Misleading advertisements will no doubt always be with us. But there are two TV commercials airing regularly these days that are particularly unrealistic during pandemic and lockdown conditions.

The first, I think, is intended to be cute or poignant and if it happened in real life, I guess maybe it would be. A little girl approaches a store clerk to buy a bar of Cadbury's chocolate for her mother's birthday. As payment, she has brought along a small selection of personal treasures - a couple of buttons, a bead, a fancy little eraser - which she places one by one on the counter. The cashier hands her the chocolate bar, picks up the "currency" and returns one of the items, saying "Your change." The girl then takes the chocolate and presents it to her mother, who is waiting just outside the shop.

Unfortunately, with contactless payments the order of the day, very few retail establishments these days will even accept cash, let alone little treasure troves like that one. I'm even extra-nervous about losing my credit card these days. Nobody needs to sign when paying and with the new higher limits, even a PIN is generally not needed - you just tap it. Which means that if I inadvertently dropped it somewhere, any unscrupulous person could just pick it up and use it!

The second commercial I'm thinking of is really quite obnoxious. Kid looks at parent's nails and says "Eeeuuwww, what's that? It's gross!" Parent says, "Don't worry, it's nothing." Obnoxious person in white coat (sometimes a man, sometimes a woman) appears out of nowhere and says "It's a nail fungus infection. It needs treatment. It's contagious. You need to get a prescription."

In this case, maybe there really is a valid point to get across - something you think is minor may in fact be more serious and maybe you should phone the doctor's office or talk to a pharmacist. But get real, folks. It's bad enough that with so many medical resources diverted to Covid-19, people with really serious non-Covid problems are having trouble accessing the treatments they need. Do we really want to be obsessing every time we find a wart on our finger? And that doctor in the commercial could sure use some sensitivity training and a course or two in bedside manner!