Page 29 - january 2022

ads on various themes—good old Flo and family,

products, services, the mancycle, and (now my favorite) Dr. Rick,
and retail stores. Perhaps therapist who guides new homeowners into not
I have been warped by this barrage becoming their parents. I love him running
of songs and products, but they have been a part his “Dad Support Group.” Or the field trip to

of my life. the mall and hardware store with his questions
This past holiday season I saw two ads; one “how many pillows are too many?” “When does
for a product and a service company parody helping become hindering?” “Who reads books
that caught both my eye and ear. Let me tell about submarines?”

you of the first one, for the dishwasher product Then he reminds his support group that they
Cascade. It opens with a cute little girl telling you do not need to use the speaker phone; not to help
about herself and her life, and the sad fact that guide someone out of their parking place without
her parents had little or no time for her because being asked for help; and the best, not to tell the

they have to pre-rinse all the dishes, pots, and waitress your name. You know, all things that
pans before placing them into their dishwasher. we saw our parents do when growing up—or at
(I do not have a mechanical dishwasher. I AM least in my family, my father would have done
the dishwasher.)

There’s something about her voice, so sincere,
mature, and with appropriate inflections and
tones as spoken by the actress Sierra Richards
as she asks the pertinent question, “What does

the dishwasher do?” A line to remember-not
quite a “where’s the beef?” but still, it caught my
attention. If I had a dishwasher, sure, I would
be using Cascade and reclaim all those hours

I spent scrubbing away with cloth and sponge.
It was the second series of ads that impacted
me the most and put me into a reflective mood.
Progressive Insurance has had an annual run of

VOICES! | JANUARY 2022 29