All of these stupid "gutter filter" commercials are exactly the same in at least one respect: they all feature smiling old people who just seem to enjoy the company and attention of charming young people who are genuinely interested in talking to them (unlike their ungrateful, neglectful grandchildren who never call.)
In this ad, we see an entire gaggle of Seasoned Citizens who have gathered to pass the time with a young person who seems to have a nice job (I wonder if they are hiring; each of these old people has at least one grandchild who would be great at this, whatever it is!) plus is providing coffee and sticky buns and all he's asking in return is for a little of that time. And that young person is SO nice, answering all of their questions without even once rolling his eyes or getting impatient, he actually seems to be listening and appreciating the Wisdom of the Greatest Generation.
This group of grinning geriatrics asks a few questions of the Nice Young Man and is quickly SOLD on the idea of installing whatever he's offering to install, or buying a time share, or adding "supplemental insurance" to their Medicare, or whatever it doesn't matter because he's so very Nice and is such a good Listener. Just as long as it means they get to see him or some other Nice Young Man in the future, installing those gutters or telling them where to sign or even in court because this is all just a Scam. It's still better than sitting at home waiting for that phone to ring which it never does because most people in this generation are so Ungrateful, they could all learn so much from this Nice Young Man with the coffee and sticky buns and patient manner.
...simply can't be expected to pay any attention to what is actually going on on the road in front of you.
...want to look at everything EXCEPT what is going on on the road in front of you.
...want to go from Point A to Point B while maintaining your "connectivity" through Facebook, listening to your favorite music, and enjoying all the bells and whistles and screens which pop up to distract you from the road in front of you, which as we've established you aren't the slightest bit interested in anyway.
...couldn't find your butt with two hands and a flashlight because you've gotten ludicrously spoiled with GPS.
...are totally incapable of even PARKING YOUR FREAKING CAR which makes us wonder how you managed to do something the vast majority of us have been doing for decades with the use of low-tech side and rear view mirrors.
...are a smarmy little runt who just enjoys sitting in a metal cage surrounded by all this ridiculous tech that constantly reminds you that you can afford a metal cage filled with ridiculous tech.
Ugh, I have to admit it: this commercial totally works. The first time I watched it, I thought it was a Silver Alert situation- Dad was sitting in the park cold, scared and confused, and Daughter uses technology to rescue him. As it turns out, Dad just didn't feel like answering the phone and instead just wanted to spend a little time with his memories in the park. This is actually a little better- if it WAS a Silver Alert situation, I could criticize this woman for not immediately calling the police if she had the tech to locate him, but I assume that her father has no record of cognitive failure and was just mystified as to why he was not answering his phone. So I can't criticize this ad at all.
Don't worry, I have no expectation that I'm about to have to give up this blog because commercials are about to become effective and to-the-point. This is more like a finding-a-flower-in-the-manure-pile situation.
1. I really thought this was going to be one of those twee "important message" ads about disconnected parents when we see the father blathering away in bumper-sticker "business speak" while the rest of the family looks like their valium is kicking in. Which confused me because it's clear in all these ads that we are supposed to admire the "connectivity" and see it as a bonus.
2. It couldn't be more obvious that the kid in the back seat was asked by the director to "show sadness" or something, because that miserable hand-in-chin, eyes-on-the-floor posture is so cliche'd it's almost painful. We get it. He's sad. Probably about his dad being "disconnected" from his life, or something.
3. Nissan really, really wants to highlight the mirrors in this ad. I don't know why. All cars have mirrors. This one has a rearview mirror that can be adjusted-- manually. Wow, that's innovation right there, Nissan. And mom uses the mirror too, to-- check what's behind her? Show us her face from a different angle?
4. These people spent a ridiculous amount of time just sitting in that parking lot before getting out of the car. What the hell is going on here? Combined with the monotone of their "conversation," I'm starting to pass out here. And I'm not on valium.
5. They ask the kid to exit the car and check the back, and the look on the kid's face tells you that the director told him to smile slightly as he goes through the motions of taking his cue. The acting here is just atrocious. I am not invested in the slightest.
6. The kid waves his foot in front of the rear hatch which opens it- never mind that Dad is still in the driver's seat (are they going to get out of the car at some point, or are they just dropping this kid in an otherwise abandoned park?) and is more than capable of opening it from there. Maybe the kid really, really likes using the magic foot-sensor thing which added hundreds of dollars to the cost of the family SameMobile while having no real utility.
7. Hey look, the "parents" actually managed to get out of the car to see their kids' response to getting a bat for his birthday- just think, if they had exited the car WITH him, they could have just given him the bat themselves and seen the look on his (sleepy, bored, painfully unconvincing) face when he got it. And the kid is sooo excited about getting the bat, you'd think he had just listened to his father finish a conference call or used his foot to open the hatch. This kid is totally pumped about getting that bat, I tell you....
