Isn’t Life Delicious?
Television — By John Pattison on September 17, 2009 at 11:39 am
Once when I was a kid, we were watching television together as a family, and this McDonald’s commercial came on. It’s the one where a little kid brings his dad to school as his show and tell. The kid says something like “This is my dad. He’s my best friend.” Then somebody – maybe Mom, maybe one of my brothers – noticed that my dad was crying.
My family was going through a rough patch at that time. My older brother was entering into what would be a long period of rebellion, and my parents were arguing a lot, and the whole family was exhausted. My dad was sometimes teased for being too sensitive, too prone to cry. But I always thought this was one of his best qualities, and the night my dad cried over the McDonald’s commercial is one of my favorite memories. I hope some of that sensitivity got passed on to me.
Last night I came across a classic Lifesavers commercial that moved me when I was younger, and has taken on a new resonance now that I have a two year-old daughter. It’s the one where a father is watching the sun set with his kid. As the sun slips below the horizon, the dad says, “Going, going, gone.” And the child says “Do it again, Daddy.”
(Sorry about the weird guy at the end of the video.)
I didn’t cry last night, but I watched that old commercial several times.
Advertisers are experts at creating personal connections in thirty seconds or less – the length of a commercial, or the time it takes you to drive past a billboard. The products these advertisers sell are often insidious; and the means by which they sell them often appeal to what is most base in our nature.
But some commercials, like the one above, can be timely reminders that real life is a string of moments. One of the things I get to do for Molly is provide her with a series of memorable moments that make her feel confident about who she is in our family, who she is in her community, and who she is before God. Which is pretty great.
4 Comments
There is a grocery store in the south called Publix that’s pretty huge, I don’t know if you are familiar or not. Every year around the major holidays (sometimes Valentine’s Day but usually Thanksgiving/Christmas) they put out a new commercial that always makes me cry (every single time I watch it, which is usually often.) Publix commercials to tears = playing a mentally handicapped character to Oscars. I’ll go ahead and describe one.
A boy around the age of 9 asks his mom to help him make a cake for Valentine’s Day, for someone special. They proceed to the kitchen where she helps him bake the cake. This involves showing him how to cut it into a heart shape, frosting/decorating, and some obligatory laughter. She says, “I know she’s going to love it” and he smiles, looks up at her and says, “it’s perfect” (or something like that). Then they are in the car and she is dropping him off at school. He jumps out, cute ginormous backpack bouncing, and turns back to the car. He’s almost out of earshot when the mom notices he has left the cake on the front seat. She shouts, “wait you forgot the cake!” to which he just smiles and shakes his head “no”, leaving her flabbergasted and looking like she’s about to cry.
I just teared up writing that re-cap because when I dream of having a family, this is exactly the kind of moments I want.
Shane Hipps describe the emotional/commercial phenomenon well. I’m sure he addresses it in his book Flickering Pixels, but I don’t know for sure, since my boss won’t give it back. In person, he tells the story of being the ad executive with the BMW (I think) account and doing market/focus group research. He said he became so intimate with people’s insecurities, because it was his goal to make grown men cry. Once you play to that insecurity (or soft spot) and break the emotional barrier, they buy the BMW. And he knew exactly how to make it happen.
Now he’s a Mennonite minister.
Emily, your commercial description made my mascara run
John, I kind of liked the weird guy at the end.