During lunch, I always manage to catch up a little on what's going on in the world because the TV in the break room is left on, and I also am subjected to a barrage of advertisements. I appreciate the former; the latter, not so much! Understandably, the recent/current tornadoes in Missouri and Oklahoma (and really throughout that region of the country, I guess) were the dominating topic on during lunch. The power of a tornado is terrifying, and the devastation it leaves in its wake is so saddening. I've never seen destruction like that in person and it's hard to imagine it being my life, my town, or my home in that situation.
What I found interesting on a somewhat tangential note, though, were a couple commercials that aired during my lunch break. In the first, the camera pans over a scene of destruction - a building is crumpled and torn, with personal belongings strewn randomly over the wreckage, and a family is looking at what had been their home with shock and grief. In the bottom left corner of the screen, this whole time, is the name of an insurance agency, and the commercial ends by saying that this agency is not just a company, but your friend, and will be there for you even in that kind of disaster. The second was a typical commercial for a law firm, pointing out all the opportunities you might have for a lawsuit if you had suffered in the recent storms.
Both of them made me so angry! The first made me more upset, honestly, because the second one verged on being ludicrous. But the first used and manipulated people's emotions - people who have just lived through that devastation or are in immediate fear of it happening to them - simply to gain business. These companies don't air ads just to help other people. After all, they are businesses and they need to gain a profit (I have no problem with that). However, I think they should be honest about that instead of taking advantage of people who are hurting or afraid. It seems like the ethical thing to do.
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