September 10: Gushers Gone Wild

Disturbing. That's the only word I can think of to describe the Fruit Gushers commercial I saw on Nickelodeon this evening while watching "iCarly" with the kids. I'd never seen anything like it on, what is promoted as, a children's television station. It was even more disturbing to learn my kids had already seen this commercial more than once before. For those of you unfamiliar with the product, Fruit Gushers are a fruit snack made by Betty Crocker (or General Mills) that contain liquid inside the gelatinous skin that "gushes" out when bitten into. The commercial in question tells the story of Todd, a popular Jr.-high student who was born with a gusher in place of one of his eyes. Thus, he is able to provide his friends and fellow students with a quick "gusher"treat simply by spraying it in their direction via his "gusher eye". The whole concept is, well, gross to be blunt about it. And, being a former employee of the advertising business, I have a real hard time finding the connection between the product and the commercial. Judge for yourself by watching the commercial here, but I'm just not seeing it, sorry. If you have a different perspective, and you want more gushing, check out the website they've set up to support the TV ads. Whether I agree with it or not, I guess I'm the sucker here, as the commercial obviously triggered some emotion in me, and now I'm talking about it to all of you. Even pointing you out to the website. Just goes to prove that effective advertising doesn't necessarily have to be good advertising.