Hey Pepsi, Stop ruining our TV!

The New York Times reported today that the Pepsi-Cola Company will be sponsoring a series of "minisodes" in November on the web site, "Crackle". These "minisodes" are 4 minute long condensed versions of classic television shows. Pepsi has agreed to sponsor them as part of their their new "retro" advertising campaign. Pepsi is also not the only cola to go retro, Coca-Cola's new plastic bottles were specifically designed to remind us of the old glass bottles. Therefore, Pepsi is just taking another shot at the next big ad idea. As more and more companies turn to the internet for a wider and younger audience, the question remains; Why, oh why does Pepsi have to spoil classic TV shows, including "Charlie's Angels","I Dream of Jeanni", "Bewitched", and "The Jeffersons", among others, to help their sales?

These "minisodes" are shaping up to be a new advertising craze with many companies. They are on several sites including AOL. They are also being shown on Verizon's portable video service " V-Cast" and sponsored by other big companies including "Honda". However, as a Television connoisseur(and I apologize for using the word connoisseur), I am appalled at Pepsi's participation in this horrible injustice. Television shows were made to fit 30 minute formats for a reason, and squishing them down into 4 minutes is depriving them of their very essence. Sure, in four minutes we can get the basics of an "angels" episode: Charlie calls the angels for a mission, the girls use their feminine charm and fighting skills to defeat the bad guy, and then they are congratulated for their efforts to keep America safe. The problem with this is, that many of these shows have many jokes, plot twists, and other interesting pieces that can only be fully enjoyed in 30 minutes. These four minute television shows are a demonstration of the laziness and poor attention span of our current instant gratification culture. When we can't even sit and watch TV for 30 minutes, we've got a problem.