This Bud’s for Who? By: Matt Kirschner The only thing bigger than the National Football League’s annual Super Bowl are the famous multi-million dollar 30-second commercial spots. However, the normal battle for supremacy between Pepsi and Coke, Doritos and Tostitos, and about one half-million dot-com’s, will soon be replaced with a different struggle. As the battle for television morality re-emerges in society, advertisements are the newest target of “ad-bashers” that fight for truth and justice (along with the almighty dollar). Do advertisements promote violence, sexuality, excessive and teenage drinking, and the perfect body as these “higher powers” believe and encourage? Or is this simply another false battle simply fought for recognition and ultimately, more money? These anti-advertisement avengers believe that watching commercials encourages adults and teenagers alike to act and think in certain ways. By watching frogs, lizards, and even ferrets engaging in a conversation in a swamp lit by a near-by neon Budweiser sign, what are we truly encouraging? These avengers say that the ad forces teenagers to drink beer and adults to drink more of it. By watching various car or food commercials with sexual overtones, what are we telling young men to do? These same heroes believe that they tell teenage men to rapidly and recklessly impregnate their teenage counter-parts. By this token, watching women attack each other during a certain Super Bowl commercial must encourage teenagers to become more violent whenever they like. And of course, any commercial featuring Yasmine Bleeth or Brittany Spears must tell women that they must look like this “perfect body,” and reminds men not to settle for anything less than perfection in choosing a mate. As silly as it may seem, there are people who truly believe this. There are people who believe that every single thing we see has a more significant effect on what we do than our own thoughts and beliefs. Frankly, when I see 3 three frogs, two lizards, and a ferret talking in a swamp, I don’t run out and grab a six-pack at the nearest grocery. When I see a Toyota commercial featuring a bikini-clad woman on the hood of their newest car, I don’t automatically become a perverted caveman, whose sole purpose is to fertilize his mate’s eggs. I don’t attack the person nearest to me on the first sight of violence on television. Though I think we all would agree, looks do matter. But when I see Pamela Anderson drinking a can of Pepsi on television, I don’t decide that my mate must look exactly like Pamela Anderson. And if anyone’s self-esteem is low enough to be persuaded to starve themselves to become more beautiful because of a simple commercial, then they certainly need psychological help, regardless of the ad. The battle for human rights rages on, simply remember these three things. Firstly, commercials are made to persuade people…to buy a product. They do not demand that people become violent, drink beer and impregnate women. Second, commercials are meant to entertain, they are not meant to adversely affect people’s lives, turning them into an anorexic or bulimic. Finally, if you see any talking lizards around your house, resist any urge to down a six-pack.