There was an interesting article in the Tribune (reprinted from the NY Times) about catchphrases, like "Where's the beef?", no longer being used. A big reason for this, the author (Teddy Wayne) says, is the new way we watch television. Remember when there were only about four networks or so? Now there are tons, along with the Internet, the smart phone, the electronic tablet, social media, etc., to check. Who has time, he says, to wait 25 seconds for the knockout punch.
The rationale makes sense, but I am not sure I agree. I haven't noticed ads changing that much, have you?This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
I can't say I have noticed the ads changing much, but most of the reason for that is that I don't pay attention to them anyway. As the article says, there are so many more ways to watch the content of TV shows than there used to be. Even when I'm watching 'normal' TV I tend to channel-hop to find something else to watch when commercials come on even if it's for a few minutes only. We're lucky in the UK because the BBC doesn't carry commercials so there are four channels at least that won't be showing ads.
One thing I have noticed is that the commercial channels' on-demand sites seem to be inserting more ads into their programmes than they used to. At the beginning they'd usually put a short ad at the start and one in the ad break/s; sometimes they didn't even bother with the ones in the middle. Nowadays there are a few minutes taken up by commercials both at the beginning and during the show. Of course, I just fast-forward through them.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
As for, "Where's the beef?", it had such delicious innuendo that there didn't need to be any joke beyond that. Add to that, two old women were depicted asking the question, making it seem incongruously funny. Oh, and let's not forget, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" Boy, did THAT get a lot of mileage!This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,
