Craig.Carlen[Online].com

I love good television.  Being an aspiring editor/producer I tend to notice bad edits, bad lighting, poorly recorded audio, and other nit-picky things most television watchers don’t pick up on.  But even with all the bad, I still enjoy good television.

One of my and my wife’s favorite television programs is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  You can’t help but feel good after watching any episode.  The family that is helped always deserves it and the design team always endeavors to provide the family with a great design.  It’s good TV - I’d venture to say it’s powerful TV.  And it’s been very good to ABC and the shows sponsor Sears.  The show is constantly one of the top rated shows week in and week out and and undoubtedly is a big win for Sears who has not only sponsored the show since it’s inception but also provides the bulk the the products that are featured in each home that is built.

I’m a big proponent of truth in advertising - especially when those ads are related to technology. Advertisers will invariably push the limits on what defines ‘truth‘. For example, when DirecTV ads come on it’s only in the smallest of print that appears on the screen for maybe 5 seconds do they mention that every additional receiver you install requires a $5.00 fee. They’re by no means lying about it, but to hide that fact in the legalese the FCC and FTC requires for promotional and sales ads is arguably holding back part of the truth.

But when it comes to cable and satellite providers, Comcast is by far the biggest abuser of the Truth in Advertising laws I’ve seen in a long time. Truth in Advertising is fairly straight forward - an ad must be truthful and non-deceptive, there must be evidence to substantiate the claims of the ad, and the advertisements cannot be unfair. Comcast stretches those guidelines to the nth degree - at least with their ads here in Michigan.