On the Common 063
Hello everyone,
The pictures out of Turkey and Syria this week have been devastating. Here are two places you might consider giving to earthquake relief:
Thanks!
The Part Where There’s an Essay: The Big Ads
We are coming up on yet another Super Bowl. Have you noticed the role of the trademark with that word? Our local commercials, eager to sell you a new TV for Sunday, instead talk about “The Big Game,” because they can’t use the trademarked term. It’s been trademarked since 1969.
Even though our interest in American football has waned in recent years, we still watch the game. It’s a “cultural phenomenon;” it’s an excuse to eat interesting foods; and lastly (no apologies here), over the course of our marriage, there have been twenty-two Super Bowls and our chosen teams have played in exactly half of them.
But the ads! The ads are a whole other thing. Most people now are on their phones during the game or during the ads (or both), but I’ve been to parties where there’s one group that’s in it for the game and one group that is in it for the ads. The groups trade places in the house when the commercial breaks start.
Reports are that this year, advertising spots cost somewhere between $6 million and $7 million per 30-second spot. Advertisers are willing to pay this exorbitant amount, as Fox sold out quickly. So clearly companies believe that the price tag is worth it. In workplace or school conversations next week, the ads will be discussed, even though most of them are available on YouTube right now. There is something compelling about the huge, corporate experience of the Super Bowl that makes marketers keep showing up year after year.
A few years ago, in a fit of parenting inspiration, I slapped a poster-sized Post-it note up on the wall of the living room and told the kids that we would take notes and do some analysis on the ads. We focused on a few questions and made observations. I don’t have a marketing degree, but I have four decades of being marketed to. Also, I have gone through seasons where I don’t have very much money, and I found those to be very clarifying about the messages that marketing hands us.
The main job of advertising, as I understand it, is to make you dissatisfied with your life without whatever the product is. This applies to the ads on Sunday, billboards you drive by, or your favorite Instagram influencers selling whatever they’re selling.
We asked the following questions:
-What truth does this ad assume?
-What is this ad making you feel like you’re missing?
-What is this ad making you feel like you should be afraid of?
Usually, I find they fall into a few loose categories:
-assumed truths:
-about the purpose of life (happiness, personal fulfillment, etc)
-morals on certain issues
-the role of people as consumers - we deserve “more”
-making you afraid:
-of missing out
-of not being “fully optimized”
-that someone is out to get you (the government, various industries, etc)
The odd thing is -- I have found that Super Bowl advertisers usually fall short in this discussion. The ads shown on Sunday, if they are in keeping with the last decade or so, will want to get your attention
. They will just be funny. Like that self-aware bit up there from 2018.Caution is always merited, but instead of being on guard on Super Bowl Sunday, we should be aware of our normal lives — what messages from advertisers are we believing day in and day out without even realizing it? What’s the lie that awaits us on Instagram on Monday morning?
For the Anglophiles
Metal Detector Hobbyist Finds a 500-year-old pendant Linked to Henry VIII. “The front was decorated with a pomegranate bush, an emblem of Katherine, and an entwined, double-headed Tudor rose, which was employed by the Tudors starting in 1486. On the other side, the letters H and K — for Henry and Katherine — were written in Lombardic script and connected by a ribbon.”
Reads & Listens of the Week
A Place for Fire. One of the reasons we bought our current home was the wood-burning fireplace. And then in the first year of ownership, we discovered that there are many, many chimney problems and it would be safer to never light a fire there.
And then I was sad forever.
I enjoyed this interview with Andy Crouch about ChatGPT. He helps us by both (a) explaining what it is and (b) exposing what it can and cannot do. I’m encouraged to know that Andy will be making more appearances on the Good Faith podcast.
We often listen to the Nateland podcast for a laugh midweek. Self-described “grown-up” of the Nateland podcast, Brian Bates, made an appearance on Dadville recently. He recounts his own journey through changing careers and becoming a dad in his early 50s — including a brief retelling of their experience adopting a snowflake baby.
Back in December, Samuel James posted at Mere Orthodoxy about Untangling Theology from Digital Technology. “My prediction is that the future of online evangelical discourse is smaller than bigger, closer than national, and personal rather than viral.” (may it be so!)
Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do. ― C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
What jerks we are. Also, the Carolina Panthers, the home team of our home city, have lost twice in the Super Bowl, once to each of our teams. Big. Jerks.
I remember one ad a few years ago that attempted to start an important conversation -- Nationwide insurance warned about the dangers of household accidents, the leading cause of death for children in America. It was, mildly put, a real downer in the midst of jokey ads about beer and chips. The football and commercial audience was incensed, leading to a statement from the company later that night.
I reject your enticements for a gas-fueled fireplace. They are not the same, as the author of this piece knows.