More Advertising Questions

--Here's the scene: It's a young man with a short haircut playing pool with his dad. They're having one of those Talks that fathers and sons have on television--earnest, honest...one of those moments they're both going to remember for years.

The light shines into the room in such a way that it makes the air itself visible. It's amber. It's timeless.

He's telling Pops about how he wants to be part of something more important than just himself. Dad looks concerned--doubtful, even, but not in an angry way. He asks, "Well, is there training?" And the son smiles. He's got Dad thinking his way now.

"Dad...It's the Army."

Fade to slogan, "HELP THEM FIND THEIR STRENGTH" and fade to black.

And then we return to our movie here on AMC, "M*A*S*H".

Someone booked time during the most devastating anti-war satire in cinema history for Army recruitment ads. Not just any army recruitment ads, either, but ones aimed at nervous Vietnam-era parents queasy at the thoughht of their kids enlisting into a war without end. You thought Altman was cynical. This is cynicism minus zero, no limit.

Actually, they probably just bought blocks of time on the network thinking it was going to get slotted into "The Green Berets" or some other man's-gotta-do-what-a-man's-gotta-do picture. But couldn't someone have caught this?

--The ads here in New England for Dunkin' Donuts all have music written and performed specially for them by They Might Be Giants.

I have mixed feelings about this. My opinion on "selling out" has been made pretty clear. On the other hand, these guys aren't the Who. They aren't exactly rich and ad money is great. Also, it isn't like they're selling their back catalog for DD to use--and even if they were, are any of their songs really so beloved that using them for an ad would be a betrayal?

Ultimately, what saves the Giants here is the fact that the ads are pretty good. They're clever, like the band. The music they wrote is catchy and, as mentioned, new. You get a pass, TMBG.

--Every drug ad on the air aimed at guys these days seems to hold out the promise of regular, strong, on-demand...urine. Bladder control is the new erection. Now granted, in about twenty years I'm sure I'll be thrilled that someone created these little miracles. Right now, though, I'm too busy rolling around on the floor at drug names like Flomax.