Madison Avenue

Author : Roi R. Czechvala

Okay, I have to admit the first skywriting advertisement I ever saw was pretty nifty. I was in boot camp in San Diego, and a plane was writing a “Bartle’s and Jame’s” advertisement thousands of feet above the ground and just barely within my peripheral vision. I didn’t dare to turn my head for a better look, or I would have been doing pushups until my arms fell off. Still I thought it was pretty cool stuff. Especially for a country boy

When I was even younger still, I saw the old “Burma Shave” signs out in the sticks. You might not remember them, there were seven of them, six each had a piece of a jingle written on it, and the last sign read “Burma Shave”. It was shaving cream, if you didn’t know. They hadn’t put them up for years, but some of those signs were still there. Not to mention the “Chew Mail Pouch”, and “See Rock City” signs that adorned the barns in my Rural Texas.

This was classic advertising. Passive, it didn’t annoy you, it didn’t shout at you. It didn’t wake you rudely like it does when you fall asleep in front of the TV. It was part of the scenery, the ambiance, a classic piece of Americana.

This time though, I think it’s been overdone. At first people sort of liked the new advertising. It was wired, it was tech. It’s a damned invasion if you ask me. When the FCC licensed new frequencies to be opened to broadcasters, and advertisers, somebody should have known better than to include the psionic bandwidths as well.

I guess it was just assumed that the advertisers would have the common decency to stay out of peoples dreams. Yeah right, in the pursuit of the almighty dollar, all’s fair.

This morning I woke up with the Blakelys Bakery jingle in my head;

“If you want a better burger,

Buy a better bun,

Blakelys Bakery fresh baked buns…”

Oh well, I guess you can’t fight progress. It’s time for breakfast, anyway. Think I’ll go to McDonald’s.

“I’m loving it!”