A commercial that annoys me--is it just me?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

It's for Disney, and it shows the kids in bed while the parents are staying up late looking at the computer. And the mom points out to the dad, "$1,600? We can do that!" And the dad says, "Oh yeah!" And that this is marketed as the new, "affordable" Disney package.

I don't know why, but I think it is kind of insulting to say that $1,600 is peanuts for a Disney vacation. $1600, especially in these times, is nothing to sneeze at for many families. I mean, sure it might be okay for a family that is comfortably middle class, but I just get the impression that some kids living in a lower middle class family sees this commercial and starts groveling to their parents by saying, "But the commercial said it was affordable!"

I mean, if they had just mentioned the special price and left it that, it probably wouldn't have bothered me. But it made it sound like this was such an unbeliveable, terrific deal that anyone could afford.

I just found that a bit off putting. Of course, I never liked Disney in the first place, so perhaps I'm naturally biased against them.

[mokawanis]

1. I think you're right

There may be a lot of people out there who can afford to waste $1,600 on a trip to Disney but there's a whole lot more who couldn't. $1,600 is a LOT of money!

[redqueen]

2. Ads aren't meant for poor people.

Do they have money to spend on the product we're selling? No? Then fuck 'em.

YAY CAPITALISM!

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. No, no, no!

The marketing strategy with the poor is to get them to go even more deeply into debt to buy shit by convincing them that they need More Shit — that Our Shit will make their miserable, festering lives worth living.



It's obvious you never studied opportunism. :P

[MrScorpio]

3. The more I see commercials like that...

The more I believe John Carpenter was a prophet when he made THEY LIVE

[terrya]

4. I laugh and laugh when I see that.

These people are people I obviously wouldn't know. "Well, that's nothing!" when talking about a spending $1600 on a freaking vacation. That family and their economic status is as much of a fantasy as anything Disney could dream up.

I do agree with you about how off putting it is in a country where a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck and can barely pay their bills. Even worse, people who have lost their jobs and are trying to get back on their feet again.

[EnviroBat]

6. Oh shit, don't get me started on that crap!

She's feverishly hacking away at the computer, justifying the $1600.00 they can easily afford right? That fucking commercial makes me want to kick my TV into oblivion. My ex-girlfriend kept telling me that we should blow a wad of cash on a "Disney vacation". I kept asking her, "What the fuck for? We NEED a new furnace for the house I just bought". You noticed I said "ex" girlfriend... Of the course the husband is going to say, "Oh yeah". What you don't see is the family calling the fucking bank the next morning, trying to get another equity-line of credit for their "affordable" vacation.

[hobbit709]

7. Between that and all the credit card ones.

That's why I pretty much try to avoid commercial television.

[mikeytherat]

8. $1600 my Aunt Fanny. Does it include: round-trip airfare, ground

transportation, meals inside the park, and poorly-made, obscenely-priced Disney Memorabilia? For a family of four, you best double that $1,600 figure.

mikey_the_rat

[mokawanis]

9. Fuck Disney

I can't imagine why any parent would take their kids to Disney in the first place, even if it only cost $160. If I were going to drop $1,600 on a vacation I'd take the kids to the west coast and show them the redwoods or maybe Glacier Park and give them a look at the beautiful mountains. Disney? Never been there, never will.

[dropkickpa]

10. That one ticks me off

I would dearly love to be able to take Dropkid on a disney vacation. That just ain't gonna happen. But, everytime she sees the damn commercial, she goes on and on about it and how it says they can afford it.

[graywarrior]

11. I despise that ad on so many levels.

[JVS]

12. How long a vacation?

[redqueen]

14. Are you really trying to bring logic into this?

[JVS]

15. Mostly, I'm curious. But if it's 2 weeks worth of room and amusement park, then it might be a deal

[redqueen]

16. IIRC it's a week.

I think with the economy the way it is, they'll be offering better deals soon. :D

[JVS]

18. On one level, I'm relieved. Anyone who has spent 2 weeks in Disney World probably shouldn't be..

allowed back into society without some kind of rehabilitation.

[Rosie1223]

19. The $1600 is for 6 nites, room and park admission for 2 adults, 2 children

in off, off peak season, limited room availability, no meals included.

[Debi]

13. A few years ago $1,600 was two months salary for me!

Even now I can't imagine the Debis spending that kind of $$ on vaca. After plane tickets we spend almost nothing going to the folks house and eating local fare. We hit the movies and museum and do arts-n-crafts while Mr. Debi and Grandpa Debi golf. Nope, a $1,600 vacation is not in the cards for my family.

[rateyes]

17. Not surprising that this ad comes out at a time when married

couples with one dependent are getting checks from the federal govt. for $1500.00, or with 2 dependents $1800.00.

[Kat45]

21. Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

That's exactly why this ad, at this time.

[Bake]

20. Oh yeah, I hate that one.

The Mouse is freakin' GREEDY!!!!!

The other one I really loathe these days is the one for some investment company, with some horrible lounge singer butchering Burt Bacharach: "What the world ... needs now ... is cla-ri-ty ...."

:puke:

Bake

[Chan790]

22. What else is there to do in FL?

I'm kidding obviously. FL has year-round beaches, some of the best east-coast surfing, pretty girls in bikinis, St. Augustine, the Daytona 500, Cuban and Haitian food, great golf courses (not my thing but some people love it), great HS and college football and Miami (The whole damned town). There's more and PeterU will be happy to tell you about it if you ask but I'm lazy today.

Why again exactly does anybody go to Disney or Orlando for that matter?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. Wekiva Springs is nice

I'm sure my dad could point out some other places in Orlando that are nice. He spent several summers there pre-Disney, and said it used to be a very nice town. Sadly, it's become sprawl central and pretty tacky since, though.