Top Gear, X-Factor, Match of the Day, Dexter, Battlestar Galactica (the new one), The Wire, Have I got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Question Time.I don't consider that I watch a great deal of television, but this is an instant, immediate, straight off the top of my head, snapshot-list of TV programs I do watch regularly.
All in all I would feel reasonably ok to share this list with people.
Depending on the recipient I might feel a need to substitute the X-Factor for a worthwhile documentary series on Hungarian politics in the 1800s and perhaps add a few natural history programs to the list but generally I feel relaxed about this list.
Why would I feel otherwise? Why would I concern myself with what this list says about me?
Consider then for a second, for example, if I had said:
Eastenders, Coronation Street, Pets/Humans/Vegetables/(insert anything) do the Funniest Things, Rogue Builders/Plumbers/(insert any profession), X-Factor, Britain’s got Talent, Stop! Camera! Action!, What Katie did next, Paris Hilton BFF.
Would your perception of me change for the better, the worse, or not change at all?
Of course it would change.
I will admit that whilst typing the list I felt slightly uncomfortable and there was a definite hesitation in owning up to Battlestar. I felt a real need to caveat it with the brackets to confirm that I am not some fanatic for cheap, crappy, 70s Sci-Fi TV. Just for the record, nor do I collect comics, antique toys or speak Klingon.
The word vulva still makes me laugh though.
What we watch on TV is like the clothing we wear, the music we listen to, the cars we drive even the food & drink we consume.
I see young men standing in bars drinking bottles of Budweiser or Miller and cannot, cannot, believe for an instant they are enjoying their crisp refreshing beer. They do look like Tom Cruise though and this more than compensates for a beer totally devoid of any taste.
Perception is everything.
When I buy a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, I am not buying a polo shirt, I am buying into the lifestyle of a cool, rich, professional man. Is there any value in me having the Polo Shirt and wearing it around the house? No of course not.
I put these items aside, only to be worn when others can see me wearing them, dossing around the house I will wear anything, or nothing, does it really matter?
I drive an Audi, same as a VW but more expensive. Why? Because in an Audi A6 I am the serious finance professional, in a VW I am simply someone who cannot afford an Audi.
It’s simply good marketing and image creation. We all, myself included, are happy to pay a premium for it.
We all aspire to be that man sipping espresso on his city apartment balcony. Its Sunday morning, “lovely day” is playing on the radio, a tousled haired beauty brushes past him, kisses him on the cheek and, with a wink, reminds him of his prowess the night before. The newspaper, the coffee, the radio station, whatever the product being plugged, is enough to keep him for rejoining her in the bedroom. We all want that product, not because it’s better than sex with a tousled haired beauty but because it will give us his life. Or at least the coffee, newspaper, radio piece of it.
The critical difference here is that TV is not a social activity.
I have never seen the television being the center of a social gathering.
What we watch on TV is like the clothing we wear, the music we listen to, the cars we drive even the food & drink we consume.
I see young men standing in bars drinking bottles of Budweiser or Miller and cannot, cannot, believe for an instant they are enjoying their crisp refreshing beer. They do look like Tom Cruise though and this more than compensates for a beer totally devoid of any taste.
Perception is everything.
When I buy a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, I am not buying a polo shirt, I am buying into the lifestyle of a cool, rich, professional man. Is there any value in me having the Polo Shirt and wearing it around the house? No of course not.
I put these items aside, only to be worn when others can see me wearing them, dossing around the house I will wear anything, or nothing, does it really matter?
I drive an Audi, same as a VW but more expensive. Why? Because in an Audi A6 I am the serious finance professional, in a VW I am simply someone who cannot afford an Audi.
It’s simply good marketing and image creation. We all, myself included, are happy to pay a premium for it.
We all aspire to be that man sipping espresso on his city apartment balcony. Its Sunday morning, “lovely day” is playing on the radio, a tousled haired beauty brushes past him, kisses him on the cheek and, with a wink, reminds him of his prowess the night before. The newspaper, the coffee, the radio station, whatever the product being plugged, is enough to keep him for rejoining her in the bedroom. We all want that product, not because it’s better than sex with a tousled haired beauty but because it will give us his life. Or at least the coffee, newspaper, radio piece of it.
The critical difference here is that TV is not a social activity.
I have never seen the television being the center of a social gathering.
I exclude sport here because:
- It doesn’t fit in with my train of thought
- I enjoy watching sport in the company of others
- It’s my posting.
Generally speaking though it’s a solitary activity. With or without company the activity is the same. If I watch Emmerdale Farm or Question Time the world’s perception of me will not change because the world doesn't know and I am certainly not going to tell them.
I can safely tune in to Paris Hilton air-heading her way around brain dead world and still be a serious finance professional in the morning. The main difference between what I watch on TV and the clothes I wear outside the house is people can see my polo shirt. If everyone could see me watching Paris, I wouldn't watch her and that's probably why she is not on my list.
Marketing television must be a breeze, a bit like marketing masturbation.
Just do it - no one needs to know.
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