Favorite "Entitlement Commercial"

A woman in a designer suit sits at a desk, looking haggard as she rifles through reams of papers stacked around her. We learn that they are her credit card bills when an aggressive man's voice demands, "Do you have credit card debt?" The woman nods her head and blows air out the side of her mouth. He continues, "You have the right to settle that debt for a fraction of what you owe!" She smiles and nods her head like an idiot. A large 1-800 number is stamped at the bottom of the screen, and all our dreams come true.

For real? It was so asinine I though it was a joke. Nope. Apparently it is obvious that this poor woman is a victim of circumstance who was forced into this predicament and, darn it, these folks are here to bail her out. (We've been hearing that one ad nauseam, have we not?)

My sister Miriam named this post when she saw me go berserk at the commercial and laughingly suggested that this may be her favorite "entitlement commercial" yet. Maybe I'm too touchy, but I am morally opposed to most of the commercials on TV (let alone the shows, but those I can control). I'm offended at the gigantic deficit of common sense and dignity it is assumed I have in order to consider these ads. Equally as alarming is the idea that they wouldn't use the approach if it wasn't effective! Now, the Titan Peeler, I get that. But this?

Like the one for a local attorneys office: A poor crippled toddler confined to a wheel chair is flashed onto the screen (melancholy music playing), in the background healthy children are playing on a swing set. Suddenly a corpulent filcher in pinstripes leans on his walnut desk and says, "Do you have a loved one that was born with cerebral palsy? Get compensation for the mistakes your doctor made which caused this irreversible condition... Call us now at 1-800-U R DUMB IF U FALL FOR THIS AD..." Now I know why my husband's malpractice insurance costs as much as our house. You never know when someone somewhere might lose a tooth...

Whew. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.