When I was in Afghanistan, I had the privilege of watching hours upon hours of the Armed Forces Network. This staple of deployed broadcasting isn't terrible, but it has its peculiarities. A big difference between AFN and American television is the lack of commercials. That's right, for nearly a year I did not see one commercial shilling a product.
Instead of commercials, AFN airs hundreds of public service announcements. They range from instructions on when to salute to history of the military to proclamations denouncing sexual harassment. They are all good things and I wish American TV had a few of them on cable television.
But there was one AFN commercial that was absolutely ironic to me. In order to capitalize on the "Party Rock" craze that was popular at the time, a few military actors donned afro wigs and glasses and the attire of the band LMFAO. While there is nothing intrinsically ironic about that, the subject of their commercial is what makes it my absolute favorite.
They made a commercial about speeding.
Meanwhile, sitting in Afghanistan watching their commercial was a member of the Afro-Squad who was the unfortunate recipient of nearly 10 speeding tickets in eight Florida counties. That's a ticket every two years I've been driving in over 10% of the 72 counties in Florida. I'm not exactly proud of that, but I think being that I have never been in an accident, I don't think I am a bad driver, just a little fast on the gas.
But perhaps if I listened to my European Afro-Squad friends.
Instead of commercials, AFN airs hundreds of public service announcements. They range from instructions on when to salute to history of the military to proclamations denouncing sexual harassment. They are all good things and I wish American TV had a few of them on cable television.
But there was one AFN commercial that was absolutely ironic to me. In order to capitalize on the "Party Rock" craze that was popular at the time, a few military actors donned afro wigs and glasses and the attire of the band LMFAO. While there is nothing intrinsically ironic about that, the subject of their commercial is what makes it my absolute favorite.
They made a commercial about speeding.
Meanwhile, sitting in Afghanistan watching their commercial was a member of the Afro-Squad who was the unfortunate recipient of nearly 10 speeding tickets in eight Florida counties. That's a ticket every two years I've been driving in over 10% of the 72 counties in Florida. I'm not exactly proud of that, but I think being that I have never been in an accident, I don't think I am a bad driver, just a little fast on the gas.
But perhaps if I listened to my European Afro-Squad friends.
