Melvin

There’s a local company in town called Parker and Son.  They do plumbing, heating and AC installations and repairs.  Their TV commercials sometimes feature a dork named Melvin.  Melvin doesn’t know much about anything, including plumbing, heating and air conditioning, which is why Parker and Son has a tagline that goes… “We promise, no Melvins on your job.”

One of the ads that’s been running this summer and fall is a pitch for solar water heater installations.  It features Melvin in the driveway of a customer’s home.  There’s a ladder propped against the outside wall and an old water heater sitting at the base of the ladder.  After Melvin climbs half way up the ladder, he looks down at the lady of the house and asks her to hand him the water heater so he can get it as close to the sun as possible.  It’s pretty hokey, which is about par for all the Melvin commercials.

This ad had just ended, along with dinner, when Mom suddenly asked, “Why would anyone want to put a water heater on their roof?  That just doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t sound safe.”

I had started lifting myself off the sofa, ready to gather Mom’s empty plate and head to the kitchen, but stopped cold and allowed gravity to plop me back down onto the couch.  I looked over at her and replied, “No one puts their water heater on the roof, Mom.”

“Well somebody’s advertising to do it that way.  It was just on,” she huffed.

“It’s a joke about stupid Melvin not knowing how to install a solar water heater.”

“So it doesn’t really go on the roof?” she asked.

“No.  The solar panel goes on the roof and the water heater stays inside the garage, where it belongs.” I said, making another attempt stand up.

As I took her plate and turned to go, she commented, “Well I don’t think that a very good ad.  Some people who don’t know much about solar might get confused.”

“And I think some people did.” I muttered as I left the room.

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