Awwww! They have the cutest little girl walking all around a candy shop, eyeing all the yummy candy and looking like she's in heaven, and then a guy behind the counter in a chef's hat (I think) gives her a little piece of candy, and it's a Werther's Original, and she puts it in her mouth and smiles, and then she turns into an adult young woman, and she says it makes her feel like a special person, or some such thing, whenever she eats a Werther's Original caramel candy. Wow, this ad is so heart-meltingly sweet! The little girl looks like an angel, and then the adult version of her really does look like the same person, but as an adult, and she's gorgeous, and the whole scenario is bathed in a soft golden light, and it just feels so sweet (which is very appropriate for a candy commercial) and warm! So this is a great ad, except for one thing.
Hey, the government has been telling us for the past few years how candy is so bad for us, so we can all tell this commercial is shameless propaganda aimed at victimizing our children! They're trying to addict them to sugar with these devilishly tempting ads, and they'll all become obese and die of diabetes! So sayeth the Democratic party! So buy their sweets, if you must, but know this: humanity will be destroyed by the sickening sweetness of corruption from candy, and you're contributing to the problem when you let your children enjoy the sinfulness that is candy! Shame on you, you child-abuser!
Actually, I completely disagree with the government and the health nuts on this stuff. I say: everything in moderation! Candy is sweet, and as such it can make life sweet too. It can be a reward for doing homework, or performing well in school, or after a doctor visit, etc. Just don't let kids stuff their faces with it all the time. The so-called obesity epidemic is not caused by junk food, or candy, or McDonald's: we had all the same stuff when I was a kid, and I ate plenty of all of that, and so did all of my friends and classmates, and we weren't fat at all! (There was like maybe one fat kid in every class, but they were just genetically inclined to be heavier kids: that's all.) The difference is, we had something kids today don't have: exercise! There were no video games yet (at least, not any good ones for home use yet), and there was no "stranger danger", so we all ran around outdoors unsupervised. We climbed trees, played games, and were running around racing each other constantly. Plus, we had something at school that has since become extinct called: "Phys. Ed.", which was where we played sports-style games and got lots of exercise then, just in case we weren't getting enough on our own time. Kids today don't get any exercise, and that's why there is an obesity epidemic. Do a study with kids that run around a lot and play sports at school vs. kids who sit around and watch TV and play computer games all day long: feed them the same exact food, and then see what they look like after one year. If I'm wrong, I'll eat a tofu hat (even a 10-gallon tofu cowboy hat that's filled with bean sprouts)!
This is not the ad I'm talking about, but it's almost identical. This one was made for English audiences, and this was obviously the inspiration for the one I just saw on American TV. But this American one had just the exactly perfect casting of the little girl and her adult version to make my heart melt and give me cute overload. And I'll bet I'm but one out of everyone who feels this way after seeing this commercial. It's really wonderful!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdALvpWkbg0
It's funny, because I wrote a piece about an Almond Joy ad, where I suggested using candy as a way to bring back feelings of childhood to an adult, and that I thought that would be a good strategy to try to advertise candy to adults with. And I hadn't seen this ad, and I doubt they read my post, either. But this ad uses this same strategy, only it really just tacks it on at the end after a wonderfully nostalgic and emotional scene with the girl in the candy store, so it's doubly effective. Anyway, here's the post I'm talking about (this point is made in the third paragraph):
http://unconditionedresponse.blogspot.com/2011/08/almond-joy-unwrap-paradise-ad.html
