I’m Not Crying. Yes I Am.

I know a guy who turns off the volume during TV commercials. Every. Single. Time.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Muting commercials is anti-capitalist. If you’re enjoying a football game or, well, a football game, you ought to spend a couple of minutes watching ads for the companies that brought the game to you. Show some gratitude to corporate America, for a change.

Unless you have to use the restroom, that is. Or grab a snack. Or it’s a godawful commercial.

But lots of ads are terrific. Especially sports sponsors.

I’m thinking of all those Dr. Pepper “Fansville” spots. The crazy Allstate “Mayhem” commercials. The Peyton Manning/Brad Paisley Nationwide ads. And those cute Chick-fil-A vignettes, starring actual employees and customers who were the beneficiaries of the fast-food chain’s My-Pleasure culture.

And there’s one commercial that gets me every time: The Principal Financial Group’s  “Renovation,” that features a man driving his elderly dad from retirement home to retirement home, trying to find just the right place.

“I don’t like this whole thing,” Dad mutters from the passenger seat.

Maybe I find this touching because I’m at an age where I identify more with the father than with the son. I mean I could be only a decade or two away from my offspring trying to propel me into some cheerful GeezerHaus where Tai Chi is at 10, karaoke is at 2 and dinner is served promptly at 4:30.

No thank you.

An abbreviated version of this ad is usually shown on TV. The full commercial is better. Grab a tissue.