8. Now what? I guess the kid was nervous about trying out for the team, or being in the first game- perhaps feeling the pressure brought on by the fact that both parents are dressed in team colors and are therefore 100 percent invested in this whole baseball thing. Not sure why the kid needs a bat, though- teams usually provide those. His own glove would have made a lot more sense here, but it's clear that a whole lot of thought was put into something else and not this ad which, by the way, is for a Nissan Rogue which has great internet connectivity and a motion-controlled hatch. The one featured in today's commercial included three non-actors who clearly met five minutes before shooting started and who all woke up ten minutes before that given the haze in which they speak every line and the painfully obvious lack of chemistry. Wow, this one really hurt.
So instead of sitting inside staring at your computer screen, you can buy this and....sit outside staring at your computer screen.
And this means being "part of that world." Uh huh.
How about this- turn your computer off and go outside and actually be PART OF THAT WORLD.
Oh right, I forgot- that's not being Productive. We must be Productive. You can go outside if you want, but only if you buy this Apple Product so when you go outside you can remain Productive. And somehow this is supposed to be "better," because Reasons.
But hey, at least the drooling minions who seem to populate every YouTube comment section featuring an electronic device loves this ad, love the song, love The Little Mermaid, and especially love being Charmed By That Song That Was In The Little Mermaid. So that's something slightly more than nothing...I guess.
This is such an obvious disaster in the making, I just can't stop thinking about it.
I mean, let's just consider this for a moment: When you get a job, the first thing you learn is how to budget your money so you can get to your next paycheck. As your salary expands, so does your budget. You learn how to manage your money because you learn what money is actually worth. If you're smart about it, you don't go through a period of youthful foolishness (like many of my fellow Boomers assume all kids go through when they first go to college.) If you're like most people, you eventually figure out how to use your paychecks to get your bills taken care of, plus save for something special (like vacation, or retirement.) But no matter what, you figure out how you are going to use your paycheck- and just as importantly, how you are going to manage between paychecks.
Besides the little "convenience fees" you are going to get sucked out of your earnings if you use this stupid App, I think the biggest reason this sends up red flags with me is because it's encouraging you to just Spend as you Go. Never mind budgeting between paychecks- just spend your money as it comes in, Because You Can. And if you go a little overboard, well, just read my previous post on the same product- it's just so easy to get an "advance" on your NEXT paycheck, for that "convenient," "small" fee.
There's nothing fiscally sensible about any of this. Nobody encourages their kids to spend their money as they make it, and certainly nobody encourages their kids to spend money BEFORE THEY HAVE IT. Only people who are facing eviction should be using BS "services" like Rapid Refunds (pretending to get their tax refunds "faster" but actually just getting a loan using their anticipated refund as security.) Only people in desperate straits- or people who just don't know how to budget, aren't interested in learning, and want to live day to day because paycheck to paycheck is too slow and besides remember that stuff about budgeting- will be using DailyPay. And getting themselves in deep, deep trouble.
I guess it was really only a matter of time before the wonderful world of Payday Loans went high tech. Here we've got a Really Ought to be Sad woman who can "afford" to fill her tank up with gas because she can get her paycheck "any time she wants" by using the "free" Dailypay app. In other words, she can keep spending money even after her paycheck has been used up by borrowing on her next paycheck.
It's just a Payday Loan. I mean, how can this not be obvious to everyone?
I did a little research, and discovered something about as surprising as finding fat people at McDonald's. Turns out that while the Dailypay app is, technically, "free," the amount of money you can "advance" yourself is very limited unless you are willing to include "tips" along with your "advance" (unsecured loan) request. The most common "suggested tip" is 9% for every one hundred dollars "advanced" (borrowed.) Want to "access" your $1000 paycheck a day early? No problem- it's just going to cost you $90. You won't even notice, because you won't get a bill- it'll just get deducted from that $1000. Easy Peezy, that's what Dailypay is all about, after all. Well, that and convenience, anyway.
It's JUST A PAYDAY LOAN. You aren't living within your means if you are willing to hand over a sizable chunk of your paycheck in order to get it a few days in advance. And yes, in order to sign up for the "free" app you have to provide all kinds of information beyond your name- your address, sex, age, information concerning your income and BANK ROUTING NUMBER which of course will be used to quickly (and conveniently!) put the money you want "advanced" into your account so you can fill that tank, never mind that you just handed really sensitive information to anonymous people operating a sleazy loan shark operation. You got your gas money!
You can also transfer money for a "low flat fee" ($2.99 to $5.99) which far exceeds the transfer costs of Paypal, Venmo or any other service which caters to people who have credit cards and good credit scores. Telling me that Dailypay is going to be really popular among those people who use Green Dot Cards, Money Orders and Pawn Shops to get along month to month. So I guess if you have a Smart Phone, you've got a quick loan to help you gloss over the fact that you're drowning in this awesome, "recovering" economy. But seriously, woman, you don't have to be so nonchalant about the fact that you technically don't have to make your money last paycheck to paycheck because you can use your phone to take out a high-interest loan. I'd rather you be at least a LITTLE sad about this instead of acting like this is all just no big deal and Life is Good.
