MANNERS

Ever wonder where people learn bad behavior, or for that matter, good behavior? We learn from our parents, our friends, our teachers, movies, and not least of all, from commercials. The core element of all TV ads is pretty much the same: show attractive people engaging in acceptable behavior that is somehow enhanced by the product. Some advertisers like to show geeky people doing stupid things, but invariably they are selling their product by mocking the people they are showing.

Panasonic is currently running an ad on American Idol that features three teenaged girls at the beach in cut-offs and t-shirts. When one of the girls tries to take a picture of the other two with her Panasonic digital camera, she is interrupted by a shirtless fat guy wearing sunglasses and a headset who walks through the frame. She is annoyed at first, but then decides that a picture of the fat guy - who is now bee-bopping to the unheard music on his headset, completely unaware of the girls - would be even better than a picture of her friends. She switches to video mode and laughingly says to her friends, "This goes right on the web."

Panasonic, of course, is selling a light weight, ready-to-go piece of high-tech happiness that "suits your lifestyle." But in the process, they are validating a thoughtless, immoral, and possibly illegal act. The girls in the ad don't give a moment's thought to the fat guy's feelings. What if he's supposed to be at work and his boss sees the video and he gets fired, and on and on. Better yet, what if these three chippies decide to duck behind a bush to change out of their cut-offs into bikinis ... and the fat guy whips out his Panasonic so he can post pictures of their bare butts on the web. Is that okay?

Like every other corporation, Panasonic is fundamentally amoral, guided only by sales figures. In this case, I think a nice letter to corporate headquarters would be nice. Don't by shy - let them know what you think.

• Panasonic Corporation of North America
• 1 Panasonic Way
• Secaucus, NJ 07094