What TV commercials teach us
What TV commercials teach us
JAKARTA (JP): If you want to practice medicine in this era of modernization and globalization (I hope you haven't got tired of these words), you don't have go to a university and risk your life in a student orientation program. Neither do you have to spend years in medical school slaughtering frogs and other innocent creatures for so-called training.
No. All you need to do is win the position as the neighborhood chief (Ketua RT). Sick people will come to you and ask for medicine. You don't believe it. Neither did I until I saw a television commercial about wonder pills to that cure colds, coughs and other sickness. Instead of seeing a doctor, the sickies went to Pak RT, who seemingly practices medicine. The message is loud and clear.
Much has been said about the wrong ideas television commercials foster, yet no one does anything about it. Commercials finance television stations. Without ads television stations go under. The state television station TVRI is a good example. Had it not been for the contributions collected from television owners, most of who don't watch TVRI, and the fees it collects from private stations, it would have been history a long time ago.
Some commercials are enjoyable, but in some cases the effects have caused insecurity.
Mamat, a young CEO, felt uncomfortable when talking to his client at a business lunch. Every time he talked, he turned his head or covered his mouth with his hand, worrying that the man he was talking to would faint because of his breath. He forgot to use his oral spray (advertised on TV) before meeting the client.
Actually, Mamat has no problem with his breath as he brushes his teeth three times a day. He doesn't smoke and never touches liquor, but commercials tell him that keeping his mouth clean is not enough. He must use additional fresheners, either candy, gargles or sprays, to prevent bad breath. Now his oral spray is just like a credit card, he never leaves home without it.
Commercials have taught us a lot. We used to believe that nothing was as natural as the smell of fresh roses, but to win the attention of a beautiful girl these days, a rose must be sprayed with an ozone-destroying aerosol to make it smell more natural.
People do not generally talk openly about menstruation because it has a very close relationship with the very personal part of a woman's body. Just a mention of the natural cycle makes Indonesian girls blush. Women mention it only if they really have to, and then disguise the word. Datang bulan (the arrival of the moon) is the most popular expression in Indonesian. In certain parts of Sumatra, a menstruating woman says she is with "the guest".
"I'm having that," a woman replies when asked why she is not fasting during Ramadhan. Rarely do Indonesian women say "I'm having the period." In commercials, though, girls discuss menstruation as though they were talking about clothes -- loud and clear.
"TV commercials bring a lot of bad effect to children," says a psychologist.
He isn't joking. Somewhere a baby girl could get burned because her older brother has spilled a bowl of porridge on her face. Just like on TV.
-- Carl Chairul