Advertising and...your MOM.

June 25, 2007 9:00 AM | Written by Marcy Jarreau

Well actually it's ads and my mom.

I talk to my mother every morning on my way to work. It's the only time I have to call her and it's a nice way to pass the time on the commute. We mostly talk about what I am doing at the very moment we are talking. A few weeks ago I told my mother I needed to get a coffee before work and my mother suggested I get a McDonald's coffee. She said, "I heard they were good!"

After the phone conversation I thought about what she said. "I heard they were good!" And I came up with this conclusion. My mother heard they were good on a commercial.

I am sure McDonald's coffee is great, but I know my mother's friends aren't talking about. I know they aren't because in the town where I am from they don't get coffee at McDonald's or Starbucks. Why? We don't have them. It's a small town with more gravel roads than paved, or at least equal amounts. The brew their coffee at home, or maybe stop and get a refill at The Truck stop. Yes you read it, "The Truck stop."

My theory is that my mother, while in her home office or maybe while making dinner, had the television on in the background and a commercial seeped into her subconscious. She often has the TV on while she does booking, and it's a good background noise for an empty house.

Maybe someone told her the coffee was good. But I have known her to repeat taglines of commercials for products she has never used when asked an opinion on which fabric softener is best for babies skin. And it's not just her. We all do it. Because when was the last time you saw 5 dentist and 4 of them recommended a certain toothpaste?

Commercials work! They seep into our brain without our permissions, unless you have TiVo.

My point is we who work on the web need to take note of 50 years or so of advertising. We need to figure out slick ways to insert our messages. Now do I have the answers? Maybe, but it's really just something I think about and you should too.

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