• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 21, 2015

In a series of new TV commercials for its first general marketing campaign, stand-alone digital TV service Sling TV shows pesky kids as bullies representing “Old TV,” demanding money and longer term deals from adult TV consumers. For example, one red-haired “Old TV” kid is trying to “milk” one customer -- squeezing one’s man nipple.  “You’ll pay for extra channels and like it!” says the kids fighting the man on the ground. “I won’t pay!” says the man. “Then I’ll have to milk it out of you!” he says.

Another “Old TV” employee, a young girl, can be found inserting her finger into a woman’s ear. Another kid at a shopping mall gives a wedgie to a man, with the man pleading: “Please.. my pastor shops here!”

“It’s time to say goodbye to the way TV used to be,” says the Sling TV announcer.  Sling TV is offering its deal at $20 a month with no long-term contracts. The kicker: “Take Back TV.”

Three spots of different lengths offer up the same point: Rough up adult TV consumers because they are uneducated, and probably deserve it.

What message are you supposed to take from these spots? Perhaps if you do charge and/or rough up adult TV consumers enough, they might look for alternatives -- like Sling TV? Not sure that connection is made here.

The ironic part of this -- and left out of the advertising/messaging -- is that Sling TV is owned by Dish TV, which has been a part of the problem. Dish offers long contracts, big rental fees for in-home equipment, high overall prices, and many TV channels that no one needs or wants -- stuff the Sling TV TV spots alludes to.

Down the road, the likes of Comcast and Dish Network and no doubt others will continue to offer up “alternatives” to high-paying packages from “old TV.”

Will these new branding efforts work? Sling TV prominently displays in its on-air messages “$20 a month with no long term contracts.” That is a simple good start. But what is the collateral damage when consumers really figure out what’s going on?