Another Advertisement

In my last post, I mentioned an ad that I thought was humorous due to its claim that somehow doughnuts were better for your children than cartoons. Well, in this post, I'm going to destroy an advertisement that drives me absolutely crazy!

Mastercard has often assembled some of the more touching or thought provoking ads with their "Priceless" campaign. Their most recent attempt, however, falls well short of the mark. (You can view the commercial here.)

For those who haven't seen it, an eight year old boy is participating in everyday activities with his dad: brushing their teeth, buying light bulbs, and grocery shopping. With each activity the boy helps his dad be more eco-friendly. "Water glass... five dollars" says child's voice over as the youth turns off the running water. "Energy saving bulb... four dollars" and the child hands the dad the low power bulb while daddy returns the standard one. "reusable bag... two dollars." The son hands the plastic bag back to the cashier and gets a reusable one for his dad. "Helping your dad become a better man: Priceless."

I've often complain that Hollywood puts out too many films where the adults are morons and the kids/teens have all the answers. Now Mastercard has fallen into that same trap. I find few undercurrents more demeaning, more offensive, more detrimental to society than the one that puts forth that the youth know more than the aged.

What are we to infer from this ad? Somewhere this child learned how to be eco-friendly and needs to pass his eight-year-old wisdom on to his dad. Who did he learn if from? TV? His teachers? His friends? What else does dear-ole-daddy not know? What else has dad taught him that he should question or completely ignore? Nothing like undermining what should be the loudest strongest voice of influence in our lives: Our Dad.

Wanna make an eco-friendly commercial? Go right ahead. But have the dad teaching the child how to be environmentally responsible. The dad gives the kid the glass, shows him the better bulb, explains why he's bringing bags into the store. Need a tagline? "Raising the generation you are saving the world for: Priceless." "Passing the world on to a more responsible generation: Priceless." Teaching our children to be responsible is part of the job description. They could even leave my version with "Being a dad: Priceless." letting everybody know: This is something that all dads need to be doing.

Telling Mastercard where they can stick their commercial: Priceless.