You know that Staples commercial with the red "easy"button? Person 1 has some office supplies crisis "OMG must find 100 reams of pink polka dotted paper by 2pm today!" and then the camera cuts to person 2 who, with a hint of a smirk pushes the red button and says "that was easy".
This specific ad campaign has been around for several years now and Staples actually sells those red buttons at their stores. It speaks to that inner sense that there really should be an "easy" button in life. That sense is at the heart of most commercial campaigns now that I think about it.
In priceline commercials, the scene opens with a frustrated person about to give up on their vacation plans but then its Captain Kirk (aka William Shatner) to the rescue! The whole point is that the average person should be able to take a weekend vacation for far less than the advertised price-- you deserve it.
This pervasive belief that there should be a shortcut yields both spectacular inventions in time saving (microwaves, washer/dryers, highspeed rail) along with horrific failures such as Madoff who believed that he found a way to make money with that "easy" button.
Pardon my ramblings... I woke up freaking out about facing yet another day of trying to handle my student loans and then turned on my laptop only to read hopeless news story after news story. If only there was an "easy" button.
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