Ads.

We don't watch very much TV at the apartment, maybe the evening news, an occasional movie, and our soaps when we remember (I am kind of interested in a new comedy Almacen however), but when we watch TV it's not the shows that get me. It's the ads.

In the U.S. commercials cast those who use their products as cool or more attractive. They appeal to the individual. You will be better off if you buy this, they say. As someone who's given up on being cool a long time ago, I don't find them very effective (except that I guess I think about the products advertised more then the ones that aren't).

Here however it's not about looking cool, it's about doing what's best for your family. You as an individual won't just be happier, this Coca Cola/Pampers/Activia/whatever will make your entire family better off, it will bring communities and neighbors together, these commercials say. In this way it's both more effective, and it feels a little more sinister. You'll buy this if you love your family, and if not .. well ... you must not love them that much.

I found myself getting choked up over an Activia commercial the other day. How a yogurt that helps with digestion was cast as a means of bringing the family together, I can't really say.

Perfect example of this pasted below.  A yogurt commercial that both plays on crucial role the family plays in Chile, but also on the nostalgia many people have for the pastoral south of Chile, where many people still have family.

Lauren