so i'm actually old enough to remember a time when prescription medicine wasn't advertised on television in hopes that you'll take your desire for the new anti-depressant/statin/bp lowering med to your doctor. apparently this trend causes some confusion among the younger generation, as i learned while watching a valtrex commercial with my step-sister:
her: so do you think these people actually have genital herpes?
me: um, no. they're actors.
her. really?
me: yeah, they're getting paid to talk about it so more people take this medicine.
her: huh.
what followed this exchange was an even more ridiculous conversation about exactly which types of herpes it's ok to make fun of people for having between her and her brother (answer=none), but it left me feeling slightly disturbed that a 13 year old girl might think that all of the people shilling meds, or anything for that matter, on t.v. might really believe the things they're saying and not just be paid actors. i'm not sure if it says something about her age, personal naiveté, or complete lifetime immersion in advertising, but it does seem slightly problematic that kids don't even take commercials with a grain of salt. not giving me a heck of a lot of hope for questioning the media/government/etc as they get older.
generation sheep? i sure hope not. maybe we need to expose them to the power of nancy pelosi's womb.
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