"We think this new gadget is a great thing, however, if it doesn't work out for you, just break it up and toss it into the fire".
Frank Tuttle Talks TVs
Today I would like to discuss the concept of advertising new televisions on television. Really, if I need a new TV, showing me how good yours looks on my old obviously inadequate one is really not doing you any favours. And if it does look good, isn't that just going to reinforce the idea that maybe my existing TV is not that bad after all? It's a tricky situation.
Maybe audio quality is the best way to sell a TV? If you sound impressive when you talk about the new television in that deep announcer style voice it may not improve what the viewer is watching, but perhaps it would make them feel warm and comfortable somewhere inside. Deep voices can be like that. I had a teacher at boarding school with a deep voice, but I don't think he had a TV of any kind. Certainly any modern concept expressed in the twentieth century seemed to have eluded him, so I can only think he was missing the vital stimulus provided by this modern communication marvel.
Perhaps like many of us, he was yearning for a return to the days when the family used to gather at the end of the day around the fire place and have a good old natter about the various activities that one had been involved in that day. The TV manufacturers themselves must have recognised how much of a cultural incision they were making into the fabric of our way of life with the introduction of the earliest television sets - hence the timber cabinets. A subtle "tip of the hat" if you will to suggest "We think this new gadget is a great thing, however, if it doesn't work out for you, just break it up and toss it into the fire".
With those wonderful timber veneer finishes that would ultimately replace their somewhat more handcrafted ancestors, we started to see a less than subtle shift in the meaning of the "family unit". But don't get me wrong, I like Elvis and think he did wonderful things for the medium of television long before we stopped trying to adjust the horizontal hold as it seemed his body was being shaken violently from side to side.
So with the advent of yet more marvellous technological advancements in the medium of television production; widescreen, digital, reality - I have excluded the concept of "surround sound" here because the last time I checked it was not possible to purchase a TV the shape of a doughnut, so the concept of the television itself surrounding you seems a little far off yet - it would seem I'm going to be watching ads for televisions on my current TV for some time to come. Now if I could just find my roaring fire DVD...
Submitted by Frank on June 28, 2005.
