Jetta, You Missed The Mark

As I drive around running errands I usually listen to my car radio. I tend to tune out commercials (just like at home when watching TV) however if they repeat often enough I can't help but notice them.

One recent commercial is for some sale that Jetta is currently holding. The premise of the commercial is that people are calling leaving messages for other people to say they can't make it to whatever appointment or commitment they had because they simply MUST go to this sale and/or are currently test driving one of the cars. Some of the calls are:

1. A sewer guy calling a client to cancel appointment, can't miss that sale!
2. A woman calling to say she's going to be late for a baby shower because she simply has to go test drive one of the cars
3. A dad calling his daughter to tell her he can't make it TO HER BIRTHDAY PARTY because he's test driving a car.
4. A woman calling her husband to tell him she can't make it to their child's Kindergarten screening and telling him to 'cover for her'.

Wait.. what? Seriously? Jetta, did you just say that coming in to test drive one of your cars is MORE IMPORTANT than my child's birthday party???? Oh well, I'm sure there will be PLENTY of other birthday parties but that sale, boy it won't last, right?! Kindergarten? Bah! That's not really a milestone event for a kid, right??

Or is this ad aimed at the type of people that would indeed blow off these commitments to go drive around a car?? I can't really fathom it, and it UTTERLY OFFENDS ME that Jetta would think this type of ad would in ANY WAY appeal to parents who value and love their children and have their priorities straight. Every time I hear it on the radio it makes me SEETHE with anger. What if little kids are hearing that ad, and they're hearing these "parents" minimalizing what should be really important things? What message is that sending??

Jetta, you suck.

If I Drank Beer

I'm not really much of an alcohol-drinker, Internet. I prefer the froo-froo sweet Shirley Temple type drinks that require little colorful umbrellas, if I drink at all, which is almost never. I can't STAND hard alcohol like whiskey or rum, it all tastes like what I imagine rubbing alcohol would taste. Beer.. BLEAH. I've tried really cheap beer (hello Pabst), I've tried fancy beer (something like Killian's), I've tried the dark lagers my friend Bart likes.. all of it tastes the same to me. It tastes like Beer. Which is gross.

However..

I listen to the local Alternative radio station when I'm driving anywhere. It's the kind of music I tend to listen to, plus if for no other reason it'd be worth it to hear the Bud Light commercials. For those of you who may not already know, Bud Light has a brilliantly hilarious series of radio commercials called the "Real Men of Genius". They make heroes out of your everyday person that you may not have thought of as a hero.. like the guy who invented the concert t-shirt launcher, or the guy who drives over-decorated taxi cabs. The main announcer guy is always speaking in an overly-dramatic voice, and the little phrases sung in the background crack me up!

What I didn't realize was how MANY of these commercials have been made. I've only heard a fraction of them, something I plan on rectifying once I get home from work today. Go here to see the links to all of them: http://thefuntimesguide.com/2004/10/bud_light_real.php, when you click on them then scroll down on the next page til you find the red Arrow for Listen.

If I ever decide I like beer, or that I want to drink beer, I think I'll have to drink Bud Light just to help support the company and keep these wonderful commercials alive.