The Voice of Treason

Fly the friendly skies….

Writing by treason on Sunday, 24 of April , 2005 at 12:11 pm

I go to bed with the FOX News Channel on. Some people I know think it’s because it’s the vast right wing conspiracy’s way of getting all those subliminal messages into my head while I sleep. Not at all. We have far better methods, but I won’t go into them here. When I think of subliminal messages, I think of advertising. Remember when people were looking for images of naked women in ice cubes featured in bourbon ads? And then there was the jingle:

“When it says Libby’s, Libby’s, Libby’s on the label, label, label…”
“In the Valley of the Jolly - ho, ho, ho! - Green Giant!”
“You deserve a break today…”
“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz…”
“My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R…”
“Meow, meow, meow, meow….”

Well, now they’re all gone - replaced by old Who songs of all things. Did Pete Townshend realize when he wrote “Pinball Wizard” that someday it would be used to sell Swedish cars? Well, I could go on forever about this, but I won’t. I miss the jingles, but there is one ad where I’ll overlook the lack of an original tune. And it’s not just because I love Gershwin. One reason I sleep with FOX is because I can catch breaking news as soon as it happens (”a plane has just flown into The World Trade Center…”) or a historical event (last night it was the inaugural mass of the new pope - I hear Latin and I’m awake). The other reason is for the United Airlines ads. Sometimes there can be two or three before I even get up to get a cup of coffee. The second I hear “Rhapsody In Blue” I’m conscious, wondering which commercial it is. The guy with one brown shoe at the job interview? The successful son bringing his mother the perfect rose? The woman with the amazing idea? The retiree who realizes that he finally has the time to see the world? I love them all. They’re beautiful to watch and to listen to. In a word, they’re just classy. I did catch one the other day that was still using the Gershwin music, but the look was different. I urge them to drop that one before anyone else sees it. Don’t tamper with what works, and don’t cheapen your product. As long as United Airlines runs these ads, if I need to fly, I’m flying the friendly skies.

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