"Enhanced" Commercials???

[Guest]

OK, what's the deal?

In the U.S. in commercials we've gone beyond teasing, hinting, and oblique references.

Examples:

Bath tissue (Charmin). A bunch of bears wandering around in the woods comparing tissue softness! What the fuck? I mean, could it be more obvious "does a bear shit in the woods?"

French fries. Had to see it to believe it. They are holding up a very firm, very thick, fairly long french fry and comparing it to a rather wimpy version. The wimpy fry sloooowly went limp. (All of this accompanied by rock music). The message? Eat the proper french fries or you won't get wood, apparently.

Natural male enhancement. LOL. Who doesn't love Bob? Happy grin - well sexed - his partner equally pleased. But now there is the hardware store version where they hold up pieces of wood and compare firmness?

Personally, I love the references. However, my young children do not need to know about erections yet!!!!!

Any thoughts?

 

[psychocatblah]

Uhh... an erection is a bodily function and perfectly natural. And I'm not sure they'd really get the french fry reference, I never really thought about it like that and I have a pretty dirty mind. And male enhancement doesn't really say exactly what it's enhancing. You could always say it's mood enhancing, which, in truth, is all it is since they can no longer claim it makes anything bigger.

As a side note, the other night I noticed as I was watching Comedy Central that those Male Enhancement commercials were running one on top of the other. It makes me sad that guys who like humor have small cocks. Maybe they're trying to learn to make a joke of it? *snorts*

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

an erection is a bodily function and perfectly natural

...screaming is also a bodily function and perfectly natural, but there are imaginable contexts in which I wouldn't want my kids doing it. We ought not disconsider contexts like age, appropriate times and place, company kept, motives for the bodily function, etc.

Not trying to be argumentative, I'm just one of those people who cringe at the idea of my kids becoming sexually active, aware, or reckless too soon.

 

[psychocatblah]

...screaming is also a bodily function and perfectly natural, but there are imaginable contexts in which I wouldn't want my kids doing it. We ought not disconsider contexts like age, appropriate times and place, company kept, motives for the bodily function, etc.

Not trying to be argumentative, I'm just one of those people who cringe at the idea of my kids becoming sexually active, aware, or reckless too soon.

But if you become aware of what an erection is, does that compell you to use it? I knew what an erection was long before I got over thinking boys were gross in any context. If they're asking, then explain it. If not, I'd just assume it's going over their heads.

I really feel strongly that knowledge is power, and if you don't want them sexually reckless then you should put them in possession of the facts and not cross your fingers and hope they don't understand commercials too well. Don't protect them from knowledge, protect them from who is going to deliver that knowledge to them.

In any case, I'm not sure what shows are on that the Male Enhancement commercials are coming on during. I'm guessing it isn't Scooby Doo.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

I really feel strongly that knowledge is power

I agree. But until someone is taught how to think, I don't think its a power they ought have. Personally, I could live a happy enough life if my son never knew about human sexuality until he was old enough (and smart enough) to handle it.

That's just me, though. I have high standards for people.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

... Bath tissue (Charmin). A bunch of bears wandering around in the woods comparing tissue softness! What the fuck? ... Any thoughts?

I have an objection to those Charmin Bears, too. It has to do with the way my mind works – or do I mean, malfunctions?

Poppa Bear assures Girly Bear that she does have enough Charmin for her needs because they are so soft and absorbent. Then he goes on to advise her that they are much more absorbent than “those kitten tissues.”

Now, logically, I realize that this is just their way of directing a negative barb at a competitor’s product. I have seen those white Persian kittens Scotties use in their commercials, and I know what they are getting at.

Unfortunately, before I have time to censor myself, I have already visualized Poppa Bear reaching around behind to wipe himself with. . . .

Well, you get the picture.

Sorry.

 

[psychocatblah]

I agree. But until someone is taught how to think, I don't think its a power they ought have. Personally, I could live a happy enough life if my son never knew about human sexuality until he was old enough (and smart enough) to handle it.

That's just me, though. I have high standards for people.

