Talk Radio Ads

Talk Radio Ads

June 1st, 2022

There are a lot of tough parts of my job. One of the hardest parts is keeping conversations from turning political. Everyone has their own beliefs and it’s not likely that we are going to change anyone else’s mind.

I do think good political conversations can be healthy, especially if we can learn more about views that may differ slightly from our own. I have clients who are democrats, republicans, and even libertarians and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

However, I do have a bone to pick with talk radio. Specifically the ads they run during their shows.

I understand the purpose of a tv show, a radio show, or even a podcast. The purpose is to make the topics interesting enough so folks will listen to ads between segments, to drive revenue to the shows or the media outlet that produces the show.

I also believe that these are some of the smartest folks out there and the main stream media would rather we not listen to what they have to say. I’m very interested in what they have to say, I am just very uninterested in what they are selling between the segments.

Am I to really believe that (Insert National Syndicated Radio Celebrity) has a sizeable portion of their assets in physical gold from (XYZ Gold Company)? And why is his good friend, who is also a nationally syndicated talk show host who has the show in the next time slot using ABC Gold Company? “It’s the only company I trust.”

Why are those ads really ramped up during times of stock market volatility? Why are there no ads when the market is going up? Hmmm, something smells fishy here.

I know that (XYZ Gold Company) is paying the celebrity to read the spot, but I am wondering what the arrangement was. What percentage of physical gold do they really own? My guess is that the syndicated celebrity has a vast majority of their investible assets with a large, national brokerage firm. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling I am not.

Here’s another one that gets me that is running during almost every commercial break nowadays.

Military style, bulk packaged food that you have to have for when “it all hits the fan.”

I get it. We have supply chain issues right now. There are some things that our grocery stores are out of. I also understand that there are some things going on with wheat that could affect other products.

These commercials lead us to believe that the zombie apocalypse is just around the corner and buying a 30 day supply of military food rations is going to keep us alive.

Why does this happen? One word…money.

Entrepreneurs see ways to make money and they make it happen.

If there is money to be made, someone will package something to sell to capitalize on the situation. Winston Churchill once famously said, “never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Back in 1999, we were told that computers were all going to go berserk when the year changed to 2000. Nobody knew what to expect, so my best friend and I thought about creating some sort of survival kit that we could sell to people to prepare for the pending end of the world scenario.

The idea was great, but the follow thru didn’t happen on our end. As we neared the end of the year, I heard ads from folks who did exactly what we talked about doing. They made serious money.

And nothing happened.

The moral of the story is, take everything with a grain of salt. Be aware of what is going on, but don’t let emotion drive you to do crazy things. Besides, if Publix runs completely out of food, and “it” really hits the fan, chances are, your in-laws are going to come over and partake in your bag of gourmet freeze dried tuna.

The crisis of the day will fade, and another will take its’ place soon.