Casual Fridays

5 Responses to “eDissonance?”

1. Chris Posey
   June 22nd, 2007 at 9:41 am

   

   Whew, touchy issue! But I am a little surprised at the intensity of the comment you referenced. I’ve never had a big problem with the commercials outside of the fact that they are a tad sappy, and in being so, they simply fall in line with so many other commercials out there-and are, consequently, unremarkable. (I wonder if the other sappy commercials evoke similar death-threat-oriented responses?) To be stereotypical and closed-minded (and probably correct), my guess is that the wachers most bothered by these commercials are those who have had problematic relationships in the past-or, they just hate sappiness. Either way, this is definitely something that the folks at eHarmony, et al, should consider.

2. ehb
   June 23rd, 2007 at 8:36 am

   

   You asked why are people vexed? Read Marcia T’s comment on this blog post

   My sister recently celebrated her one year wedding anniversary to her husband whom she met on eharmony. The irony is that it was me who suggested we sign up. After six months I never even got one date out of it! God does indeed work in mysterious and wondrous ways. I could not be happier for my sister. Weddings do come out of eharmony. I was a witness to one. It just makes us bitter when it is not us.

   On this topic, I believe great relationships evoke many other positive emotions in addition to mushiness, e.g., self-confidence, loyalty, kindliness, tact, responsibility, etc., eHarmony should consider presenting these stories as well, or at least just for variety.

3. Michael Wagner
   June 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am

   

   “It just makes us bitter when it is not us.”

   From my perspective bitterness can turn to an ugly form of anger easily.

   Maybe that is why the ads sometimes generate over the top comments like the one you note.

   I think you are on to something important here Dustin.

   Even with all of the buzz about social networking, the truth is that many are starved for community and supportive relationships.

   We apply terms like community, conversation and relationship to what grows out of social media but I’m not sure that is what happens most of the time.

   Thanks for stirring things up with this post!

   Keep creating,
   Mike

4. Jefe
   June 28th, 2007 at 2:30 am

   

   In my opinion, you don’t like it, you don’t watch. But if you watch although you pretend you don’t like it … ouch! You have an issue

5. ebrown
   July 13th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

   

   Good post and good comments. I admit, I too was surprised by the viscosity of the remark you copied. There are definitely other issues than those related to a “sappy” ad at work here. Maybe the viewer felt this was “candy land” and eHarmony needs to show more reality — e.g. ethnic couples, inter-racial couples, etc.

   Of note, my wife and I have interacted with engaged couples over the last five years. The couples that make it (at least to date) are the one’s that coo and stare moon-eyed at each other and are…well…”sappy”. It has been our experience, that the ones that show little or no emotion have ended up divorced or are in need of marriage counseling.

   Having been in marketing, I understand the fake and trivial content that can be created in order to evoke an emotional response within the viewer. People today are wise to this gimmick and want the truth. In this case, to coin a phrase by Jack Nicholson, maybe some ‘can’t handle the truth’?

   Finally, as noted by another commenter, could be you’ve hit on something deeper than just an ad dislike.

   -ebrown