Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A Commercial with a Message?

Is it possible? Can a commercial really offer a message more than the product it is trying to sell? I never would have thought so, my assumption has always been the message of a commercial is one to encourage you to use the product being advertised. And I do think that is the purpose of the commercial but I really believe there is more to this.

Stranger than the commercial having a message is that the commercial is for Heineken Premium Light Beer. I do not think it is new for a beer company to offer a message more than the product it is soliciting. I think it was Anheuser Busch that told us "Friends don't let friends drive drunk". It might also be them that uses the slogan "Drink Responsibly". Obviously, those messages are because of how alcohol can cause impairment and they are working to promote their products but not have any liability. I find that idea not quite so surprising, in the litigious society that we have become anyone will look for any loophole to blame someone else for wrongdoing. Companies have to protect themselves as much as they can.

The Heineken commercial is different. If you haven't seen it, or just want to see it again, take a look and see what you think.



Catchy? What did you see? Well what I saw is a commercial that encourages us to do exactly what it is titled, "Share the Good". I noticed this commercial because of the catchy tune but I learned to like it because of the message. In this a beer is symbolic of what is good. Their intent is that you would share a beer. Nothing wrong with sharing a beer and I would be glad to share one with any of you. :-)

If you look beyond the beer and think about the good you see it starts with a guy walking in the middle of nowhere to give a beer to a couple in a hot tub. That couple then shows up at a party handing a beer to someone else. This continues through the commercial, each person that gets a beer shares one with someone else.

The ironic thing is that the person sharing is always taken from their "comfort zone" and into another that would more than likely be uncomfortable. For instance the country/cowboy guy takes it to a ballerina, the ballerina takes it to a steam room at some men's club. At the end of the commercial we see the same guy as the first receive a beer from someone and then it immediately shows him walking again out in the middle of nowhere.

I believe that this commercial challenges us to do and share good. It shows us that it is not always easy to do it and that we should step out of our comfort zones to do it. And in the end it shows us that if we "Share the Good" the good comes back to us.

Recently I have been thinking that I would like to do more to try and help those that may need it. In a time when people are struggling just to buy gas, what kind of impact would it make for me to buy someone a tank of gas? What kind of good could come from random acts of kindness? Or what can I do to make this world a better place? I am going to try to do more to make a difference, I would challenge everyone to do the same. It can be as simple as telling someone thank you for things that normally go unnoticed.

Well there you have it, a deep thought on a simple commercial. Maybe you will want to "Share the Good" too.