I’m so glad I didn’t have a phone within reach in the early hours of this morning.
I’ve talked before about my duodenitis. It’s a stomach pain that wakes me up sometimes during the night. It’s pretty much under control with medication but every now and then it decides to break through and remind me why I need to keep taking that tiny yellow tablet at dinner time every day. Last night, or should I say early this morning, it savagely attacked for the first time in months. When it happens I have to get out of bed and sit up somewhere until the excruciating belly pain subsides. That normally takes a few hours.
Anyway, back to what I wanted to talk about.
After sitting at my computer, making little sense of anything for a while, I decided to see what was on television. Do you know what’s on TV at 3:30 in the morning? Advertisements. Very long advertisements. They almost look like programmes, and last just as long, but basically they’re trying to sell you stuff. Face creams, exercise equipment, ladders, whatever they think you might need at that time of day.
This morning they were selling DVDs. But these weren’t just any DVDs, it was the Midnight Special Collection, available for the first time in Australia. This collection contains live performances on The Midnight Special television show back from the seventies. For the introductory price of just $19.95 I could have the first of the DVDs and a little booklet. They told me again and again about all the wonderful performances I’d see by people like Ray Charles, Blondie, David Bowie, Elton John, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin and so many more.
At that time of the day I NEEDED to get that DVD set. My life would not be complete without it. Sure, the first one at the introductory price of $19.95 would only be the first of many DVDs and the rest would cost much more, though they weren’t telling me how much more, but my life would be complete with those DVDs.
A few hours later, once the pain had eventually subsided, I was able to head back to bed and get a couple more hours sleep.
Strangely enough, when I woke this morning my life was no longer incomplete without the Midnight Special Collection. I’m sure I’d enjoy watching some of those performances if I had the opportunity but I’m not fussed in the slightest by the fact that it’s unlikely to happen. There are so many things that I’d prefer than spending money that I don’t have on that collection.
So there it is. That’s how those people operate. They make sure that you’re beyond tired and then they make their product seem like it’s something that you can’t do without. Sitting in front of the television at 3:30 in the morning in desperate need of sleep and wracked with pain, I almost believed them.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Midnight Special – Duodenitis – Advertisements
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