The first problem I have with this commercial is the claim: "All people are tax people."
Could all people be tax people? As in, could all people read the instructions and figure out how to file their own taxes?
YES.
But do all of them want to?
NO.
So it should be, "All people could be tax people."
Now, if you only have a W-2 and file single which is kind of what this ad is referring to, then sure. You should be able to file on your own without any help.
So maybe, "All people who get a W-2 and only a W-2 and have no dependents or weird low income situations are tax people."
But it's a little longer and not quite as catchy to fit into the New Orleans bounce music.
The second problem I have with this commercial is that they always advertise these ridiculous refund amounts to entice you to use their software. In the first two seconds of the commercial, the first lady is getting $3,284 back and then starts actin' a fool. If you are getting that much back, perhaps you should update your exemptions on your W-4 so that you have more in every paycheck all year?
I mean, maybe?
The third problem I have with this commercial is around seconds 34-35 where the guy is mowing his lawn but the mower is moving by itself. I mean, what a safety hazard! Where did they find such a machine!?
Anyway, these kinds of commercials this time of year always irk me because they oversimplify the process and could be misleading a lot of people. But I did enjoy this next one that's not even advertising tax software.
In unrelated news, I bought a 2 lb bag of black beans because I really like having black beans around but wanting to see if I could save some money by cooking dry beans instead of using canned.
I soaked them last night and they pretty much doubled in size. You're only supposed to cook one pound at a time in 6-8 cups of water, so I was measuring out how many batches I will have to cook today. I think 2 lbs of dry beans makes about 12 cups of cooked beans whereas a can of beans is only 1.5 cups. So that's $1.99 for 12 cups of beans vs $.79 for a 1.5 cup can, which would be like 8 cans for 12 cups which would be $6.32 and so I save over $4 by doing this.
And then I realized as I stood in my kitchen.
There I was.
Counting beans.
Certified public bean counter,
TWS
