Monday, February 20, 2012

What????

As our society ages, I am finding more commercials on TV aimed at the 'seniors' in the viewing audience.  Of course we have a scunge-load of erectile dysfunction ads, but we also are seeing ads for bladder problems, reverse mortgages, and senior dating sites.  One very prevalent commercial these days is for Life Alert, or similar products.  I'm sure we all are familiar with the "I've fallen and can't get up!" commercial of several years ago and the ones being made today are not much better.



However, the one I saw the other day just made me shake my head and go, "HUH?!"

For those who might never have seen  the product, Life Alert--or generic equivalent products--is a necklace type emergency alarm that a person will wear.  There is a button on this device which can be pressed in the case of a medical emergency.  Pressing said button will summon help and this allows an elderly person to continue being self-sufficient, and live alone, for a longer time than normal.  I very much see the benefit to these devices, but I really wish they would advertise them in a better manner.  Most of the ads for these things are testimonials--and I think they scrape the bottom of the barrel for the people they get for the commercials.  The commercial I saw the other day was person after person telling how "Life Alert saved my life!"  Basically, they all said the same thing:  "I was having a heart attack, fell down, felt dizzy, etc, and I pressed the button for help."  Then they went on and said how they would never be without Life Alert.  This was all cut-and-dried until one woman came on.  And this is what she had to say:

"I will give up bread, beer, wine, and soda, but I WON'T give up my Life Alert!"

I almost wet myself from laughing!  Unbelievable.





***Now, an added bonus:  "I've fallen and I can't get up!" has become a much ridiculed and spoofed phrase for many years.  Of course, the interwebs have helped this along.  Here are some of my favorite uses of the phrase--enjoy.







8 comments:

  1. "I will give up bread, beer, wine, and soda, but I WON'T give up my Life Alert!"


    AHAHHAHAHAHHAhahHAHhHAHha! AHAHahHAHahahaHHAha OMFG!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually 'rewound' the DVR to make sure I heard it correctly--and I did. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:14 PM

    How come they always have a woman falling? is it too embarrassing for a man to be seen falling and can't get up?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:18 PM

    Oh yeah, and have you seen the one for the recliner that lifts? the "before" lady has glasses, tightly permanented helmet hair and is wearing a housecoat, struggling to get up out of her chair. After: she's lifted out of the chair and is all dressed up, hair done in a pageboy, no glasses, happily waving hubby off at the front door. Makes me want to puke.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've seen many--if any--men in the Life Alert commercials. I guess they are all being used in the erectile dysfunction ones. :D Some ways of 'not being able to get up' must be more embarrassing than others.

    I think I've seen the recliner commercial but haven't paid attention to it. I will now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:31 AM

    I will give up bread, beer, wine, and soda but not my life alert or cigarettes!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:32 AM

    The men aren't shown because thankfully and statistally we die before all this happens! Then again we may be doing ED or any scooter ads. She should say shed give up her vibe batteries and maybe her Prep H before her L..A..unit. might hit home with the folks its aimed toward. Just a huge guess on my part being a single 38 male. Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  8. No idea whatsoever WHY these ads are ever made! I think they would do much better if they were done in a way that they couldn't be parodied: Such as someone very seriously telling the story of a serious fall or heart attack while being alone; about the fear and loneliness and how comforting it is to have LA be there for them. But this one just floored me. (I also think it's women who are thought of to be more frightened of being alone and that's why you see them instead of men in these commercials.)

    ReplyDelete

Disquis

Being In a Funk

I'm still having a bit of a funk going on in my life. To be expected, I guess. But, it REALLY is affecting me to see my best friend ...