One, two, three CRY! (and then buy)

Direct TV has changed my life. Coincidentally that is their new advertising tagline and coincidentally that's what this post is all about. I cried three times watching the season premier of "Parenthood" last night (for the record so did Charles) which normally I wouldn't even take notice of - aside from the fact that I've seen 10 bazillion promos for it over the last few weeks. I recently realized that no matter what I'm listening to, watching or Googling lately - I identify strongly with at least 1 out of every 2 advertisements I hear. Procter and Gamble's "Thanks Mom" Olympic ad campaign? Brilliant, poignant - totally had me bawling. Their closing spot, "What's better than being an Olympic athlete?" Cut to shots of Olympian's Moms reacting to their children's individual victories - "Being an Olympic athlete's Mom." I'm crying right now just thinking about it and of course I am - that commercial was designed to make me cry...all the way to Target for more Pampers ; ) I typically have not identified with commercials in this way - not sure why that is but I'm truly enjoying it now that I do. Is the creative talent right now that much better? Has the fact that I know sooooooooo much about the numbers and science behind it all finally worn off? I'm the one usually placing client's commercials where they need to be for maximum demographic impact! Has the fragmentation of media and creation of niche media channels finally collided perfectly with consumers like myself who've fine tuned their media consumption OR is 1 out of every 2 ad dollars actually spent to reach me: woman, 35-54, 2.3 children at home, dual income family / prime demographic CONSUMER extraordinaire? Probably a little bit of both and I, for one, am LOVING it and find it endlessly fascinating!