Monday, October 19, 2009

A yumma yumma

From childhood we are constantly bombarded by advertising on television in the form of product placement and commercial breaks. The world of television molds a lot of the interests of children and what their interests tend to be. It also inflicts damage.

I'm not talking about the kind of "violence on television causes kids to be violent" garbage so much as the mind numbing effect of commercial jingles. Yes, these things are short songs for commercials that are usually catch little tunes to advertise something. Who doesn't know the Oscar Meyer wiener song or that old Big Mac jingle (you know the one, "two-all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles on a sesame bun")? However these are products that have decades and decades of exposure at their backs.

What I want to mention today is something special. In 1987, any kid with a TV set will probably remember something of this monstrosity:



Seriously, look at this. It's been more than 20 years since I've seen this commercial or tasted this product but just the mention of the phrase "a yumma yumma" brings me back to the steel drum memories of the racist stereotypes of pacific islanders hawking fruity "volcano rock" cereal. Obviously there is some sinister force at work here.

This commercial on often enough to leave a lasting impression for 20+ years but the cereal itself left the market the same year it debuted, 1987. Meaning, though I imagine the vast majority of people living during that time will have had this jingled drilled into their brain like some kind of parasitic mind controlling worm, they have also never had a chance to actually taste it. I was one of the lucky few I guess.

Fruit Islands as a cereal wasn't terrible but not especially great either. Imagine a Fruity Pebbles rip off. You know, it doesn't taste bad but it changes the milk an insipid gray color due to the mixing of so many different food colorings. I wouldn't eat it now but when you're a kid and the only way you can get "a yumma yumma" out of your head is with a bullet or a box of cereal, you opt for the cereal.

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