And now for something a little bit different...For awhile I have been wanting to start a new feature on the blog analyzing advertisements, even though it doesn't exactly fit in with the other content on the site. My degree is in Communication Studies so I am always interested to see how advertisers try to reach their intended market, especially since I rarely see an ad that I find appealing. Since I watch all of my television on streaming services, it would seem plausible that the ads I see would be more tailored to my demographic than if I were to watch on cable. However, that does not seem to be the case. One peculiarity of watching online video is that there is less diversity in the advertisements so I may see the same three ads over and over for a week, giving me ample time to fixate on all the little idiosyncrasies that irritate me or (less often) to pinpoint why I am feeling positively towards a certain spot. This is not meant to be a critical analysis, but rather a personal look at how commercials can make us feel. I hope that you will watch the advertisements, read my thoughts, and share your own feelings in the comments. 

I was only able to find the shortened version of this commercial on YouTube, but if you are desperate to see the entire thing, just watch a couple shows on Hulu and I can almost guarantee that it will pop up. The (extended) ad opens up with the teenage daughter, Kim, talking animatedly about how she ran into a boy (who we can assume she had/has a crush on) but that he was with her friend, Jessica. Her parents and younger brother are all sitting down at the dinner table listening to her dissect the run-in and the voiceover lets us know that "this story had 30 minutes left." However, as soon as she takes a bite of the mac & cheese, she stops talking. Her dad prompts her to finish telling the story, but eating the (ostensibly) delicious food has taken precedent and the family is left to enjoy their meal in peace. 

I have a couple issues with this commercial. The first has to do with the purpose of a family dinner. The benefit that comes from gathering together to eat is not merely the consumption of food, but rather the opportunity for family members to share about their day and to discuss is going on in their lives and the world around them. According to an article from July in The Atlantic, "The dinner table can act as a unifier, a place of community. Sharing a meal is an excuse to catch up and talk, one of the few times people are happy to put aside their work and take time out of their day." Isn't that the type of environment that a parent of a teenager would want to create? The world of teenage drama can be difficult to break into and the gossip that Kim is discussing in the ad seems like exactly what her parents would be interested in hearing about. Sure, they don't really care if the boy their daughter has a crush on spilled soda on his shirt, but that open line of communication is too valuable for them to shut down. However, that is exactly what this meal did. Instead of bringing the family together, this mac & cheese separated them into their own worlds where the only thing that is important is how quickly the fork can get from the plate to the mouth. I can't believe that any parent of a teenager would want that to happen.

My second issue is rather petty, but after repeated viewings, it remains a sticking point for me. The names Jessica and Kim feel outdated on a young teenager. Jessica was a Top 2 name from 1981-1997 and then started a steep decline in popularity. It was still ranked 8th in 2000 (which would make the Jessica in this ad 14 years old), but it was definitely on its way out. In 2013, it had gone all the way down to 163 on the Social Security Administration's list of popular baby names. So although there are teenage girls named Jessica wandering around, it is a name that is more strongly associated with women 10-15 years older. The name Kimberly hasn't even reached the Top 10 since 1977. In the year 2000, new babies named Kimberly only made up up 0.1% of all babies born. Once again it is a name that, while not unheard of for the current crop of teenagers, brings to mind someone at least a decade older. 

So why is this a problem? For one thing, it taints the entire commercial as somewhat out of touch with what teenagers today actually are like which then calls into question whether or not they have the credibility to claim that your kids will like this meal. I realize that not everyone is as interested in naming trends as I am, but the parents of any kid has met enough classmates and friends to have a general idea of what names are in and what has become passé. This detail also indicates a lack of thoughtfulness on the part of the company. A quick search would have shown that while Kimberly and Jessica were both Top 100 names in 2000, they are long past their peaks. This might not be a huge deal to the general audience of the ad, but when it is combined with a conversation-ending entree it sets up a dinner that is not representative of either the reality or ideal of today's families.

What do you think about this commercial? Share your reactions in the comments!