did anyone see a very odd ad that ran during desperate housewives sunday night?
it was only a couple of seconds, maybe three.
i was fast forwarding through the commercials, and saw a word flash on the screen.
well, two words. alcoholics anonymous. advertising on prime time abc television.
i felt disturbed. it was like someone telling me that santa claus isn’t real, or maybe love isn’t the answer to all things.
i did some research on anonymity at the media level and, i found this.
i took a picture of the television, it was difficult to pause it on the exact spot b/c it was so fast. this was it, no sound just the screen. my husband didn’t even notice it.
anonymity is a very, very important thing in the fellowship of alcoholics anonymous. in addition, the program is very much “attraction rather than promotion”. you will never have walking aa’s coming by two’s to your home trying to “witness” you.
being on tv, during desperate housewives, seems like promotion to me.
can anyone explain this to me?
April 9, 2007 at 9:30 am |
It is odd that the commercial was seconds long. Almost as to be subliminal? I found this on the aa.org site:
As our co-founder, Bill W., wrote: “Public information takes many forms – the simple sign outside a meeting place that says ‘A.A. meeting tonight’; listing in local phone directories; distribution of A.A. literature; and radio and television shows using sophisticated media techniques. Whatever the form, it comes down to ‘one drunk carrying the message to another drunk,’ whether through personal contact or through the use of third parties and the media.”
I would like to hear more from the source about it.
April 9, 2007 at 10:21 am |
scott, both the husband and i thought the subliminal thing too!!! i was like, damn if i wasn’t already a member i might think it a sign from the heavens (or the hells)…. i sent a copy of my photo to our intergroup office and to my former grand sponsor for her input.
April 9, 2007 at 11:32 am |
I didn’t even notice it! Too bad I didn’t TIVO the episode. There seems to be a lot of drinking on Desperate Housewives – and Bri went thru that alcoholic spell, so maybe they figure there is an audience for the message?
April 9, 2007 at 2:20 pm |
Since you watch DH, can you please tell me why Edie is with Carlos now? I quit watching a long time ago and accidentally caught the last two minutes last night.
P.S. I hate that your comments link is at the top of the post because then I have to scroll back up to make a comment once I finish reading the post.
April 9, 2007 at 3:06 pm |
PD (the husband) told me recently that there is way more subliminal stuff coming out over the airwaves than we realize.
April 9, 2007 at 10:46 pm |
Ha! I feel the same way PM does about the comments.
April 10, 2007 at 8:55 pm |
Very interesting. It goes against all the traditions of AA. I may refer tthis to someone who is much more capable of researching this.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
April 10, 2007 at 9:03 pm |
Actually folks, this is well within AA’s Traditions. Refer to either the Guidelines for PICPC or for General Services, if you can get a hold of one of those from GSO or your home group.
The commercial has been approved for a very long time as have letters sent to major newspapers each year.
April 11, 2007 at 7:10 am |
[...] dAAve hadn’t heard of this before I’m imagining that others haven’t also [...]
April 16, 2007 at 6:18 am |
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY UNTIL I SHOWED IT TO MY HUSBAND. WHAT HAPPENED TO AA TRADITIONS?