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Wrightsville Beach
Thursday, March 28, 2024

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By Simon Gonzalez

Ralphie has worked for months to earn his prize. He’s had to drink gallons of hot chocolate, and collect dozens of labels, but finally his Orphan Annie Secret Society decoder pin has arrived!

Now that he’s a member of the secret circle, he anxiously listens to the next Orphan Annie radio program, ready to decipher the cryptic message from Annie herself. He uses his pin and cracks the code. He laboriously writes it out, letter by letter, and at last the secret message is revealed: Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.

“Ovaltine?” Ralphie says in disgust. “A crummy commercial? Son of a gun!”

Ralphie, of course, is the protagonist of the iconic 1983 movie “A Christmas Story.” But while the decoder scene is fictional, it’s an apt commentary on today’s society. We feel your pain, Ralphie. Sometimes, it seems like the whole world has become nothing but a crummy commercial.

Last week, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen voted to allow sponsorships of eight new lifeguard stands. At the cost of $3,500, sponsors will receive a 12-inch by 18-inch sign on the stand.

If all eight are sponsored, the revenue will pay for most of the cost of the new stands. And that’s a good thing. It’s possible that at least some of the signs will be purchased in honor or memory of someone, another good thing. But it’s also a reminder that it’s hard to escape commercialization, even when spending a relaxing day at the beach.

Advertising is everywhere. The new app launched in New Hanover County Schools this year as a communication method for parents, students and teachers includes ads. The Wave Transit buses that transport UNCW students to campus are rolling billboards.

In our capitalistic society, there’s nothing evil about advertising. Producers and vendors present information about their goods to consumers to help us make informed decisions about our purchases. They tell us about sales, and otherwise entice us to buy their wares.

There is an implicit contract between advertisers and consumers when it comes to certain media. When you read this newspaper, or our sister publication, Wrightsville Beach Magazine, you know you will see ads in print and online. We trust you will find products and services you are interested in. Likewise, we expect to watch commercials when we watch TV. Youtube, not so much.

But it becomes obnoxious when it’s ubiquitous.

Studies have shown that people living in urban areas are exposed to about 5,000 ads each day.

Go to a movie, plunk down $10 and up for a ticket, and what do you see before the previews? Commercials. Look up something online, and suddenly every website you visit has ads for that product. Fill your car with gas, and the pump plays adverts. A taxi was spotted yesterday with a message on its back windshield, “Your ad could be here.”

Then there is naming sponsorships — on buildings, teams and events — especially prevalent in the wide world of sports. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros played a three-game series this week that was grandiosely billed as The Silver Boot Series Presented by The Texas Lottery. Watch a game on television, and virtually everything from the starting lineups to the sideline reports are “brought to you by” something or other. Ads are digitally inserted behind home plate and on sideboards.

It’s even worse in person. Go to a minor-league baseball game and the advertising assault is non-stop. Foul balls, pitching changes, between-innings entertainment — everything is sponsored.

Soccer players are walking, running and slide tackling advertisements; the prominent feature on their uniforms is the name of the club’s sponsor. As franchises look to maximize revenues, it’s probably only a matter of time before it comes to mainstream American sports. Teams already play in stadiums that bear the name of a corporation. Stadiums that, for the most part, were paid for by taxpayers’ dollars.

Motorsports are notorious for product placement. Stock cars at a NASCAR race are high-speed advertising vehicles, with the primary sponsor prominently featured and numerous smaller sponsors plastered over every available inch. In the post-race interview, the driver will be sure to mention how the “sponsor’s name Chevy” performed that day.

Listen to a talk show, and the host will drop in a commercial as though it’s part of the pontification.

Grocery carts have ads, as do bathroom stall doors.

It can become overwhelming.

In the grand scheme of things, the Wrightsville Beach lifeguard stand sponsorships are not a big deal. Good for the town for coming up with a revenue stream to pay for them. And even if the signs are used to advertise products, it could be worse. At least they’re not on huge banners being towed overhead by small airplanes.

Keep all this in mind this weekend if you turn out to watch any of the sixth-annual West Marine Carolina Cup.

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