We had to watch human sexuality films in the 5th grade that explained that we'd be growing hair in strange places and noticing boys. I promise I didn't start testing those theories out next recess.

I don't know how old your son is, but I will say that prior to the films, like when I was 8 or 9 those commercials would've been way over my head. Or if I'd even sussed it out I just would've rolled my eyes and thought it was gross.

It doesn't sound like you trust your own son with knowledge of how his body works. High standards or not, he's going to find out about erections. Sorry.

 

[psychocatblah]

Unfortunately, before I have time to censor myself, I have already visualized Poppa Bear reaching around behind to wipe himself with. . . .

Well, you get the picture.

Sorry.

*cackles*

I just always thought those commercials were a weird way to sell toilet paper. But there again, at a certain point you have to stop proving your absorbancy with blue liquid and must move on.

I thought the quilting ladies were really odd too. "We sit around mending these things for you to rub on your bum." Huh? Well, get on with it then, my husband is headed to the bathroom with a newspaper.

Personally, I like Angel Soft or is it Northern? The one with the kid's face on it. Because I like to associate excrement with cherubic kid faces? I dunno, man. There's sometimes such a thing as too much choice, methinks.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Oh, its not my concern that he'll learn about an erection, its a fear of the potential slippery-slope of oversexualizing children. Y'know, I flipped over on a radio station and I was immediately confronted with the lewd... the perverse... the highly sexually charged media.

Personally, there will come a time when I embarass the hypothetical child (no kids, yet, was talking more "future son", only 23) with birds and bees. I'd just rather he didn't get the impression that he was honor, duty, socially, or contexually bound to do anything about it until he was older.

 

[psychocatblah]

Oh, its not my concern that he'll learn about an erection, its a fear of the potential slippery-slope of oversexualizing children. Y'know, I flipped over on a radio station and I was immediately confronted with the lewd... the perverse... the highly sexually charged media.

Personally, there will come a time when I embarass the hypothetical child (no kids, yet, was talking more "future son", only 23) with birds and bees. I'd just rather he didn't get the impression that he was honor, duty, socially, or contexually bound to do anything about it until he was older.

Well I think that what you say or do in front of him will set the standards more than the media will. I know kids are kind of impressionable, but you have to remember that they're also pretty smart. Impetuous, sure, but smart.

I really think a slipperier slope would be in censoring ourselves too rigidly out of respect for children who probably don't particularly need it. Sex is natural. Erections are natural. Using sex and your erection because someone on the radio or tv made you feel like you had to is completely unnatural. And I think more kids get that than not. Even the hypothetical ones

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

I dunno... being influenced by what others think or do is actually pretty natural.

 

[psychocatblah]

I dunno... being influenced by what others think or do is actually pretty natural.

Which is why I'd urge you to be a good example. Be what you want your son to be and be the example. But don't be fooled into thinking you can shield him from everything; you just can't. And if you're uptight about the topic of sex, he's not going to discuss it with you and then he will learn about it from wrong sources. And some of those sources are entirely more frightening than limp french fries. Trust me.

 

[cantdog]

I agree. But until someone is taught how to think, I don't think its a power they ought have. Personally, I could live a happy enough life if my son never knew about human sexuality until he was old enough (and smart enough) to handle it.

That's just me, though. I have high standards for people.

You aren't giving your son a lot of credit, however. I am sure he can think; it is judgement you want to give him.

The only way a human being acquires judgement is to make decisions until he or she gets better at them. The key, therefore, to having a son with good judgement is to allow him to make decisions whenever you reasonably can.

You can start out with more or less stacked decks. Say, in the morning, getting dressed, age two: "You want the red one today or the blue one?"

Obviously, you bought both of them, and you do not offer the frilly dress, nor the pants made for Refrigerator Perry. That is an example of a limited choice, artificially restricted. It'll do fine at two. Make sure there's no really wrong answer, in other words.

Gradually expand the range of choices. He'll get it, and if you have to overrule, you can do it in a way that helps him see that thinking about it is the point.

If you do that, and let the decisions he makes stand, he'll get pretty good at decisions and you will be able to trust him with basic information about the world with a little less timidity.

