The Irony of It All

Somewhere in between all the self-congratulatory banter between Al Michaels and John Madden on the final broadcast of ABC Monday Football, it became clear to me that advertising agencies must be making a lot of money creating commercials that sell irony instead of products.

My father and I sat there literally scratching our heads, trying to figure out why a fellow in a Snickers commercial wore candy bars on his head to disguise his baldness. Was this actor supposed to be as nutty as a Snickers? And why did Snickers spend money on other commercials to confirm the obvious--that this snack food will be particularly ineffective in putting out a fire or hunting a deer.

Personally, I would have liked to have been in the room when the ad folks presented this concept. No reference to taste, price, value, or dozens of other factors that might convince me that a Snickers would be the perfect treat to curb my appetite. But at least I'm sure it satisfies my cravings better than Rogaine.

We were also perplexed with the latest campaign by Bud Light featuring a nebbish fellow named Bill Ferguson. Stuck in a dead end "customer service" job, Bill becomes a 21st century Walter Mitty, treating mundane occurrences as "stunts" that place his life in danger and force his rescuers to use Bud Light to revive him.

We're talking about real dangerous stuff here, such as listening to his girlfriend or staying two minutes past five o'clock at his job. Yes, it can be fun watching Bill go comatose listening to a John Tesh CD, but frankly, what's the message here? Drink Bud Light and become a real idiot like Bill Ferguson?

I call these ads "anti-commercials." Advertisers have lost faith in traditional methods of cutting through the clutter and respond instead with desperate parodies of commercials that make fun of themselves while hoping a jaded audience gets the joke (and buys the product).

Geico has practically turned this concept into an art form, stretching the limits of irony to a breaking point. Unfortunately, anyone who has suffered a fender bender will tell you that there is nothing funny about automobile insurance, which may be why I prefer the calm, sensible AllState spokesperson. If Geico is the teenage smart-aleck, AllState is clearly the adult.

Ironically, the funniest advertisement of the night did not intend to be. Three companies--Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Schering-Plough--are promoting a web site called Mensfacts.com. In this latest attempt to make a buck off impotence, a cartoon animation pleasantly informs the viewer that anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol might notice a drop in his sex life.

When confronted with a series of ailments that may kill you, even a healthy sex life doesn't seem like a top priority here.

As far as the game itself, the final irony occurred on the gridiron. The New York Jets managed to lose 31-21 to the New England Patriots, the same score of the first Monday Night game broadcast on ABC 35 years ago, which the Jets also lost. Or as Howard Cosell might have said, "I'm just telling it like it is."