Do we deserve this?

Usually I avoid TV commercials by recording programs and movies, then later skipping past the ads. I watch football games live, however, and that means exposing myself to commercials trying to sell me things I don't want. (I'm surprised by how often I watch TV ads without even understanding what it is they are trying to sell me.)

One thing I've noticed in the commercials I've been forced to watch is how often the phrase "you deserve" pops up. I think Joe Namath may have started this trend a few years ago with those Medicare supplement commercials where he talks about "all the benefits you deserve." Now insurance companies, phone companies and many others have gotten into act, assuring us all that we all deserve something better.

I'm not sure why the word deserve repels me so whenever I hear it in an ad. It did even when only Joe Namath said it, before it became so commonplace. Now I'm ready to boycott any company that says I deserve their product. My question is, do they deserve my business?

One series of commercials I do enjoy — even though I have no idea what the ads have to do with whatever product they are selling (I can never remember what it is) — is the one about trying to teach young adults not to turn into their parents. I watch them — with the sound unmuted — each time they come on. 

Watching them one might get the idea that only nerdy people turn into their parents, although I am struck by how nice their parents must be. If these young adults are turning into their parents, it might not be such a bad thing.

Mostly I notice, however, that the man trying to keep them from turning into their parents is the one who has already turned into a parent. He scolds. He corrects. He nags. He should have taken his own course years before. He deserved it.