Early this morning, I flipped through the TV channels. For whatever reason I settled on a “Mr. Ed” episode on Antenna TV. Guess my surprise when I saw…
…a commercial for a local glassware (aka head shop) that’s so common now in Washington State
What’s really bizarre is almost all the commercials on that channel are aimed at the elderly crowd: life insurance, medical lawsuits, mobility scooters. Does the store owner just like “Mr. Ed”? Does the show have some stoner following I don’t know about? What commercials do you see that don’t seem to fit the intended audience or don’t fit in well with the program?
They probably got a deal.
A local head shop probably doesn’t have a huge ad budget, and TV time can be really expensive. Just guessing, but the channels that directly appeal to their target audience were probably way out of their price range, so after looking around at what they could afford, they may have figured, “stoners, reruns, eh, worth a shot.” The channel may have also had trouble selling all their time slots and gave them a good deal.
I can totally see the clientele of a head shop watching a show about a talking horse.
But the serious answer is that it’s a package. A lot of local stations now have subchannels with “oldies” networks like Antenna or MeTV. A lot of times if you buy time on the main channel, they’ll throw in time on the subchannels for virtually nothing.
If you were watching a cable network like TVLand, then the local cable operator probably has a cheap package that let’s them put the commercials pretty much anywhere. Around here we don’t have legalized marijuana, so a lot of those commercial spots end up being filled by personal injury lawyers, vocational schools, and pawn shops.
Are you absolutely positive that the “elderly crowd” isn’t a target demographic? I believe the data shows that many “elderly” folks are familiar with the use of such devices, despite the insistence of one Baby Boomer who claimed he didn’t inhale.
You may be right, BobArrgh. Getting stoned while watching Mr Ed reruns may be a trip down Memory Lane for some.
Yeesh, young people sound like they invented smoking dope while watching crappy TV. 
Koch Brothers commercials anywhere but Fux Noize.
:dubious:
When I was in college in the early 1990s, my roommate thought it was amusing that MTV had ads for diapers, baby food, and other child-oriented items.
The advertiser probably bought a cheap package without guranteed placement times. The station only has to show the commercial a certain number of times, when they do is their choice.