TV commercials

When we were kids, my older brother disapproved of TV commercials.  He said they were "brainwashing" me.  What bothered me is that he'd insist on changing the channel during commercial breaks, not to watch something else but just to avoid the commercials.  And every second I'd be wondering, "Will he turn back in time, or will I miss part of the show because of his purity?" (I was the type who hated missing part of the show.) So I'd start nagging him, well before I had to, asking "Are the commercials over?"

I do remember a lot of commercials.  Back in the mid-1970s the Jello people were concerned that their product was seen as artificial, so the Mad men came up with "the Jello tree." And there was this commercial where some cute kids were stealing Jello from a tree, and a farmer would shout "Hey, you kids get out of that Jello tree!" But they got concerned that these kids were bad role models, so they redubbed it as "Hey, you kids getting me something from the Jello tree?" (A whole generation must remember that commercial.)

Another commercial I remember is from the early 1980s, for a group of video games.  Some guy said, "You own a computer and you don't have Pac-Man and Defender and Donkey Kong?  That's like having a stereo with no hit records!" I found that unintentionally funny:  what's wrong with having records that are good rather than popular?

I don't recall ever buying a product specifically because of a commercial I saw.  But maybe I'm just too brainwashed to realize it.