Now, I'm no marketing genius

but I know better than some folks. I have now heard the same commercial twice in the last two days. There's some rule change or something that allows more companies to sell natural gas to home consumers here in New York.

There's a company advertising their services in this field. Fair enough. They're promising you can set one price for your gas delivery for the next three years - "protect yourself from rising prices, etc." Ok, I understand what you're after.

However...

What Nimrod came up with the idea of SPECIFICALLY ASKING for the phone number 1-800-I'VE GOT GAS? I kid you not. The guy goes through his shpiel about the pricing, then says "Call 1-800-I'VE GOT GAS now." And then some perky-sounding woman starts singing a jingle to... you got it, I'VE GOT GAS.

Look, it happens to most humans and quite a few other mammals. Some people, usually sophomoric frat boys, get great joy out of methane, occasionally lighting it on fire. To each his own. But what idiot decided to sell a product publicly this way? I can only imagine the poor voice-over woman's face when she read this copy. Clearly she is at the point of starvation, or left whatever shame she had behind years ago.

Sometimes I think copywriters are either 14 years old, or stoned. They're writing this stuff at 3AM, giggling at each other when they think of pulling one over on the client.