How Much Contempt Does Television Have For Its Audience?

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

Lemme put it this way: Saw two commercials back to back. In one, the spokesman for a resturant chain used a winch and his car to pull down a rival company's 'Breakfast' advert sign. In the other, an elderly lady ripped down a five dollar bill that had been taped to a wall and ate it.

In both instances, a disclaimer: 'Do Not Attempt.'

You're undoubtably bubbling over with more examples...

[section 8]

i have several but i don't wanna do all that typing.

long story short they think "if they're watching TV they must be stupid"

[MacQuarrie]

That's not contempt for the audience, that's CYA (Cover Your Ass).

If they didn't put that there, some jerk would deliberately copy it with intent to cause themselves injury so they could sue the advertiser. The liability lawsuit has become the new lottery; you don't even need to buy a ticket if you can get a scumbag lawyer to take the case on contingency.


Here's what we need to do: stop trying to avoid jury duty. Jump at the chance to get on a jury. If you get handed one of these cases, throw out the case and recommend that the judge sanction them for frivolous litigation.

Maybe a few disbarments will make the point.

[Sound Silence]

I once saw a pack of toothpicks with instructions on how to properly use a toothpick.

[Sarah Beach]

Look, when you have teens and young adults copying stupid, stupid stunts from the show Jackass, or other equally dumb concepts (crashing into concrete walls, folks? it's a new sport!), yeah, they're going to put them there.

It's right along with the car commericials with fancy driving, that have fine print saying "Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt."

When hot coffee cups now have to carry warnings about the fact that the contents are hot....

When we build tricycles for kids that are impossible to tip over (even when that's what the kids want to do)....

Yeah, we're going to see more of these. It's not because people are incapable of separating a visual fiction from reality. It's that there are some people who will not do that. "I saw it on TV, so therefore it must be right/okay/possible/whatever!!!"

[Flamebird]

How about the new Dairy Queen commercial where the little girl scams an ice cream from a little boy while mom smiles on?

Makes me gag every time I see it.

[Bob Violence]

After "Do Not Attempt" it should say, "But you knew that already, right?"

[section 8]

there is no question that the networks think we are stupid, the question is how far off the mark are they?

they sell us pills for weight loss and "Male enhancement"...we buy it.

the quality of shows decreases....but we still watch it

they treat us like the stupidest mother****ers alive,...And we love them for it

Why shouldn't they cover their asses? we give them cause for concern

[Cam63]

I'm going with the " Cover Your Ass " explanation too.

[stealthwise]

How about the new Dairy Queen commercial where the little girl scams an ice cream from a little boy while mom smiles on?

Makes me gag every time I see it.

Fucking disgusting.

"Hey girls, bat your eyes like a whore for free sweets!"

My poor daughter has no idea how quickly I'd punish her for trying to pull some crap like that.

[Solaris]

Almost as much as Congress and the President.

[Joshua Pantalleresco]

That's why I stopped watching television. I like the idea of not being insulted, considered too fat, needing viagra or some other god forsaken drug, not bored with soap opera crap, and best of all, I can buy dvds of anything remotely resembling quality on the idiot box.

The only thing I miss is hockey. But hey, My wings are kicking ass and are going to win the cup, so all's well on that front.

JP

[stealthwise]

That's why I stopped watching television. I like the idea of not being insulted, considered too fat, needing viagra or some other god forsaken drug, not bored with soap opera crap, and best of all, I can buy dvds of anything remotely resembling quality on the idiot box.

The only thing I miss is hockey. But hey, My wings are kicking ass and are going to win the cup, so all's well on that front.

JP

Why would you miss hockey? Hit a sports bar during the games. If you live in Canada they'll broadcast at, like, an Earl's or White Spot even.

[Joshua Pantalleresco]

Why would you miss hockey? Hit a sports bar during the games. If you live in Canada they'll broadcast at, like, an Earl's or White Spot even.

Dude, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. ;)

As far as seeing it in a sports bar, I'm in Arizona. Most of these guys don't even know what a puck is. Not where I'm at anyways.

JP

[Major Comma]

Apparently a lot of contempt because my TV NEVER talks to me!:smile:

[Major Comma]

Apparently a lot of contempt because my TV NEVER talks to me!:smile:

[Gilda Dent]

Look, when you have teens and young adults copying stupid, stupid stunts from the show Jackass, or other equally dumb concepts (crashing into concrete walls, folks? it's a new sport!), yeah, they're going to put them there.

A few years back, maybe in the 90's sometime, there was a movie about a college football team that focused on several players engaging in risky, self-destructive behaviors.

One of these involved a player playing a game of chicken by lying down on the white dividing line on a busy highway, with other idiots joining him. The purpose of the scene was to highlight the degree to which the kids had lost his ability to make sound judgments and the degree of his self-destructive, bordering on actively suicidal behavior. It was portrayed in the movie as stupid and dangerous and the behavior of someone mentally ill.

In the weeks following the release of the movie, several boys were badly injured imitating this behavior when they lay down in the road and were run over by cars. I don't recall if any were killed. This story made the news, and a brief shot of the footage was shown on either the national news or local news stations for the purpose of warning kids about the danger involved in the behavior. After seeing this footage on the news, there was a second wave of morons doing the same thing, imitation the news story.

A similar thing happened around the same time, maybe a few years later. The activity involved hooking up a rope anchored to a truck to a merry-go-round and then driving off quickly, spinning the merry-go-round like a top much faster than possible by hand. A number of kids were badly injured, crippled, and some killed.

Kids have seriously injured or killed others imitating professional wrestling moves at home, doing things like jumping off a roof onto a folding table or another kid.

People's risk assessment abilities quite often suck. There's no telling what people will imitate if seen on TV or in other media. The warning exist because there are idiots out there who need them, in addition to the CYA reason.

[Typo Lad]

When hot coffee cups now have to carry warnings about the fact that the contents are hot....


Be fair. The courtcase that brought that on wasn't because the coffee was hot, but because the coffee was hot enough to raise second-degree burns. That's too hot for consumption.