This guy is really cute. Nice voice. Great smile. And then some copywriter (and client) let him say:
"Getting the Times delivered for me, well that's really the best part of the weekend."
I don't believe it for a minute. And if it were true, it would be a very sad statement indeed. In which case, he's invited to come over to my place. I get it delivered too. And like the idiotic couple arguing at the start of the spot, we can say "I think it was the Sunday Style Section that brought us together."
I have had to endure the spot on NY1 every day for for what seems like an eternity. Of course, I am sure the Times management knows how awful the spot is. I can only assume, given my background in direct marketing, that the only reason it continues to run is that it works. Unless the real reason is that the Times is having such financial trouble, they can't afford to create a new spot.
I am a proud reader of the New York Times. I like knowing how to fold it so it can be read on a crowded subway. I like the vast sweep of its subject matter — or to quote the spot: "The depth and breadth of reporting, the insight." It hurts to see them close bureaus around the world.
I subscribe. I do. And I want to see them survive. I just want to see better advertising — not merely DRTV, but a real strategy to bring in income. I have to admit, for the only time in my life — and publicly mind you — I am going to admit being in agreement with Rupert Murdoch. He is right to pull content. "Information wants to be free" is bullshit. Information doesn't want anything. People want something of value without paying for it. And if we lose the press, what's left of our tattered democracy will pay for it.
And so another example of my meandering monkey mind — from a cute guy in a TV spot whose weekend I'd like to improve to a meditation on the media, capitalism, democracy and technology.
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