The Walking Talking American Billboard

I'm beginning 2009 with a rant and I'll try to keep it relevant in the present tense. Maybe I should say pretense in societal changes in the past 60 years. I was born in 1952 of course looked like a Butterball turkey. Don't worry, I'm not after turkey jokes, but wish by only one word to show societal change. The word is Butterball. I'm sure it's a fine company, but I doubt anyone in the 1920's would have used a company name to describe anything. Many company words have become part of American speech. Words like Kleenex and a host of other such company words, my mind refuses to identify, are now listed in good dictionaries. Corporate speak has not only entered our language, but has taken control! The most effective agent is the oozing light from your TV set.

I told my mom I wanted some T-shirts. Yes, I do want to have that Michael Jordan look. Just look at my icon. See the similarities? Great thing us all having our independent opinion. Who would give up such a right? Well, Ms Madison Avenue, I have news for you, but I'll save such truths. Here's a hint, the word is fashion. We certainly don't want to look out of step by wearing a wide tie while narrow ties are all the rage and certainly do not cover much, if that's all you wear. Just think of the mini-skirt craze where, if looking below the neck, more than the mini-skirt was showing. Of course, this means you could tell what kind of hair removal product she used (upon close inspection.). Fashion mags and dare not wear TV shows target mostly women, telling them how they should look.

A few years ago I went to the store to buy a T-shirt. I just wanted simple white with a front pocket. When I asked the teenaged clerk to direct me to such shirts, she looked at me like I was two sheets short of the wind. (At least that's what I thought she was thinking.). So, woe is me went home with nothing under my buttoned down shirt. I grumbled to my mom, 'I'm not a walking billboard.' Every T-shirt I looked at had some company logo or label and some were downright exclusive. People respect an expensive T-shirt I guess, but to tell the truth I'm not fond of alligators and doubt I'll ever play polo. Yesterday, the founder of NIKE was shown during a football game. Actually the camera stayed on his face for about one minute. Never once did the camera show his feet.

The shift of our society into thinking, breathing, wearing and speaking commercialism is quite a shift, even in my lifetime. It has been hedonism gone wild as our culture is filled with walking billboard signs. The more expensive an item is, the more likely there will be a prominent display on it to tell you it's expensive. Even our most precious disperser of mindless entertainment, namely sports, now have stadiums with corporate names. I'm not anti-business or anti-fashion. It's obvious both business and fashion have helped build our society in some positive ways, but I having writer's block trying to think of any. Look at the names of football bowls and I just feel crass commercialism has given us a dose of crabgrass, a compound word. Business is the USA because almost everything, including citizens of every age, are walking billboards. I sometimes wonder if an ad will someday be placed on our flag.