I was watching Law & Order on TNT last night when an advertisement for Chrysler aired. In the ad, a man’s usual car is surreptitiously replaced with a Chrysler, and the viewer sees him driving along talking about how much he likes the Chrysler. Then, at the end of the ad, the narrator announces that Chrysler also replaced his wife of 20 years with a fashion model, to which the man says, “Thank you, Chrysler!” Is that supposed to elicit a laugh? Sorry, Dieter. Even if you have a lousy marriage, please at least keep your jaded and juvenile attitude about it to yourself.
Postmodern iconoclastic and non-sequitur themes are the new norms for advertising for many products. They appeal to younger people and entertain by mashing together elements from things that don’t go together at all. Think of the “un-pimp my ride” ads by Volkswagen, featuring the engineer, clad all in white, who speaks Jive (or whatever the contemporary hip-hop equivalent is called) with a heavy Teutonic accent. Spoofs are common too, as are scenarios in which someone explicitly says what everyone knows or thinks but would never say in real life.
I find lots of this advertising very funny, and it’s nice to have ads that primarily entertain rather than directly appeal to covetousness. Unfortunately, some senseless, or maybe just immature, advertising workers don’t really understand the humor involved. But, not wanting to be left out, they produce ads that are harmful and offensive rather than funny. They step over the line from humorous to crass and cynical. The Chrysler ad is just one example.
Another is the Bahamavention campaign by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. The ads are saturated with cynicism, featuring photographs (more like caricatures) of ordinary people in need of a “Bahamavention.” (See the mash up of unrelated ideas in that made-up word? At least that much is almost funny.) Their one-sentence testimonials are printed next to their photo: “I was so white, I couldn’t wear myself after Labor Day.” Ha ha. “Before my Bahamavention, the least little thing would set me off. Like someone saying hello.” Ad nauseam. The photographs remind me of the Twilight Zone episode “The Masks,” and the Bahamas is now, without doubt, the last place I would ever vacation. Take it from me: if you look anything like the people in those photos, you need a therapist sooner than a vacation.
More discussion on the Chrysler ad can be found here.
Technorati Tags: chrysler bahamas bahamavention ads ad advertising
Print This Post
