I don't watch TV. I have a television set in my home, and I watch plenty of TV shows, but I never actually watch TV. I consider the television to be dangerous, and not because of sleazy content, bad language, violence or nudity in TV shows. No, I am much more concerned with what comes on in between.
We call them commercials, and most of us think that we ignore them. We take a break and chat while the commercials run, until we can get back to the show. But they infiltrate our brains and our lives. I think everyone knows the main fast-food jingles, the Taco Bell chihuahua, the Aflak duck, Mr. Clean, etc. Sometimes, we even watch TV for the commercials (the Superbowl) because they can be fun and entertaining.
The truth is that commercials are dangerous.
What? How? I'm not gonna go eat that horrible stuff at McDonald's just because the commercial gave me a laugh.
No, but commercials help create our culture. They create standards for what is in, what is trendy, what we need now. They show us what is wrong with us, what we need to do better, feel better, smell better. Commercials kill our self-esteem and tell us that our lives are riddled with problems. We might not buy every little product offered, but we cannot remain entirely unaffected.
Take a look a the article I stumbled onto on MSN today :
How advertisers create body anxieties women didn't know they had, and then sell them the solution.
I never knew that my teeth were yellow until whitening tooth pastes and kits came out. People are perfectly happy with their Internet service and their cell phone until a commercial tells them it is too slow, too limited, and here's something better!
How often do we let other people create problems for us? Why do we sell our brains to the highest bidder? How many of the insecurities you have about your body, the complaints you have about daily life, are there because someone in a commercial told you it was a problem?
It's a scary thought. Could I be happier, carefree, if I just turned off the TV?
Don't let the messages that flow in from all sides dictate who you are and what you think. Don't let people tell you there is a problem when you never had one before. Stop worrying about perfection, about white teeth and smelling pretty and having the fastest, newest whatever-they're-selling. Stop and take a look at your life. Live deliberately, purchase carefully, be free. Free from corporate influence, free from social pressure, free from inner doubt.
You're fine just the way you are. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
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