Comcast to Luddites: GET READY (for __________).

A year and a half ago, a survey was taken pegging seniors as among the most likely to be negatively affected by the upcoming digital TV transition. This crucial trivia wiggled its way into last-minute marketing campaigns with understandable urgency; Adrants reader Rebecca reported getting the ad at left in her mailbox.

"Get Ready for the Digital Transition on February 17, 2009, with FREE Basic Cable," it says. For those that weren't paying attention the first time, an eye-catching balloon tactfully adds, "GET READY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

And once more, with feeling: "Get Ready with Comcast."

At right is the image of a Good Listener pushing 65, outfitted in kiddie pigtails and a cheerful pastel shirt that boldly reads, "I am ready."

Downright apocalyptic. If every ad said "February 17" as many times as Comcast plugged "GET READY," nobody'd miss the DTV switch.

But while we took issue with its psychotic emphasis on the wrong information, Rebecca took issue with the poster child. "What kind of senior citizen wears pigtails? Certainly not the kind who still has a rabbit ears TV," she wrote.