Line #14 Main/StepfordConsumer


1	->''"They mean well, poor souls, and they dress neatly and keep a cheery smile, but they must have been shortchanged in the smarts department because all they care about in this life is how white their whites get."''
2	-->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert''', review of ''$1,000,000 Duck''
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4	In advertising, customers are routinely shown to be extremely and conspicuously ecstatic about the product, no matter how mundane -- or in fact boring -- it is. This works in all formats: visual forms of advertisement may show people grinning inanely, laughing and jumping for joy, radio spots may have people cheering and going ''woo-hoo'' in the background because they saved pennies on a bubblegum purchase, got a free sandwich with their car or are just generally pleased with the overall product because, [[{{Anvilicious}} you know, it's just so good]].
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6	The trademark stupid grin fits well in the psychological profile of someone who is TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket and in touch with ThePowerOfCheese. Sometimes it can give off HappinessIsMandatory vibes or alternatively sexual overtones when the ficticious customers seem really turned on by something that's usually considered unerotic in RealLife, unless you're into [[{{Fetish}} that kind of thing]].
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8	Often happily married to MagicallyDelicious.
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10	See also StepfordSmiler. ObsessiveSpokesperson is when this is taken to extremes.
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12	''As this is an OmnipresentTrope in advertising, there's no need to list straight examples here. Feel free to list this trope on the pages of works where it occurs.''
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14	----
15	!!Examples of parodies, aversions, subversions, instances where this is played with, etc.
16	[[AC:{{Advertising}}]]
17	* Exaggerated in the Enzyte commercials, where Bob (and eventually, everyone else) is a persistent StepfordSmiler, even though the main effects of the product are never shown.
18	* Exaggerated in an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG-Z-kYSC4s ad]] for a loan broker: "How do I do it? I'm in debt up to my eyeballs."
19	* Spoofed in a commercial for Trident Layers chewing gum. After running several ads that played the conceit of getting paid with packs of gum rather straight (if in a deliberately cheesy way), they put out an ad showing another guy with an over-the-top grin crowing about how lucky he is that his job gives him Trident Layers in lieu of an actual salary, but his wife and children don't share in his obvious psychosis, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and are instead very worried about how their bills are going to be paid.]]
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21	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
22	* Paul Kane's short story "Life-O-Matic" takes place in a world where ''everybody'' is like this -- until the protagonist, Jeff, wakes up and realizes how creepy it is.
23	-->And yes, as June kept telling him, they had dozens of cleaning implements that could reach even into the smallest of nooks or crannies, but Jeff never actually saw her using any of them, only on small sections of the carpet which she would spill wine on deliberately just to show him how easy it was to "foam-away"!
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25	[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
26	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': {{Averted\|Trope}} [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]] when the main characters are trapped by a {{Reality Warp\|er}}ing [[TheTrickster Trickster]] and forced to live out an advertisement for herpes medication.
27	-->'''Sam:''' ''[Glaring at the fourth wall]'' I am doing all I can to slightly lessen the spread of... of... genital herpes. ''[Forces a [[TheUnsmile pained smile]]]'' And that's a good thing.
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29	[[AC:Music]]
30	* Parodied in Music/TheAustinLoungeLizards music video ''"The Drugs I Need."''
31	* In the Music/{{Evanescence}} music video for "Everybody's Fool" Amy Lee's character plays one to emphasize her StepfordSmiler status.
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33	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
34	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Batman The Animated Series}}'': One of the Joker's schemes involves making a commercial. Even with the Joker's usual level of trademark LaughablyEvil enthusiasm, the commercial barely seems out of place.

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