I Love Commercials - Is That Warped?

I wonder how many commercials I have been exposed to in my lifetime but the one thing I can say about commercials is "I Love Them".

Ever since I was a child, commercials grabbed my attention so I believe I was an advertiser's target audience. Whether is was the PSA for "Don't Litter" or "Don't Do Crack", I was a fan and did everything in my power to do what I was asked.

These commercials impacted my life and I they helped make me a better person.

Sure, I would complain about commercials because they interrupted my favorite programming but deep down I had a love affair with commercials but I would not admit it.

I lived in the fifth largest city in North Dakota with 15,000 people in it and the commercials for McDonalds and Burger King made my mouth water since the nearest fast food restaurants were 100 miles away. So close but so far.

Burger King was favorite when we would travel the 100 miles to Fargo ND. Perhaps I have Coulrophobia so feared going to McDonalds?

I realized I had an addiction to commercials after returning from long submarine deployments. The first indication of my addiction was that I spent days watching TV for the commercials, not normal programming. I used commercials to acclimate myself back to the real world.

When we would go back to sea, we only had movies that played on projectors so we did not have commercials for months. When I would go to sleep in my compact rack with 20 plus personnel in the sleeping quarters, I would dream about commercials.

I told myself that I could control my addiction to commercials but finally hit rock bottom in Naples Italy. I was waiting military air transport back to the US and spent three (3) days in a motel watching Italian commercials with a limited knowledge of the Italian language.

I returned home to the United States and implemented measures to control my exposure to commercials including muting or changing the channel. I would fall off the wagon every Super Bowl just to remind myself of the good old days.

Today, I fondly remember the affair I had with TV commercials during my younger years and appreciate the invention of Netflix. Now I can binge on years of an old programs instead of commercials. I guess that is an improvement because I do not have the desire to buy hygiene products anymore.

Do you a secret passion?

Its great being Fifty Plus Going On Fifteen.

Be safe, healthy, and successful,

Jay Patterson