After these messages...you'll want to yack.

I was watching Top Chef masters last night before I went out to dinner with my friends and almost died. The food was amazing looking, making my mouth water with every tasting and quick fire challenge. I was hanging on every word of the judges, imagining what the gourmet meals they were masticating would taste like, and hoping that some day soon I would be able to enjoy a sumptuous meal that challenged my taste buds and made me re-evaluate how I view food.

As I'm watching this show, salivating, they went to a commercial break as they normally do. I'm aware that advertisers supply the funds to keep TV stations and specific shows alive. I get it. But, dear Bravo TV, when I am watching a culinary show, the last thing I want to see popping up on my screen is an advertisement for Vagisil Feminine Wash. Seriously. They went from lamb carpaccio with pea and carrot puree to an ad about how women feel not so fresh. Can they not see the issue with this?

It's a common problem with many stations out there. One late night, I was watching a delightful film called "Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror", and there was a pretty graphic scene where a woman was being beaten in a gang related incident. They went to a commercial break, and it was a band-aid commercial, followed by a tampon advertisement. Can we say inappropriate? Or ironic? Or slightly amusing if it wasn't so weirdly gross.

I wonder to myself and to you, readers, if there is a method to the madness. Is there an advertising intern somewhere cackling evilly, knowing that I will be made to associate gourmet food with feminine odor? Is this some strange marketing ploy ala Berthold Brecht where imagery is connected with opposing forces so that the impression is made?

I don't know, but I may start DVR'ing Top Chef. I can fast forward through the commercials, and not have that connection made in my little brain. I think that's the safest thing to do. And I'll hold out hope that marketing and advertising professionals will gain awareness that where they place commercials matters.