Are cellphones ruining society?

You know things are going down hill when not only advertising agencies think the following commercials will help sell cell phones, but also when we, as the target, soak it up without a second thought:

Example 1) Alltel commercials:
These should just speak for themselves, but no one I know has ever made the observation that the 'hot' preppy guy (Chad) is the hero, and a group of nerdy, dorky, dweebs are the antagonists. I mean c'mon. So if I get an awesome Motorola RAZR from Chad with Alltel service, I'll be hot and cool too. But if I don't, I'll be a dorky ol' dweeb. And obviously being a dorky dweeb is the worst thing you could ever be, right?

Example 2) That one Verizon commercial
So there's that one Verizon commercial in which three girls are standing in a back yard with a pony. Two of the three girls got new cell phones for Christmas, and the third got the pony. The ploy is that a pony is a suck Christmas present, and this girl would rather have gotten a cell phone. What. The. Hell. Who in their right mind would ever want a cell phone over a pony? Ponies obviously grow into horses, and horses are even to this day probably the best vehicle mankind has ever known. I mean c'mon, in a zombie invasion and/or any other (post-)apocalyptic situation, which is actually going to be of any use: a cell phone, or a horse?

Why? Are the advertising agencies just really stupid, or does this kind of advertising actually work? I'm hoping it's the former...

The commercials are funny, and they catch your attention (you posted about them right?), so they are working. Thats all they want is for people to remember the commercials. So obviously they are doing something right.

from looking at your last post, it seems to be you have a grudge against the "hot jock guy" at your school.

You are right in that sense cell phone has a very strong effect on the modern society. You may walk in the forest in Canada and have a talk with somebody who walks in London e.g. Even you may send pictures of your environment, etc. This will induce big changes in the human behavior. But these changes have both positive and negative components. You want to see only the negative ones.

I think you just have a grudge aginst advertising or you are just one of the dumbest people on earth. please tell me if you had a business and had competition how you would go about your advertising.

I actually disagree.
My example: The monks march through several Burmese cities. A lot of information about that demonstration was sent through text messages. The rallies against Musharraf were also told in text messages, so it helps to have cell phones, understand?
It's all means of communication.

The only examples of how cell phones are ruining society that I can see are:

1. More motor vehicle collisions due to drivers being on their cell phones (...but there are plenty of other things that can distract them as well...)

2. People walking around, talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to their surroundings (how annoying!)

But, I believe that there are many more good points about cell phones than there are bad ones!

Okay, so I haven't seen the Verizon commercial, but it does sound pretty dumb when you put it that way! But, about the Alltel commercial and the observations that you made about it, they make it pretty obvious what is going on with the other cell phone companies= dorky guys and Alltel= Cool Chad... I have Cingular, but even I can find some humor in those commercials!

Sorry, I can't resist. Ponies and horses are different animals.