So, tonight I saw a commercial that really irked me. A man was driving down a road at night while a voiceover droned in the background. The gist of the message was something like this [actually, it's pretty much word-for-word]:
"These days, we are addicted to immediate gratification. [Dramatic pause while car swooshes around a curve.] Don't like your nose? Get a new one. [A creepy caricature of a guy with a humongous nose floats across the screen, followed by a picture of the same guy with a new, regular-sized nose.] Don't like your job? Get a new one. [Picture of someone working at some desk job.] Don't like your spouse? Get a new one. [Picture of a woman in a bridal gown. All of these pictures are superimposed over the car driving along the road.]
Then, the kicker line: "Whatever happened to commitment?" The car continues breezing along the highway, and maybe they talked about the car a little at this point, since this was apparently supposed to be a commercial for said car.
Right as the commercial ended, some words appeared on the screen: "Think About It." So I did. The first thing I thought was, "Who the fuck makes a commitment to their nose?"
O.K., first off, the text of the commercial itself makes no sense. The whole nose thing, obviously. But are they really trying to imply that switching jobs indicates a lack of commitment? So, if you really hate your job, you should stay there anyway, out of some sense of "commitment" to the company? No one should ever leave to, say, find a better job? Go back to school? Start their own business? What kind of commie commercial is this?
Then there's the whole "find a new spouse" thing. I can guarantee, right there they alienated anyone going through a divorce right now. From experience, I can tell you that even the most mutual, uncomplicated divorce is still gut-wrenchingly painful for the normal person, quickie ridiculous celebrity breakups aside. When you've split from your spouse, about the last thing on your mind is "finding a new one." Luckily (?), divorce is like childbirth (or so I'm told)--you eventually forget the intensity of the pain so that you're able to get involved in a relationship (or get pregnant) again. Still, for folks going through a divorce right now, this commercial is completely insulting and off-putting.
The big question, though, is . . . what exactly are we supposed to "think about"? It's a friggin' car commercial! The logical last line to this whole joke would have been, "Don't like your car? Get a new one! This one!" What are we supposed to be showing "commitment" to here? Apparently, not the company that makes whatever car we're currently driving, unless its the carmaker of the commercial, which, ironically, I can't even remember (nor can I remember what kind of car they were attempting to advertise, not being a "car person").
If they're trying to communicate the idea (which I have to assume they are) that their company stays committed to a certain way of making cars, they went about it totally wrong. The whole text of the commercial should have been something like, "These days, some companies are addicted to instant gratification. They cut corners. They take shortcuts. But not us. Blah blah blah." You get the idea. About the last thing anyone trying to sell a product in a consumption-based economy should do is admonish people for seeking immediate gratification--that's just stupid. And when said admonishment is dressed up as knee-jerk family values propaganda (which, I have to point out, doesn't make any sense even apart from this particular context), it's insulting as well.
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If my memory is correct, that commercial is for Cadillac. (And since I'm addicted to immediate blog commenting, I'm not going to spend time to verify it. Therefore, what I'm about to say could be completely wrong since it's based on the Cadillac assumption.
1. You are right that the ad copy is blunt and offensive.
2. Yet . . . what if you think of it this way:
a. Cadillac used to be THE American luxury car, but then that dried up.
b. Cadillac retooled the design of its cars to be more aggressive looking, to appeal to younger car buyers. Successful? I dont' know, but I think the new aggressive look and sell alienated the older, historical Cadillac buyers.
c. Cadillac is still committed to the aggressive path, and uses pretty images of the car in the commercial driving fast at night with street lights blurring. BUT, the ads spoken copy--with its emphasis on "commitment" is an attempt to appeal to that older, historical demographic that nods their heads to denegrate the impulsiveness of youth.
d. Cadillac tries to appeal to both segments at once?
I'm from Motown (like that means I know anything), and I'm guessing that the GM marketing people are desperate for a hook, any hook, and it ain't my dad's demographic and it ain't my demographic, it's the Tiki Barber buppy bourgeoisie (not that there's anything wrong with that). This ad is disingenuous in using the disposable commodity appeal it claims to reject. Pretty transparent. Any bets on how soon Caddie goes out of business?
FYI, my nose and I have a loving, long-term, one might even say exclusive, relationship.
When you turn your car (or nose, spouse, etc.) on, shouldn't it (or him, her) return the favor?
Sadly, I just saw the commercial in question and I see that it is for Hyundai, not Cadillac.
So . . . my oh, so trenchant analysis is for naught.
(On a separate note, I really like the blog pictures and design additions.)
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