Wednesday, March 21, 2012

What really bothers me about the Mother's Day sales pitch

I am well aware of what it means to advertise a washing machine or a vacuum clearer on Mother's Day. It says that moms are there to cook for you, do your dishes and wash your clothes and that the best thing you can give them for Mother's Day is something that will make that part of their life easier. And I do admit that it bugs me when I see those ads up there on the billboards, reminding us all women that no matter how far in our careers we advance, a part of society will always see us as juice making pressure cookers. But what bothers me even more is this: If the ads don't speak to anyone, why are they still running them? If appliance stores don't get flooded with customers on Mother's Day, would they all really keep spending on the same failed concept year after year?

The thing is, the problem is more than the role of women in our society - and this where I get cheesy. We buy these appliances because we can't be bothered to think about what our mothers really want for Mother's Day. Because we weren't paying attention the entire year to notice her real interests. Because deep down inside, we all think our mother is there for us, and never the other way around.

So this is just a shout out to all the mothers out there. You don't just deserve a present on this random day of the year. You deserve it every day. We'll try to be better next year.