Refrigerated Butter

I just saw a rather odd commercial showing women trying to "soften butter" -- bashing it with a rolling pin (just the butter, so it's all over the counter and rolling pin), putting it on a barbecue fork over the grill, blowing on it with a hairdryer, inexplicably putting it in the dryer.

Note in all cases, it's an unwrapped stick of butter.

This leads me to think that advertisers and butter manufacturers believe that we are seriously concerned about spreadable butter. Now, I'm as frustrated as anyone else by not being able to put butter on my toast because it's too cold....but is this seriously a problem?

At which point, it occurred to me that they also assumed that everyone keeps their stick of butter in the refridgerator at all times, taking it out only long enough to hack off a shard and then get it back in the fridge as soon as possible. I can only think that this is because of some misguided idea that butter will "go bad" if left out on the counter overnight. Instantly, perhaps.

Is this really that common? Does everyone but me put the butter dish in the fridge?

I mean, sure, leave butter out in a hot room for a few days and it will go rancid...but we must use it fast enough around here that it doesn't sit out that long, even when we lived in Georgia. Well, that, and for half the year, it's cold enough in our house now to keep the butter pretty chilly just out on the counter.

I grew up in a household where food was left out all the time and I don't honestly recall that we had any more bouts of stomach distress than anyone else, so I'm probably not the most consistent follower of the "rules" for safe food. Oh, we're very careful about raw meats, especially chicken, but rushing to get everything into the fridge or on ice immediately? Not so much.

So, no, makers of spreadable-canola-oil-butter-blends, I am not going to trade rich butter taste for the ease of "spreadable from the fridge". And, advertising with spaz-people who put butter in the dryer isn't going to convince me to buy the product. I don't want to be associated with people who can't manage basic daily tasks.