But it looked good in the commercial...

Shortly after my most recent blog on the romanticism of Marine experience through their television ads, I saw another commercial that seemed to be riding the romanticism bandwagon too. It was an add for Nutrisystem weight loss product. The commercial portrayed several different men and women who had supposedly used the product with success. They talked about how great and delicious the food is, and how quickly and easily you loose weight. There were pictures of all the great food you get to eat, and it even looked pretty good.

It was clear that the ad was romanticizing the Nutrisystem product. It was making it seem easy, quick and even delicious; three words that usually are not characteristic of a weight loss program. I learned how untrue all of this was when my own parents started to use the product. They eat it every day, for every meal, and according to them: it sucks. The food looks absolutely terrible, and judging from my Dad's cringing face after he eats it, it really is awful. I took it upon myself to try it, just for fun. I thought maybe a Nutrisystem chocolate chip cookie could be decent....wrong. As I threw half eaten cookie into the garbage can, I thought back to the commercial. No wonder it contained so much blatant romanticism. Without it, my parents and many like them would not be forcing down tiny, flavorless microwaveable meals every day.

The romanticism of the few and the proud

We've all seen it. You know, that one commercial where the guy is climbing that mountain with his bare hands. There is really beautiful, inspirational music playing in the background. And there is some low voice using fluffy words to describe how heroic and awesome this guy is. But honestly, the end is the best. This guy, all dressed up looking spiffy in his marines uniform, reaches the top of the mountain. His uniform is in perfect condition, his face is stern, and he didn't even break a sweat. And then comes the punchline: "The few, the proud, the MARINES!"

When we were assigned to blog about something that we, as Americans, romanticize, I could think of nothing better than the glory of joining the armed forces. The commercial I just described isn't the only one. They have them for every group there is: the Army, the Navy and even the National Guard. Every commercial portrays people from these groups in a heroic manner. The Marines one is definitely the most extravagant one I've seen to date. 

Honestly, I think they are just ridiculous. It is fair to assume that at no point during your service in the Marines will you climb a mountain with your bare hands. And if you did, you know you would be on your knees crying and bleeding and wishing you were home. Unfortunately for the Marines, a commercial depicting what actually goes on would not bring in as many soldiers as they desire. This leaves it up to them to romanticize the Marine experience to the point where it has become completely unrealistic. The saddest part is that sometimes these commercials actually convince people that joining the Marines is a super heroic thing to do. I beg to differ.

I really wish I could find a video of this, but I was unlucky in my search. Keep your eyes peeled for it to pop up on T.V. again.