The J Unit on his way to the trading floor
So Josh was playing with his mum’s jewellery box last night. Lord alone knows why, but this battered old box with a twinkling ballerina that eerily spins around when you open it has become this week’s plaything of choice. Luckily I’m far too cheap to have ever bought his mum anything expensive in the way of jewellery
Holding up one of Tracy’s bracelets he queried: “Mum – can you turn this gold into cash?”
When I’d finished dying of laughter (maybe just a soppy dad thing, apologies if that just made you retch) I had a momentary insight about how powerful TV advertising still is.
Here’s a (nearly) 4 year old kid, who has made a connection between ‘gold’ and ‘cash’ without really even knowing what either one of those things is. I pride myself on keeping him away from the TV for most of the time. Apart from an obsession with the Ooglies, he’s not really all that bothered by TV. Although I imagine if you totted it up it would still amount to a good few hours every week.
He already knows which bits of TV are content and which are commercials – he charmingly calls them “nadverts” – and complains bitterly when the ads interrupt his viewing. He hardly watches any adult TV at all, so I can’t even imagine where he’s seen this particular nadvert.
And yet there he is – asking if we can turn gold into cash. I guess if nothing else, it shows the power of a catch phrase.