A "Commercial" Kind of Guy

Trey Smith

Okay, I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for creative TV commercials. Often, the commercials are better thought out and written than the programs they bracket.

But here's the thing that might separate me from the average person. I can enjoy the creativeness of the ad WITHOUT being sucked in by the manipulative message. I may loathe the corporation and/or the product or service being hawked, yet still tip my hat to the production of the advertisement itself.

For example, I really like the operatic theme of the commercials for J. G. Wentworth (one is featured below). I think it is very entertaining and innovative. It certainly tends to stick in one's head. However, while I like these sorts of ads, I deplore the service being offered.

In a recent column -- this wasn't the main focus of it -- Matt Taibbi has this to say about J. G. Wentworth:

You’ve seen the commercials, of course, where a bunch of cheery-looking opera singers in Wagnerian costumes generously offer to give you money up front for your accident settlement, your annuity, even your lottery winnings.

Of course what they don’t tell you in those commercials is that you’re only getting pennies on the dollar in those deals. Companies like J.G. Wentworth feast upon the financial anxiety/desperation of middle America, where most people can’t wait to collect the whole $100,000 they won in court after losing an eye at work, and will settle for $20,000 they can use to pay the rent (or, more often, the doctor or the pharmacist) this week. Money is so tight out there that people will take a bad deal, even a draconian deal, just to make it to next week, especially when the idea is getting rammed into their heads in high-production-value commercials during football games and American Idol broadcasts five hundred times a week.

I couldn't agree more. The service Wentworth offers is slimy, but they make great TV commercials!