As seen on TV

TV ads have such a powerful affect on my kids it’s scary. They’re constantly asking me to get them things – not because they really want or need them, but because they were programmed to ask for them. Seriously. It’s like they don’t even give a second thought to what they’re even asking for sometimes. They’ll just see a flashy ad and blurt out, “Can we get that?!”

They’re suckers for the gimmick. One time at the store, the girls begged and begged me to buy them these Fruit Gusher things. I hadn’t gotten them a treat in a while so I obliged.

When we got home, they tore the box open, sat down face to face and popped the gummy candies into their mouths. They chewed a bit, but never blinked, totally transfixed on each others’ faces.

After a few seconds…

“Hey, nothing happened!” whined Mad Dog, “On the commercial, the kid’s head turned into a giant raspberry. What a rip off!”


~ ~ ~

Last week as The Deuce was watching TV, a commercial for The Girl Crush Streak & Style Hair Studio came on.

“Mom! I HAVE TO HAVE THAT! Can you get it for me, please??”

I studied the commercial. This kiddie hair-color kit, complete with bright pink and purple "hair dyes" should actually be called The Girl Crush Look-Like-a-Hooker Studio. Knowing there's no way in hell I'd buy it, I asked if she could buy it herself with her allowance.

“It costs $29.95.”

“How much do you have?”

“$6.”

Silence.

~ ~ ~

A few days after that, I walked into the living room to find The Deuce sitting in front of the TV with a clip board.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Making out my Christmas list."

"It's August."

"I know."

Checking out the list, I noticed several items fell into the "As Seen on TV" category, which is somewhat disturbing, though equally troubling is all of the high-end electronics (but that's fodder for another post).

Here's her list (spelling errors and all):

• girl crush streic and style
• a camra
• a lap top
• a cell phone
• pixos
• a tigir bild-a-bear with cute cloths
• hana montana hevey covers, pilows, posters and lamp and cloths
• a DS with some DS games
• Wii with Sonic at the Olypix games
• a hot tub
• a cable box with a plasma scrin TV and a ramote and recording stuff
• pankak puffs pan with pankak flipping stix

I don't know what half of this stuff is and frankly, I got lost somewhere between the pixos (huh?) and the hot tub (double huh?). But, when I stumbled onto the Pancake Puff kit, I was really stumped -- until I saw the commercial myself:




To be perfectly honest, I seriously considered buying it for a half a second. I guess I'm a sucker for a gimmick too.