Truth in Advertising
Of course, I am watching Ken Burn’s masterful history of “The War.” I am grateful that the series is being broadcast on Public Television. HBO would have felt obliged to include nude scenes of General Eisenhower and Kay Summersby. (Showtime would have similar scenes with Erwin Rommel and Eva Braun!). The History Channel would be G-rated but with an obscene number of commercial interruptions…”Cialis, when the moment is right for an invasion” or “Ragu Pasta Sauce: our food is better than our army“.
Yet, “The War” does have subliminal advertising:
“Pearl Harbor: Brought to you by Mitsubishi.”
“Mercedes-Benz: If you like our autos, you’ll love our cattle cars.”
You can see why General Motors sponsored the series. Furthermore, the company gets conspicuous product placement: If a GM tank is good enough for George Patton….