Ad fail

Dear advertising agency,

You know that radio ad you produced where the smart alec voice-over lady begins, “You wouldn’t read the end of a book first, so why make a decision without seeing our beautiful range blah blah blah”?

That ad doesn’t have the effect you think it does.

Every time I hear Smartypants Lady say “You wouldn’t read the end of a book first” in that ho ho ho, we’re all adults here way, I want to shout at the radio, “HA!! Shows how much you know, lady!”. I’m too busy arguing with her to take in the rest of the sentence, or even notice what the ad is for. And I don’t think that’s what “talkback radio” is supposed to mean.

What kind of a boring universe do you come from, ad people? I thought you were meant to be creative types. Do you really think nobody ever peeks? Have you never been so caught up in a character’s dramas that you are simply compelled to flip ahead to make sure he or she makes it to the end of the book alive?

Those numbers at the bottom of each page? Some of us take those as a suggested reading order only. And those of us with freakishly tiny attention spans develop evil habits of turning big chunks of pages at a time, reading a bit, then skipping another big chunk in our efforts to get to the end and find out what happens. Later, when our curiosity is not so urgent, we go back and read the bits we skipped. Or not.

Of course, people who do that tend to end up with tottering piles of books around the house that never seem to get finished, as discussed in my post about the bookmark that had been there so long it changed colour. Which is a whole ’nother problem. Certainly not something I would recommend. Ahem.

Nevertheless, your insistence that reasonable people would never contemplate reading out of order makes me want to rush out and commit reckless acts of non-sequential reading just to spite you. I know, I’m mature like that. But come on, I can’t be the only person who gets so caught up in a book they can’t resist leaping ahead. Maybe you’re just reading the wrong kind of books.

And you know what else? I’ve even heard there are people who read the last page before they buy the book. Just to make sure there’s a Happily Ever After before they waste their money and emotional investment. Shocking, isn’t it? Can you believe that?

Oh, right. I guess not.

But you might want to rethink that ad. It sure ain’t working for this little black duck. And who knows how many other people are driving around Sydney yelling at their radios?

Yours sincerely,
Crazy Lady Who Yells At Radios

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7 Responses to Ad fail

  1. Jo says:

    Yeah, I peek sometimes although I try hard not to. But then I often re-read good books so its the same isn’t it? I already know the ending.

  2. Pandababy says:

    giggle. giggle. ha-hah. Oh – so THAT is how I got all those tottering piles of books, yup, makes sense to me (but then, I’m one of those shocking persons who would start at the back of a book…

  3. Marina says:

    See, I knew I wasn’t the only one. Annoying Voice-over Lady has no idea what she’s talking about.

  4. writerjenn says:

    “reckless acts of non-sequential reading”
    LOL!!

  5. Marina says:

    Just call me “Rebel”, Jenn.

  6. Love this post. I very rarely peak ahead (probably because I read so quickly I don’t see the point). But my 14 yo avid reader always reads the end first. ALWAYS.

    Stupid radio lady.

    Apropos of nothing, my “verification” word for this is “cootess”. I cannot decide if that would be “one who gives cooties” or “one in possession of a cooter”. These are very different terms.

  7. Marina says:

    Or possibly even “member of the aristocracy with itchy infestation”?

    Thanks for dropping in, Kelly!