So there I was, living in southern Africa, with the Armed Forces Network my only lifeline to the outside world, and poof! The satellite system goes on the fritz Friday before the Super Bowl.
No worry, though – the best parts can be caught online afterward. Yup, I’m talking about the ads.
This year’s crop seemed mostly uninspired, occasionally confusing. I liked the simplicity of the guys speaking with Jamaican accents in the Volkswagen clip – who came up with that? And the Oreo one was funny in that everyone was still whispering in the library despite the chaos going on around them. But the Oprah Jeep commercial was a real gem. So good, in fact, that I felt a little dirty after watching it.
Doesn’t it seem a bit “over the top” in terms of being exploitative? Let’s tug on America’s heart strings, play on their patriotism, pick the one thing no one is going to sneer at, and then slip in a Jeep toward the end. I don’t know, to me it goes a bit far. Propaganda-ish. Maybe it’s because the work we did in Army psychological operations was far, far, less sophisticated – but we were still strictly prohibited from targeting Americans – to the extent that for quite awhile we weren’t even supposed to put material on the internet because Americans were the primary users of that medium. Never mind that there were two wars ongoing – that’s a line we don’t cross!
I guess when it comes to free market capitalism and selling good old American cars, we’re not as particular?
What if this were a Hyundai ad? Would that be different?
In Namibia a few months ago, a young woman named Johanna Benson won a gold medal, sprinting in the paralympics. No one had ever heard of her, nor paid her any attention until she won that medal. But when she returned amid front page headlines, half the country welcomed her at the airport. And a few companies brought banners proclaiming “Welcome Home Johanna” – of course with their company’s brand prominently displayed. There was significant outcry from Namibian politicians, claiming they hadn’t paid attention to her until she won her medal, and now they wanted to use her image to sell their product.
That’s what this feels like. Anyone agree or disagree?
