Friday, August 31, 2012

That would be harder is driving me nuts!



I worked for a year on my Master's in Public Health, so I understand program planning, health education, target audiences, and the need for change. There are a few commercials that are currently running for the Champions for Change Campaign. And a couple of local channels run it 10 times an hour, at least, it seems. TMZ comes on at 3pm, and I think this ad runs every 5 minutes, its soooo annoying. Whats worse is that I can clearly see who their target audience is and I can assure you they arent watching TMZ @ 3pm!! They are either at work or picking up their kids. It seems like a waste of time to run this ad during TMZ and Anderson Cooper's show. Both shows air controversial subject matter, I dont see how parents with little kids would be watching.

The commercial is as annoying as the anti-smoking tv ads and the ads for abused animals; you know, you grab the remote and change the channel as fast as you can. Jeesh, they run the ads over and over, until you dont want to turn on the tube at all. So, lucky me, I get to hear Harvey Levin run down bits and pieces of the NRC and then when its commercial time, I get to hear this public health announcement, that believe me, no one is watching. Your average TMZ viewer is not a middle class, low income parent who doesnt know how to feed their kids.

Here is the ad:

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This commercial (or public service announcement) is going to send me to an insane asylum if I keep hearing it anymore. This damn thing runs constantly; I think I must have watched it at least a thousand times. What's time for "change" is to change this mind-numbing commercial. For all the money this must cost, couldn't they just buy lots of fruits and vegetables and take them to the homes of all these people who are worried that their kids will be teased in school for being overweight and that they will become diabetic? In my whole life I have never seen anything so obnoxious and so constantly hammered into my head as this trite homily; I am starting to become paranoid, wondering if there is a nefarious plot to paralyze the brains of TV watchers so that some foreign power can take over California.

For_What_It's_Worth said...

They receive grants to pay for tv ads, and I checked their website, the "Would be harder" campaign is for 3 years. They are also on the main network channels, NBC, ABC, and CBS but they are sped up a bit, probably to save money.
Annoying is an understatement. They are just as bad as the anti-smoking ads and the ads that run for abused animals; turn them off quickly.
And I totally agree with you, that the monies should be generated towards food donations.
The thing that gets me is that when they run the ads is NOT when Moms are at home or kids for that matter, as well as during the shows when the ads are run, are the least likely shows that the target audience is watching.
Otherwise, from a public health point of view, the program planning for this project is done very well and part of a much larger campaign; as painful as it is to watch.

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