It works. It eases the mind about all kinds of things if you can see that your child is getting better at judgement. You won't need rules about licking light sockets, petting bees, and so on.

Maybe by the time he's in high school, having been choosing his clothes for twelve or thirteen years, he won't need, ever, to have someone say, "You're not going out in that, are you?"

Maybe your confidence in his developing judgement will allow you to let him run his own life, on a test basis at first, since he still lives with you. Then when he leaves your control, and it happens very fast, he will be equipped to handle it for real.

If you shelter him and make all his decisions for him, he will still be safe. But only just as long as he's in your sight. His judgement will have to suck, since he's never used the faculty.

It will be completely pointless to admonish him, "You're eighteen now; I expect you to have judgement." Longevity will not confer it; you get it only through the exercise of the decision-making faculty.

cantdog

 

[cantdog]

OK, what's the deal?

In the U.S. in commercials we've gone beyond teasing, hinting, and oblique references.

Examples:

Bath tissue (Charmin). A bunch of bears wandering around in the woods comparing tissue softness! What the fuck? I mean, could it be more obvious "does a bear shit in the woods?"

French fries. Had to see it to believe it. They are holding up a very firm, very thick, fairly long french fry and comparing it to a rather wimpy version. The wimpy fry sloooowly went limp. (All of this accompanied by rock music). The message? Eat the proper french fries or you won't get wood, apparently.

Natural male enhancement. LOL. Who doesn't love Bob? Happy grin - well sexed - his partner equally pleased. But now there is the hardware store version where they hold up pieces of wood and compare firmness?

Personally, I love the references. However, my young children do not need to know about erections yet!!!!!

Any thoughts?

Yeah! Always! Hi sarahhh!



I remember the cigarette ads on the television from the bad old days.

With regard to the 100-mm. ciggies they began to market:

"It's not how long you make it, it's how you make it long!"

Then there was one brand that had male models singing and brandishing them, but never actually setting them alight, because by that time, the companies were not allowed to depict that particular part of the process:

*singing:* Taste me, taste me!
Taste me, taste me!
Take a puff and let me do my stuff!

But you know, I needed George Carlin to point out to me, some years later on an old record, how suggestive these things were.

If you don't have a clue, you won't have a clue, honest.

Porn same way. There it is. But if you're honest-to-God too young to be looking at porn, you really won't look at it, because it'll hold no interest for you. You will, in fact, make paper airplanes out of the glossy paper.

If you do, though, look at it, a lot , you are but definitely old enough to look at it. And ready to learn about it.

Whether you ask your mom depends on whether your mom has been open and forthcoming or nervous and scoldy when you've asked her stuff in the past. I always wanted to be approachable and reliable about the tough questions, so I always told my daughter what she wanted to know. If I erred and told her more than she was ready for, she'd always lose interest in what I was saying. But if she was ready, she listened and learned. She was a fountain of knowledge to her contemporaries.

"Ginny is a vir-gin! Ginny is a vir-gin!" someone taunted a girl one time.

"We're all virgins, you moron. There's nothing wrong with being a virgin; God!" she told the boy.

"We are? What is a virgin, anyway?"

And she told them. She knew, and told them. Whoever told them the word before that day had given them a skewed impression. But she set them straight in a very matter-of-fact way, and took care of the problem.

It's better to know than to be afraid , or unsure, or gullible.

As I see it.

And she was soon the oracle on the subject. If they needed to know, they knew she'd give them the straight scoop. She loved that part more than anything.

But she had good judgement and went much longer than I did before letting her virginity go.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: "Enhanced" Commercials???

We're all virgins, you moron.

I like this girl (and her dad).

Perdita

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Those bears in the woods with toilet paper unnerves me. I have a fear of walking through the woods, enjoying nature and coming across a roll of toilet paper hanging off of a branch.

I like the commericial I saw last night where the guy goes between another guy and a woman at a bar, he keeps hitting on the woman with these really lame lines, when the other guy tries to be a gentleman and intervene, the woman stands up and headbutts the jerky guy.
I applauded.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: "Enhanced" Commercials???

