The new democracy

I have seen two commercials recently that struck me with their inconceivable logic.

First up is the Canadian Kia Rondo sales pitch, you know the one with the clapping. The music of the commercial contains this really slow ‘high school jock’ style clapping that happens in the John Hughes films after the nerd finally does something the cool kids admire. The irony is all the people in the commercial are more of the peewee soccer ilk than anything else….and they’re all standing beside the road clapping! To finish it off there is the most unflattering flare, much like the ultimately inevitable cutting torch of minivan doom coming from the tailgate of the Kia Rondo. No offense to any who drive this vehicle I just needed to vent my incredulity as advertisee.

Second is the Gillette Fusion ad. In this one the ‘lab’ which is a concrete bunker in the middle of the desert dunes is opened to allow a supermodel in a lab coat to approach the be-whiskered billionaire who obviously paid for the whole place. She walks through the four security spotlight beams on the floor and then delivers the silver briefcase with a flourish as though to say “myself and your other hot scientists have finally finished creating a battery powered razor”,…”I’m not sure why you wanted it but it’s done and we’re ready to party”. If you’ve got a minute you should head on over to Gillette where yet another hot scientist (I think her name is Cassandra) will guide you through the lab. Once again, no offense to users of this product.

In the end I think that the last truly powerful democratic right I have is in what I choose to buy. A multinational doesn’t care what my social justice stance is or whether my local library’s funding should pay for their overpass but they do want my money. I’m not sure what that has to do with commercials I despise but it seems that a pathetic commercial reveals just how vulnerable a big company is to us as consumers in this one small aspect. With our currency we can say try harder and tell us more.