That was easy.....

Last weekend during my Saturday morning errands (an odd favorite activity of mine), I went to Staples to buy a much needed filing cabinet as our current ones are overflowing. While waiting in line, a little boy was standing with his father behind me. The little boy said to his dad, "Hey Dad, this is the 'easy' place!" The boy, of course, was referring to Staples marketing campaign that includes the "Easy Button" and how if you hit the button (i.e. go to Staples and buy their products) things will get done quickly and easily and the slogan at the end of the commercial is, "That was easy". My parents actually have one of these buttons in their house. It serves no other purpose than to sit there and utter Staples slogan when pressed.

A couple of things hit me when this kid made this statement. My first comment to the person behind me after he said this was, "That's good marketing". I (very naievely) for a very long time felt that commercials and marketing campaigns and slogans were ineffective. At least to me. However, I now believe that those things absorb themselves into our culture and our subconcious without us even being aware. We associate certain products and certain companies with certain lines of thinking. The one that hits me first is Geico. Immediately when I say that name, people probably think of that little green reptile with the British accent. Being in insurance myself, I have had many conversations with reps from other insurance companies who speak positively about their company as opposed to "that gecko". Everyone in the room knows who they are referring to. Geico has flooded the market. They are everywhere. They are in print ads, radio ads, tv ads, billboards - the cavemen ads have even been spun off onto their own show. I am just waiting for the gecko to get his own late night talk show. The thing is, it works. The ads are funny. They have catchy music. And lots of people are switching to Geico for car insurance. They may not have the best prices or service but it doesn't matter.

As much as we may think that ad campaigns don't have an impact on us. They do. Going back to my first post where I talk about what "dry in rain" means. Thinking that we can exist in this world and not be affected by ads is like saying that we can stand in the rain and not get wet. They are everywhere. And they are relentless. I would be shocked if not one person who reads this blog does not either have Geico or hasn't at least checked out Geico's website.

Secondly, and this is the scary part now that I am a parent, kids minds are like sponges. If they see something, hear something, read something, they are going to absorb it. That kid in line didn't just come up with the fact that Staples was the "easy" place because he and his father found what they were looking for in an efficient way. He heard it or saw it somewhere. Or maybe both. He probably saw a funny ad with a stressed out office worker who hits the Easy button and Staples comes to the rescue. And while having a kid say various slogans from national companies is not a bad thing, there are implications that go a little bit further. The ad campaign that scares me a little bit is for the spray Tag (Axe is another one). It is used by guys (from my experience teenage boys) as sort of a cologne. In the ads, the guys who put it on are promptly attacked by women. The ads are about as subtle as 2x4 to the face. The message: use this spray, girls will flock like the salmon of Capostrano (thank you Dumb and Dumber). The hormones of teenage boys are crazy enough, do we really need an ad to push them even further? And the thing is, have you ever smelled Tag??? It reminds me of one of Riley's diapers after he has eaten butternut squash. But obviously Tag is doing something right. If they can sell something that smells THAT bad, their ads are working.

This isn't supposed to be a monologue on the state of children and media in the 21st century. I think that subject has been touched on ad nauseum. I think I just have gotten so used to hearing the conversation about kids and media, I had grown numb to it. That is until I heard a slogan come out of a little boy's mouth.

Thanks kid. Hey did you know 15 minutes could save you 15% on car insurance???