Last night I was watching ST:TNG during those wee Sunday Morning hours, when the commercials are nearly all PSA’s. (Who the hell wants to buy that ad time?)
During one break, they showed one of those “wait to have sex” commercials. This was the one featuring the couple at the drive-in. After panning past all sorts of happy and childless teenage couples, it closed in on a young pair and their two highly pissed-off, screaming babies. The couple is trying to have an argument over the screaming. Message: Kids can be a real pain in the ass. Don’t have sex.
During the next break, they showed a commercial in which a seed was buried in the dirt on both sides of a split screen. The seed on one side was scooped back out. (You see where this is going.) While the scooped-out side just continued to show an empty hole, the other side started growing into a plant. Cut into the footage of the growing plant were scenes of a kid growing up–cute little baby, adorably bumbling toddler, happy and affectionate five-year-old, etc. Message: Kids are great. Don’t have an abortion.
I just wish that some smart-ass down at the station had had the nuts to play them back-to-back.
The really funny thing is that it wouldn’t be hard to totally switch the messages. For instance, after the drive-in commercial: “Don’t like what you see? Have an abortion!” After the seed commercial: “Look at everything you’ll miss if you don’t sow your seed. Have unprotected sex today!”
(Note: I hate to make light of a serious topic like abortion, but this was just too damn funny.)
Dr. J