Tales of the Easily Annoyed - XXI
Texas has abandoned any moral authority on the issue of gambling by instituting endless varieties of state lotteries. Scratch cards, Pick 3, Pick 6, Powerballs, we got ‘em. But Texans have figured out that the odds suck (the legislature has been cutting the payouts to squeeze a few more bucks out of it) and it’s really not much more than a Stupid Tax.
So, the Texas Lottery buys ad time to convince people they’re not really pissing their money away by handing it to them. Here’s the latest campaign:
Ad 1: A dressmaker is fitting a bride for her wedding gown. She sees NUMBERS on the measuring tape she’s using, so she immediately stops working and leaves so she can play these numbers in the Texas Lottery. We then see the bride with her half-assed dress at the altar. This is, I think, supposed to be funny.
Ad 2: Two movers are carrying a grandfather clock out of a truck. One mover sees the house NUMBERS painted on the curb, so he drops the clock and leaves to play these numbers in the Texas Lottery. We then see the other mover still holding his end of the clock, while the other half rests on the ground. This final shot also appears to have been intended to amuse us.
These two ads lead me to the conclusion that every large organization needs to create a new position of authority: The Bullshit Detecting Officer, or “BDO.” Business schools can offer MBAs in this bold new area, requiring aspiring BDOs to take courses in areas such as logic, pop culture, and symbolism. The BDO will be answerable only to the highest members of the organization and will have the power to immediately stop the organization from doing something really obviously stupid.
Like, for instance, approving an ad campaign based on positive depictions of people abandoning their responsibilities to go gamble.
