At first, I thought the TV people were just trying to drive us nuts. They started putting wild music behind every commercial. Then, they started adding random noises. There were door bells, i phone vibrators, knocks on wood, and who knows what else. That’s when I realized they were trying to get our attention. But why? Were they just trying to wake us up? Did they know we had gone to sleep while watching their dull prime-time programs? It was really annoying, but I finally realized they were just trying to get us to buy the stuff being advertised.

Fortunately, the TV advertising guys realized that the wild music and noises were just irritating their potential customers. They started putting real music behind the commercials. Imagine my surprise when I started hearing some of the great old songs from the 1940’s and 1950’s. I heard “Accentuate the Positive,” “Sunny Side of the Street,” and “It’s a Good Day.” Then we got a little more current with the theme from Cheers and the theme from Welcome Back, Kotter- programs that were fun to watch. One advertiser presented a great piano rendition of California Dreaming, the song from the Mamas and the Poppas some years ago.

I’ve got to admit that I’m enjoying the commercials now, but I don’t know if I’ll ever buy anything.

Dave Thomas

6/24/2021