Seldom do television commercials get to me. As a rule, when a commercial airs, I hit the mute button if I am anywhere near the remote. Most commercial content runs from idiotic to insulting and the volume level is about three-thousand decibels too high on all of them, hence the turndown and outright ignore. Commercials just are not fun, nor funny, the majority of the time.
Even the internet uses commercials to its advantage and to the inconvenience of the user. If I am trying to watch a video on my news feed through Google Reader, I must still suffer through often the same commercial featuring the cell-phone-provider-cute-chick-in-the-pink-dress. I know, I know the internet needs to make a buck. I do not profess to know what the answer is - I am only very happy to have a mute button for my laptop. It is the one icon that will wear out the most quickly on my computers.
JCP (formerly known as J.C.Penny or Jacque Pene' as my mother referred to the department store/catalog mail order once-upon-a-time giant) is trying to reboot its image. J.C. Penny was rapidly going the way of Sears and K-Mart and headed for the eventual scrap heap until its Board of Directors cried, "Stop the carnage!" and lured away former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson to save the ailing retailer. Johnson got off to a terrible start with an abrupt announcement of a three-thousand-person layoff, a legal melee' regarding the Martha Stewart brand and her Macy's agreement, AND a series of awful commercials where screaming was the primary mode of communication. The company was flooded with complaints about the screaming commercials but.....those same commercials also received favorable comments. Apparently screaming appeals to some people.
Now, JCP has changed their marketing strategy with a new series of commercials featuring the catch phrase, "Enough Is Enough", focusing on the fed-up American consumer's disgust with high prices and constant sales. Thankfully, the screaming is over, for now.
Screaming actors are simply not appealing and I cannot believe that JCP sales rose one bit from buyers inspired to purchase from JCP because they heard screaming.
JCP got it right - enough is enough.
Ancora imparo