I like this girl (and her dad).

Perdita

So do I!

We've been pretty open with our children. When our daughter was 4 she understood exactly what was going to happen before her brother was born. She could talk specifics (to many adult's dismay - LOL).

Maybe it is bothering me just a bit because now at age 9 we're beginning to discuss SEX itself. Not just bodily changes but the actual act of sex and some of what that entails.

I do realize that she'll grasp things in bits and pieces; she'll only assimilate that which she can handle now.

BUT - when I look at these commercials on TV I can't help but think, "AHHHHH! She's only 9! Go away!!"

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

... I have a fear of walking through the woods, enjoying nature and coming across a roll of toilet paper hanging off of a branch...

If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better take more supplies.

For every bear that goes in the bush,
Will gather there, it won’t need a push.
Today's the day the teddy bears have a movement.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/wc/wc.gif

 

[ABSTRUSE]

If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better take more supplies.

For every bear that goes in the bush,
Will gather there, it won’t need a push.
Today's the day the teddy bears have a movement.

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/wc/wc.gif

ROFPMSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rgraham666]

I cannot contribute to this thread. I no longer watch television.

Quit cold turkey and I don't miss it at all.

Good one Virtual!

 

[cloudy]

I have to agree with Cant here.

I've been extremely open with all my kids about sex....well, about everything. As a result, I have relationships with them that my friends are envious of. I always answered their questions honestly, and also like Cant said, when it became more info than they wanted, they tuned out.

Information is power - if you shield your kids too much, you take their power to make decisions away.

Just my two cents.

 

[yui]

Well I think that what you say or do in front of him will set the standards more than the media will. I know kids are kind of impressionable, but you have to remember that they're also pretty smart. Impetuous, sure, but smart.

I really think a slipperier slope would be in censoring ourselves too rigidly out of respect for children who probably don't particularly need it. Sex is natural. Erections are natural. Using sex and your erection because someone on the radio or tv made you feel like you had to is completely unnatural. And I think more kids get that than not. Even the hypothetical ones

I agree. Male children do not just know about erections; they have them from infancy. The subject is going to come up, without the sexual connotations, but it is going to arise. Chances are, most of the men here, and elsewhere in the world, were playing quite happily with their Amazing Expanding Penis long before they were "sexualized". Erections are just biology. Amazing Expanding Biology, but just biology… There is no secret or shame in that, neh?

Regards,

Yui ^_^

 

[Guest]

I agree. Male children do not just know about erections; they have them from infancy. The subject is going to come up, without the sexual connotations, but it is going to arise. Chances are, most of the men here, and elsewhere in the world, were playing quite happily with their Amazing Expanding Penis long before they were "sexualized". Erections are just biology. Amazing Expanding Biology, but just biology… There is no secret or shame in that, neh?

Regards,

Yui ^_^

No shame whatsoever.

My son was almost three when he made up a song about his penis.

You must imagine the tune -

My penis, is hanging down on me
It's hanging down, so you can see.

This of course accompanied by serious back and forth hip movements to set his parts a-swingin'. He was so proud.

(I still blame my husband.)

 

[ABSTRUSE]

No shame whatsoever.

My son was almost three when he made up a song about his penis.

You must imagine the tune -

My penis, is hanging down on me
It's hanging down, so you can see.

This of course accompanied by serious back and forth hip movements to set his parts a-swingin'. He was so proud.

(I still blame my husband.)

My daughter had nude day yesterday, maybe they'll meet in college or a strip club someday.

 

[yui]

No shame whatsoever.

My son was almost three when he made up a song about his penis.

You must imagine the tune -

My penis, is hanging down on me
It's hanging down, so you can see.

This of course accompanied by serious back and forth hip movements to set his parts a-swingin'. He was so proud.

(I still blame my husband.)

LOLOLOLOLOLOL "It's hanging down so you can see." I can envision the Elvis-ish gyrations so clearly! LOL. He should be proud. No shame at all...and that is as it should be.

Thanks for the smiles, and please, kiss the boy.

Yui