Moral lessons in the media
Ok, probably plenty of people are going to say I'm taking things too literally and getting worked up about nothing but I have to comment on something I've noticed. There's a McDonalds commercial where a girl is in line ordering and a guy next to her mentions it's his birthday so she says she'll pay for his meal. Then another guy says it's his birthday, too, and he and a few other people in line met through a birthday club. A lady in line is about to bust them but then joins in saying it's her birthday as well so Ms. Clueless buys lunch for all of them. Is it any wonder that kids today have lax moral codes? They're shown in movies, tv, and even in commercials that you are rewarded for lying and pulling a scam and you're an idiot if you do nice things for people. Seriously, who do you think your kid is going to emulate in a real life situation like that--the bubblehead who believes it just "happens" to be everyone's birthday and is oblivious to the scammers high-fiving each other behind her back or the cool kids who get a free lunch by lying to a gullible, well-meaning benefactor? Yeah, commercials are to sell a product, get the company name noticed, etc but I wish they could do so in a way that rewarded people for showing good values, not made them out to be the village idiot. How about if they left the commercial as being about a group from a birthday club that met a girl there who heard they were celebrating as a club, paid for their meal, and then joined them to enjoy their lunch at McDonalds? Probably some executive would shoot down that commercial idea because it's unrealistic. :roll: What a shame.
Ok, probably plenty of people are going to say I'm taking things too literally and getting worked up about nothing but I have to comment on something I've noticed. There's a McDonalds commercial where a girl is in line ordering and a guy next to her mentions it's his birthday so she says she'll pay for his meal. Then another guy says it's his birthday, too, and he and a few other people in line met through a birthday club. A lady in line is about to bust them but then joins in saying it's her birthday as well so Ms. Clueless buys lunch for all of them. Is it any wonder that kids today have lax moral codes? They're shown in movies, tv, and even in commercials that you are rewarded for lying and pulling a scam and you're an idiot if you do nice things for people. Seriously, who do you think your kid is going to emulate in a real life situation like that--the bubblehead who believes it just "happens" to be everyone's birthday and is oblivious to the scammers high-fiving each other behind her back or the cool kids who get a free lunch by lying to a gullible, well-meaning benefactor? Yeah, commercials are to sell a product, get the company name noticed, etc but I wish they could do so in a way that rewarded people for showing good values, not made them out to be the village idiot. How about if they left the commercial as being about a group from a birthday club that met a girl there who heard they were celebrating as a club, paid for their meal, and then joined them to enjoy their lunch at McDonalds? Probably some executive would shoot down that commercial idea because it's unrealistic. :roll: What a shame.