Thursday, March 22, 2007

6-inch heels in the garden?

Okay, so whose idea was Macy's current spring shoe sale ad?

Usually, when I watch television, it's by taping the show I want to watch, then fast-forwarding through the commercials, but last night there were two shows I really liked aired simultaneously, and, since my recording technology is 20th century, I had to watch one of the shows as it was aired... that meant seeing the commercials (fortunately, I have a "mute" button on the tv, or I'd have cried all night over my life of hardship)(or not).

So, there was this soft-focus scene of bunches of women in pretty party dresses (I think they were supposed to pass for summer shifts and the like) and wearing all sorts of different exceedingly girly shoes. There was even one shot of a foot in a sandal with stiletto heel, not too dissimilar from this one, coming down on a spade.

Uh huh.

I've done a lot of silly things in my short years as a gardener (such as bringing out my spade and my spud fork and working with them, in a rough, nail-filled garden while barefoot in blatant disregard for the risks), but I'd never be so dim as to spread manure in a pair of Manolos. And, while any girl can get dirty in a pair of Jimmy Choos, she shouldn't be heading into real dirt, unless she really doesn't give a rat's patootie about her shoes or her asters, let alone her little asterisk.

This commercial is as annoying as the one for the sleep aid with the floppy-winged luna moth and for the allergy aid with the very butch-sounding Antonio Banderas worker bee. They seem to be trying hard to sell a romantic view of their product, but all they do is demonstrate their lack of contact with greater reality.

At least the ad for another sleep aid, with Abe Lincoln and the muskrat (or is it supposed to be a beaver?), has a sense of humor about it.

But let's not get ridiculous. Get those shoes out of the garden.

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