which stick in my head all have celebrities endorsing the product. Whether advertisers use celebrities to endorse products, or just make fun of celebrities, the power of using celebrities in adverts is a winning one.
Last week, Julia Roberts allegedly signed a £2.2 million contract with Avon Cosmetics, making her a spokeswoman for all women to aspire to. Apart from the blatantly obvious, that no product on earth is going to transform you into Julia Roberts, I’m extremely curious as to why a company would choose one of the most beautiful women in the world to endorse something like a beauty product.
I mean if their products so great, shouldn’t we have someone normal looking who transforms into a modern day princess? And if we’re “all worth it” when it comes to hair products, why do only the pretty girls get the glory?
Celebrities that endorse products may be a lot more recognisable to press and public but haven’t the most popular adverts featured ordinary people? I mean, who can forget Howard from Halifax’s parody of Sex Bomb or Who Let The Dogs Out? He became a national celebrity for at least 15 seconds!
I’d feel less cheated if a cosmetics company decided to feature someone who wasn’t a model or an actress. You’d expect Julia Roberts’ skin complexion to be flawless, because she probably sticks to a strict facial regime, has her own personal dermatologist and has cosmetic companies falling over her to give her the latest facial treatments.
As she earns over $20 million per film, with very little acting skills her face really is her fortune. It seems silly that someone with such a privileged lifestyle can lecture me for 30 seconds on why this product is so good.
I mean just because I’ve seen Charlotte Church eat a packet of crisps, doesn’t mean I’m going to rush out and buy the multi-pack!
About this article
This story was produced by Annabel McCleod, 19. It was published on the Reach for the Sky website.
