I am sure all of you already saw it or heard it. At the end of this commercial the woman says something like "Saudi Arabia your friend and ally against terrorism"
What is the purpose of putting this commercial on the national TV? What should American people think about Saudi Arabia now? One time they hear that the Saudis are terrorists then they hear that the are allies.

I haven't seen this commercial yet. Do you have the link? And what channel did you see it on?

Is it a new spot? They've been running commercials on the cable news stations since spring, 2002, at least. What was ironic about the old commercial is that it showed Saudi emissaries with every president of the last fifty years, including the current, with the sole exception of Bill Clinton.

But I give a nod to the Saud for figuring it out: If you want to talk to Americans, buy advertising time. Don't discuss, sell. And if you can compress it into thirty seconds or less, even better.

The commercials originated at a time when scrutiny of the Saud and its extensions came with the heat of facts: Saudi terrorists on the jets, Saudi money to the Palestinians, terrorist connections in the extended family at least, and O'Reilley even tried to stir up controversy about women's rights. Americans turned a wary eye toward the Saud, the President of the United States hosted royalty at the Crawford ranch during his vacation, and the Saudi embassy began an advertising campaign designed not so much to endear Americans to Saudi Arabia, but to neutralize and sanitize opinion through exposure. If we see a commercial for it, the world is sometimes amazed at what we'll accept.

I am not sure if its new or not but it shows Saudi Arabia's nice and uturistic places then shows some happy kids and a little girl holding a flower.

I do agree with you Tiassa. Saudis have figured out.

I am not sure if its new or not but it shows Saudi Arabia's nice and uturistic places then shows some happy kids and a little girl holding a flower.Sounds new.

On a wild hair, I went to the website for the Saudi Embassy and found this: TV & Radio Spots (http://www.saudiembassy.net/Media/Spots.asp). Six television commercials and four radio spots.

Saudi Embassy (Washington, D.C.) homepage: http://www.saudiembassy.net

So, what do you think about those commercials? 1,2,3 or 4?


1) They think US people are stupid and will believe in anything

2) They are really allies

3) Tv Channels just think about the money that they get from the commercials

4) These commefcials are only there to confuse US people more and more, so that they cant have a specific opinion about Saudi Arabia

So, what do you think about those commercials? 1,2,3 or 4?As I consider your points, a recurring thought strikes me like a drumroll: It is advertising.

On that basis, if we neutralize those four points and make them general considerations, and not just restricted to the Saud, they might become:

(1) How to phrase it? It's amazing what Americans will believe if a commercial tells them it's true.
(2) The advertiser is portrayed as sympathetic to the market and the individuals composing the market.
(3) Broadcasters define themselves by the financial numbers.
(4) Advertisements tend to blur the truth about the product, service, or idea being offered.

I am sort of insulted intellectually by the advertisements, but that doesn't tend to separate the Saudis much from the rest of advertising in the US.

They bug me personally and politically, these spots, but the pandering to idiocy is no more unacceptable from the Saudis than it is from any other advertiser.

And that, if they're really smart about it, is also part of the point. Look at "them." "They" can bullshit "us" just like "we" can. That makes "them" even more like "us." It all works out for them. Hell, I wonder if Hussein could have bought ad time, or if CBS News was the best he could do?

I just wonder if they've accounted for that small but growing portion of the population that is somehow post-existentialist or post-experientialist to such a degree to prefer to view the world as if nothing that happens surprises them, as if it's all part of human nature, and at the end of the day you're still you and I'm still me and the only thing that's different is where we mark the tallies. Yes, the Saudis are probably building their Q-rating very slightly by these ads, but some of us see through it on the grounds that we're looking at what they're asking us to accept, endorse, or encourage by appealing to history, sentiment, and schmaltz.

Great, fifty years of partnership, or whatever. Doesn't change the fact that it's still a repressive society in which elements exist which are capable of creating a specific terroristic effect that is quite directly relevant to me as an American. Doesn't change the fact that I have ideological concerns about what I understand of their society, and it is this, after a fashion, that they are trying to sell me. And just like anyone else with an issue that strikes a fundamental dichotomy, you can't sell me the other side.

Sales pitches aren't designed to be rational. They're designed to sell regardless of necessity or accuracy.