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According to this morning’s Wall Street Journal the “number of man hours an organization devotes to winning the Super Bowl” is one million.

The number of man hours this nation spends, every week, watching tone deaf people attempt to sing is in the tens of millions.

Mindless.

And we wonder why our economy is faltering and our educational standing in the world is sinking like a stone.

                          

It’s been noted in virtually every newspaper and online resource that the American car companies are not advertising in the Super Bowl, for example, this article in the Baltimore Sun.

The argument is that it would appear tacky to spend $3 million for one thirty second ad when they just got a sweet handout from Uncle Sam.

The Kannon Fodder team thinks it is what you advertise that is tacky – not where you advertise it. Just the other night, one ot the team saw a Ford as that shouted “THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO BUY AT EMPLOYEE PRICES. PRICES WILL NEVER BE THIS LOW.”

Bull Crap. We don’t believe that, you don’t believe it, the dealers don’t believe it. No one does.

What we need now is some honesty – and some transparency. Step forward and be the first manufacturer to say:

“Please go to Consumer Reports or our own website to download the dealer invoice. You’ll see exactly the price our dealers are paying for these cars. We pledge to you that this is the lowest we can sell them for to still be able to pay back the money we borrowed from you, the tax payer.

We’ve instructed our dealers to charge you no more than $500 more than this price. If they try to play games, find a dealer who will treat you fairly.

We’re all in this together. “

That Ad would sell cars. If that ad was on the Super Bowl, and the manufacturers really followed through and stopped playing games, and the dealerships stopped doing business as usual, people might start trusting again.

Not running an ad in the most viewed event this year is just playing more games.

                          

The most meaningful ad of the day wasn’t on during the game. It was broadcast earlier in the afternoon, and was for Touch of Grey by Just For Men hair coloring. Until yesterday the tack taken on these ads had to do with sex appeal; the plot line followed a recently divorced or still on the market guy trying to impress a younger date. He was uptight about his greying temples. Enter the product. Casanova’s reborn.

Not this time, and not in this economy. Two men sitting on a couch in a reception area are both waiting for job interviews. One hopes his grey makes him look experienced, the other thinks his full head of dark hair makes him look energetic. Enter touch of grey, which provides the synthesis needed for the two men to become one, one who looks both knowledgeable and capable of going full bore all day long. At least that’s the premise the ad’s trying to communicate.

You know we’re in an economic slump when Madison Avenue deems job hunting a more effective motivator than sex appeal when promoting a product.