In addition to working my regular day job, being husband to the Ash, dad to Henry, walker of the dog, and pretending to be a grad student, I also manage to find time in my busy schedule to do a bit of volunteer advertising work. You know, since the advertisers are struggling so much and they need a bit of help here and there. Hey I do what I can.
Anyway, my latest contribution is this little spot for the all new Volvo S80, a sporty yet practical little number that you can take home for a measly $39K. Check it out.
The meetings with Volvo's ad-execs were pretty tough. I basically had to convince them that their target audience consists of privileged white people who want the freedom and the power to drive like assholes, but don't want to feel too guilty about it. Man, what a tough sell! It seemed like nothing was getting through to them, so I finally just had to show a rough sketch of the commercial, and man, they ate it up like little baby piglets. Finally!
Sadly, my vision didn't make it to the small screen completely unscathed. For example, my version starts out with the couple's Hispanic maid beseeching them to drive carefully as they speed away from their ultra-modern hillside home towards the city lights below. My version also called for much more attractive actors, but the big boys decided to go with more non-threatening types. Oh, one big change that really pissed me off: the commercial shows the car's warning system alerting the driver of a bus, which he then veers around. In my version, the system alerts him of a homeless woman who has wandered into the street, and he then veers around her. I really thought this would depict Volvo's humanity towards the less-fortunate, those who are unable to afford high-tech systems to warn them of impending danger. Ah well. What is art to these Philistines?
3 comments:
How very interesting! Of course, corporate America is uncomfortable talking about issues of social justice and diversity because it's all about the bottom line. And, of course, they don't want to make those who can actually afford to purchase the car feel guilty about their own indulgences (not criticizing, but I teach an affluent group of teenagers, so I am more than aware of this issue), because that guilt may veer them from purchasing the car!
Is is stressful being an "ad-guy?" You're good at it!
Dude, that commerical was MY idea. I've been running that pitch to Volvo for years.
Theif.
I mean, "thief."
I think they won't hire me because I can't spell.
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