Missing the Target

For the past several weeks, my husband and I have been watching a television series called Person of Interest, which is, according to Wikipedia, “an American science fiction crime drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2011, to June 21, 2016, with its five seasons consisting of 103 episodes.” We’ve just finished the second season (45 total episodes) and are still intrigued. The premise is definitely science-fictiony, and there’s a good bit of violence, though mostly bad guys trying to thwart the good guys and being thwarted instead.

We’re watching the series on Freevee, a FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channel owned by Amazon, so of course there are commercials. My husband and I are in our late 70s, with grown children who have long since flown the nest and no pets. We own our home and two relatively ancient cars (one of which we hardly use, so we are not in the market for new ones), are in rude good health and pretty good shape. We have the insurance we need and are pretty settled in our habits, so we’re not especially good targets for any kind of advertising. My husband is so oblivious to commercials that it is pointless to comment on one that we’ve supposedly both just viewed, but I have been noticing the commercials in this particular program and trying to figure out the target demographic.

Judging from the number of Huggies commercials (“We got you, baby!”), the target market is a young couple with very young children. The husband is in the market for a new pickup (Chevy Silverado), and the wife might be interested in a Kia or Acura or—if she’s in it for the thrill, a Nissan. They have a dog, which they may feed traditional Purina Dog Chow, but if they’re a little more upmarket, they may be tempted by Blue Buffalo or The Farmer’s Dog, both of which promise to be more healthful. The Farmer’s Dog, which delivers “Human-grade meat and veggies in simple recipes, made for dogs,” is new on the market, I suspect, hence the avalanche of commercials—two or three in every episode.

This young couple are health-conscious for themselves as well. No generic vitamins for them: they will seek out “natural” supplements from Garden of Life, Life Extension, Mary Ruth’s Organics, or Nature’s Way. And they may buy baby and beauty products from The Honest Company. When they cook, they will want the exotic Asian ingredients offered by Himalayan Chef, and when they cook out, they may be interested in McCormick’s Grill Mates barbecue seasoning. If all else fails, they will “turn ‘nothing’ into ‘something’” using Hellman’s or Best Foods mayonnaise. They’ll finish off their meal with gelato from Talenti.

If this young couple have a preteen daughter, they may be susceptible to Dove’s plugs for its Self-esteem Project (Real Cost of Beauty), but they themselves are not immune to suggestions that they can improve their lives by becoming a “wanted man” (wearing Azzaro’s Wanted Eau de Parfum) or fighting acne with CeraVe. And, though they are still young, they are concerned about preserving their looks. A good start is sunscreen, though probably they don’t have to spend the big bucks demanded for La Roche Posay Anthelios Ultra Light Sunscreen SPF 60. La Roche, by the way, makes the most of its 15 seconds by using a fast talker. If the wife has had difficulty finding a foundation to match her skin tone, she may be interested in L’Oréal True Match foundation, which offers 47 shades, but if she is concerned about preserving youthful skin, she may be tempted by Cover Girl Simply Ageless Wrinkle-Defying Foundation, or, if it’s too late to defy wrinkles, she can alleviate them with Vichy Minéral 89 Hyaluronic Serum, a treatment that amusingly describes itself as being “For you, him, her, they [sic]—for all.” Let’s not forget hair care, either. For that there is Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate.

Some of the commercials do seem targeted to older adults: Viking Cruises appeal mostly to retirees, for example. Other travel-related commercials are for Booking.com and Airbnb. And the commercials for Advil Dual Action (a combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen) do feature older adults who have overdone some sport or exercise. Tums are probably also more often used by older adults, but Ensure Max Protein may be an outlier: more and more younger people are starting to look for high-protein supplements—perhaps not as lowbrow as Ensure, however.

Some commercials do appeal to a wider audience. In addition to Liberty Mutual and Allstate, insurance is represented by GEICO, which plugs both motorcycle insurance and RV insurance. A new Star Trek movie and a new season of Outlander on STARZ are good news for many.

Perhaps the most universal commercials are for beverages and candy. Our putative young couple apparently don’t drink beer, but they’re suckers for Vitamin Water, SmartWater, and Simply juices and mixers. I learned that all of these are Coca-Cola products, though there were no Coke commercials when I watched.

The most astounding commercials, however, were for two Hershey products: KitKat and Reese’s. While my back was turned, these have exploded. The Reese’s product page lists 247 products. When I last looked, there were Reese’s peanut butter cups and Reese’s Pieces; now there are myriad varieties of size, packaging, seasonal variations (Easter eggs and bunnies, pink hearts, snowmen and Santas) and spinoffs such as frozen treats. The traditional peanut butter cups come in thin, miniature, and king-sized variants, as well as “chocolate lovers” and “creamy” options. And there are actual jars of Reese’s brand peanut butter! The two products being advertised on Person of Interest were Reese’s Big Cups and Take 5. Hershey’s site also lists 83 KitKat products. Again there are many variations of flavor, size, and packaging. But what struck me about the commercial was that the tagline has changed to “Have a break. Have a KitKat.” I miss the old jingle “Gimme a break! Gimme a break! Break me off a piece of that KitKat bar!” It turns out that jingle was actually never supposed to be used—bet you didn’t know that!