Tuesday, April 13, 2010

What happened to Truth in Advertising?

Ok, I'm not going to name the company, because a lot of my followers will think I'm attacking an industry competitor, but I just saw the most ridiculously, obnoxiously, and laughably poor correlation in a television ad I have seen in my recollection. 

The ad opens with a large number of elementary school students on a stage at a spelling bee.  The contestant spells a difficult word (which I can't remember), the judges rule it correct, and then have a side-bar conference.  The middle judge announces that, due to the fact that not one of the twenty spellers has missed a word in a competition that has already eclipsed a fair and appropriate length of time (I think it was 48 hours!), they are acclaiming all the students winners and ending the competition. 

Then the visual "tag" of the commercial pops on the screen, proclaiming that having internet access makes people smarter.  "Imagine when everyone has it." 

So what are my two biggest reasons for cracking up and laughing almost hysterically?  Let me ask you a couple of questions.  First, when was the last time you were online reading ANYTHING posted on a "typical" website that had no misspellings or grammatical errors?  (I honestly can't remember a recent example).  Second, what are the most common sites young people use?  (Can I mention Facebook, MySpace, Twitter?)  Have you checked Facebook (for instance) lately?  I can't read two consecutive posts on the site without having to check my glasses/contacts to make sure I saw that correctly.  How badly can you spell "because?"  Just look at Facebook pages for a couple minutes, and you will likely find the answer.  It may horrify you.  It may amaze you.  It will surely make my point.

Anyone who believes that having internet access makes you smarter (or even more educated) needs to have their IQ and/or sanity tested.  Whomever you are, can you please spell "clueless?"

2 comments:

Unknown said...

LOL this post made me laugh at the commercial all over again. I WILL add that the internet and relating technology has taught the younger generation(s) more about certain subjects/topics than I will every know/catch up on....but spelling is NOT one of those subjects.

Alexia said...

Spelling has defintly NOT improved since the invention of computers. Spellcheck! LOL