Day 49 :: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ad World

This weekend was a little harried, so as a treat I caught up on some episodes of "Mad Men." I don't watch a great deal of network TV, so I missed out on this gem of a series. Sure, you have to get past the raging chauvinism (which still runs rampant in the ad world), but it's really quite brilliant, this peek into the lives and egos of 1960's ad execs.

What I especially love is how the writers lift the veil on the world of advertisers, showing their hand in writing the prescription of the American dream, but poke holes in it at the same time. And, while some of the mediums and methodologies have changed, advertising science was pioneered by these guys and really hasn't shifted that much some 50 years later.

Some of the monologues are so telling -- about the world at that time and the fundamentals of human behavior. Take this for example, from one of the earlier episodes where the lead character, Don Draper, is struggling with home issues and how to sell Lucky cigarettes (this, after a government statement detailing known health issues associated with smoking):

Advertising is based on one thing:

Happiness. And you know what happiness is?

Happiness is the smell of a new car.

It’s freedom from fear.

It’s a billboard on the side of the road

that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is okay.

Wow. So true.

D's been watching the World Series and the commercials are a constant source of commentary in our house. You see these ads that show some dumpy shlub of a guy with his super hot, model-perfect wife pitching whatever. Right. Take apart the demographics behind that concept, and you understand it's being marketed to Mr. Couch potato who wants to be told that he's just like everyone else, the ladies looooove him and he can keep on drinking his low-carb beer.

Or, it's Fall now so let's all get on that hay wagon, skip the apple picking (ew, apples!) and head on over to Dunkin' Donuts. Everybody does it, and look how happy these folks are. It's so sad, it's almost funny.

But not quite. I firmly believe that advertising has played a big hand in the staggering obesity rates we see in America today. And, what's even more frightful than pushing low cost junk food at the public as a money saving strategy in tough economic times, is the selling of the unfit, unhealthy "average guy" as acceptable.

The most annoying thing about commercials is that they are so transparent, and I do think a great many people have the ability to see through them. But they don't want to. They don't want to accept that what they're eating is killing them slowly. They don't want to think about how by making the "smart" financial decision to buy fast food from the dollar menu today, may lead them into severe health care debt in the future.

So my PCPeeps, I say we need to launch our own ad campaigns.

We need to be the mini-billboards in our own worlds! No need to scream, we need to be the quiet resistance to the status quo. We need to take our blossoming PCP strength and tear it up with motorsport, rock it in capoeira, walk like a champion, and shine on the yoga mat! We need to be the high-energy, full-on radiant examples of better living through healthy choices.

There's five PCPers left for 2009 and five weeks to go -- let's give it all we've got! We've all made such great gains already, I can't wait to see where we net out in December!