A perfect world

I was having troubles recovering from the jetlag and anaemia so I had to rest for a few days. I thought TV would be a good experience.
Daytime TV has a lot in common with British TV, though I hadn't watched the Box for two years when I left the UK.

Adverts are all the more fascinating. They show us the ideal world we should all aspire to, where you can eat tons of unhealthy greasy foods without putting on any weight. The food displayed on the screen is excessively well lit and with all the sauce dribbling on top of it, it is almost ALIVE. It is fried or barbecued, covered in brown sauces and gleams on the screen. These barbecues are literally bouncing back and jumping into your plate! It hypnotises you to make you believe you are craving these ribs/ steaks/ tacos/ Ceasar salads/burritos/pizzas served with an abundance of soda!. Not the slightest steamed broccoli in sight, or fish on a bed of herbs, or healthy fruit salad!!! Oh dear, don’t even think about a wheat-free and dairy-free diet, local produce, 5 fibres a day, seasonal fruit and veg. And no one would even think about drinking a glass of tap water. TGI Friday,Taco Bell, Mac Donald’s, Jack in the Box, here we come!

The most reassuring adds are car adverts. Beautiful people drive beautiful cars. And of course, they are alone on the road, not stuck in traffic like normal people going to work, oh, no! Shiny cars, especially SUV( Sports Utility Vehicles) glide along the Pacific Coast Highway, in the desert or against a dramatic setting. They create this magic world and protect your children and the environment. Once you are inside nothing can happen to you, it is all soft and comfortable. Besides, they encompass hundreds of enticing gadgets. No need for maps anymore since we have GPS! How could you think of travelling without a DVD player? And look at this design lovingly filmed…. They accelerate, they brake so easily, you already desire them. You have to have them. How can you live without the latest Cadillac? BMW? Jaguar? General Motors? Ford? Toyota? Nissan? They are godsent, really; they look so nice, how they shine, how their design makes them almost take off in the sunset … It is a love story between you and your car. The latest Toyota campaign is actually called Summer Love!

After cars, it is the Wooonderful World of Plastic Surgery. Teeth whitening, straightening, gastric bypass, a wonderful procedure too reduce the size of your stomach, nothing really, and so easy, and then once you had that done the plastic surgery to remove all the excess skin!!! Ouch!
And isn’t medicine wonderful? It will sort you out in no time. These ads talks about the latest drug to fight high blood pressure, insomnia, weight problems, restless leg syndrome, cervical cancer, erectile dysfunction (“male enhancement”). Each one is a miracle cure. Yet they have to list the various worrying side-effects with a nice big smile…. Beware! Get yourself vaccinated, drugged up! Run to your doctor’s!

Local adverts are by far my favourites. The picture is little fuzzy, as if they had been filmed with an old VCR camera from the 80’s. The editing is dull, the punchlines/ slogans cheesy and repetitive. Out-of-work actors praise a local furniture shop, a pizza delivery or car dealer in a silly uniform while staring at the camera, with a little map of how to get there. Fabulous!

Since all programs are interrupted every seven minutes by advertising it is very difficult to follow any plot development. With our increasing ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder adverts fit perfectly. They last for 30 seconds and don’t even get interrupted by films.