Kim Heaton

I am a baby boomer. I grew up in a time when there were no computers, not much for TV, and advertising was found in magazines, newspapers, comic books, billboards, and Burma shave road signs. The commercial artist had to use colors, fancy lettering, creative layouts and catchy phrases to get people’s attention; to show value in a product.

As I watch the ads of today, I see more humor being used to sell the product, and a lot of animation; like the thousands of lemons falling into the kitchen when you use the lemon scented cleaner. The commercial shows a housewife being thrown or ‘zipped’ into the living room in a daze, while the actress, who is dressed in yellow, tells her it’s the lemony power of Pinesol? I couldn’t tell you for sure if that is the brand of cleaner the commercial is advertising, or if there is any value in it, but I’m sure it smells lemony.

Like I said, I see no value being reflected in the advertising today; just humor and animation. So I rarely remember what brand the ad is trying to sell, or who the actor or actress is, or even believe the product truly holds any value.

I guess you could say I’m a ‘hard sell’. I’m practical, and only buy the product that is tried and true, and has – what I consider to be; the appropriate value for the price, even when I can afford to buy the prestigious, more expensive name brand. I could care less about ‘keeping up with the Jones’.

So, today’s advertising doesn’t really work on me. I guess I’m still looking for the right color combinations, and the fancy lettering, and the catchy slogans, and the Burma shave signs as I drive down the road, for me to remember a product and consider it something worth trying. But then, those days of real creativity and persuasive wording in advertising are basically gone, and only the glitz and glamour are used today to attract the ‘innovators and the experiencers’, as they’re the ones trying the new products, not me.

Check out some vintage Burma Shave billboards:
http://www.jimscorner.net/Burma.html
http://www.americana-music-and-memories.com/burma-shave.html
http://nostalgia049.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/more-burma-shave-signs/

I shared how I feel about your ads, so how do you feel about mine?

Photograph Credit:
Sabrina Segal