Beyond becoming more youthful, the messages indicate we must also worry about embarrassing ourselves and our loved ones as we squint, hunch, hunker, sneeze, chew, wet and waddle through life. One recent senior slice of life features a clean-cut grandfather and grandson at the circus. Grandfather looks pained and begins complaining about having to visit the bathroom 12 times a day. The high-wire act and other excitement swirls around them. So he has to leave the circus in mid-performance to avoid embarrassment, taking along his grandson, who is traumatized for life because his grandfather likes to hang out in restrooms.
Some slices go to the extreme to ballyhoo product durability and utility.
There s a spot with a 60ish lady cowpoke who is no kidding getting ready to herd cattle. She won t have proximity to appropriate facilities and thus below the waist must wear more than jeans and chaps. The commercial cuts to a description of the product. She smiles, puts on her Stetson and rides happily through a cloud of dust chasing a few cattle. Television commercials also alert us to dangers we never knew we faced.