The hilariousness of American advertising....

We have spent five lovely days in Asheville, 

North Carolina staying with some very hospitable 

Enjoying the Blue Ridge Parkway with our friends the Pressons

friends of the family. Asheville is a beautiful, green city, full of life, wonderful food and a whole bunch of hippies. We loved it! Our time there coincided with a monumental stage of our USA trip: Driving. And with driving comes the radio. And with the radio comes American advertisements.

Our favourites can be broadly classified into two categories:

1)    The merely ridiculous

2)    The ones with ridiculously far too much information.

First, the merely ridiculous. They produce the  

Beautiful Waterfall we hiked to

same reaction you sometimes have when someone (probably your dad) tells a bad joke that needs to be followed by an audible groan. These adverts bear a strong resemblance to such jokes. Example:

Mom: “Greg, time to change out of your pyjama pants”

Greg: “But I don’t want to!”

Mom: “But you’ve been wearing them for three weeks now”

Greg: “But Mom, that’s not fair; you never have to change your internet bundle!”

Groooooan.

Then come the second category - the ones with ridiculously far too much information. These ads are mostly for medical products, and it is not uncommon for them to have a health disclaimer that is longer than the ad itself. Please, for authenticity purposes, try and read this ad out loud, as fast as you possibly can.

“Do you suffer from insomnia? Do you work shifts? Do you sometimes lie in bed and wonder why you can’t fall asleep? You could benefit from the drug Xeronox. Proven in preliminary trials to help with sleeplessness.

Xeronox may result in elevated blood pressure, severe sexual dysfunction, fainting, burning discharges, heart murmurs, chest pain, anxiety, listlessness, depression and sleeplessness."

(That last part is my all-time favourite, bearing in mind what this drug is meant to treat)

"Xeronox is not suitable for all individuals. Any individual with a history of chest pain, heart problems, lung problems, drug use, degenerative conditions such as arthritis, recent history of brain injury, headaches or occasionally susceptibility to the common cold, should contact their doctor before taking Xeronox. Available at your local pharmacy.”

Irresistible! Form an orderly cue behind the man with the burning discharge.

As you can probably imagine, the ads here are keeping us very entertained. For the record, the driving is going well. We are yet to auto-correct and veer to the left. Long may the safe driving and advertising overshare continue!

An incredible drumming display that happens each Friday night in Asheville. We also posted a video of it on facebook if you are keen to check it out: 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?

v=10150847368157144&set=vb.584622143&type=2&theater