Norfolk, VA–
“That’s right. Contempt. Sneering, mocking, name-calling, eye-rolling, sarcastic, cynical, bitter-tasting contempt. Contempt is a very bad sign in a marriage…the Silly Husband has been a common figure in commercials, TV and movies for ages. I’ve been fine with that, but lately it seems commercials have taken on a more acrid flavor.
“Instead of Silly Husband, the guy I see most often now is Ridiculous Lazy Idiot Who Can’t Do Anything Right. That guy is so common that right after the tax commercial the archetype showed up again in a Domino’s Pizza commercial. When the husband finds out he has 30 minutes before the pizza comes, he appears in a red satin robe. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’
“The wife deadpans, ‘What are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?’
“That’s harsh. If my husband said something so cold to me, I wouldn’t stand there smiling. I’d sneak off somewhere to lick my wounds. Forget the pizza.
“Sure, these are just commercials. I should ignore them, turn them off, stop watching so much TV. And yet, I can’t ignore that human beings tend to copy the examples in front of them…
“I hope I never end up like that. Every time I see one of those commercials…I’ll take that display of contempt and use it as a cue to pounce on my husband and kiss him all over.”
I couldn’t say it any better than Norfolk Virginian-Pilot columnist Jacey Eckhart does in her recent column ‘Silly husband’ commercials are starting to tax my patience (1/22/08), which is quoted above. To send her a nice note, write to jacey87@mac.com. To send a Letter to the Editor, click on letters@pilotonline.com.
To watch the ad Eckhart refers to–Domino’s Pizza’s “What are we going to do with the other 28 minutes?”–click here or see below.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCnKmZDpfA]