Guinness' new ad just earned them a loyal customer

September 7, 2013 - 11:48pm - by admin

Now that's not to say that I haven't had Guinness before. I have.

In fact I'll pick it over a lot of other beers when my usual standby craft beers aren't available.

But their new ad struck a chord with me in a way that I can say no other beer commercial has done before.

Especially as a woman who, honestly, loves beer.

See, I've always taken issue with the image of the classic beer drinker: some super macho guy who loves sports and wears ball caps and dates cheerleaders.

Obviously I don't fit into any of those categories -I'm not a man, I don't like sports, I hate ball caps, I'm not a cheerleader... plus, I don't like men who like sports, wear ball caps and date cheerleaders. Those just aren't 'my' people.

They drink beer like me, but I've always felt removed from mainstream beer culture for those reasons -mainstream beer isn't "for" me.

But Guinness -which I consider to be a relatively 'mainstream' beer- really impressed me with their new commercial.

It's intense and moving. It shows people -men, specifically- being kind and considerate and genuinely good people. It shows them showing compassion for someone else.

Sure, there's some sports involved, but it doesn't feel like the same 'HURR HURR FOOTBALL' usually associated with beer commercials. It feels genuine.

The first few seconds are really intense and emotional, and when everyone gets up out of their wheelchairs and you realize that it's a bunch of dudes doing it for the benefit of their friend it just breaks your heart in this unspeakably wonderful way.

In particular I like the phrase they chose to use at the end of the commercial:

"The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character"

because means so much more than just what we choose to drink at the bar.

Well done, Guinness. You've come out with a thoughtful, touching and elegant advertisement for your product and you've earned yourself a lifelong supporter.

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new Mad Men begins March 25th

January 26, 2012 - 3:08pm - by admin

and I'm really excited about that because Mad Men is among my top-favourite shows to watch and last year didn't feel the same without it (also, where did last year go? wow) and new ads have been put up that are sparking controversy all over the interwebz.

the reason behind the freak-out is that the poster seems to resemble the 9/11 image of the falling man and even though yes the man in the Mad Men poster is falling people seem to be forgetting how the opening credits to the show go and overlooking the obvious homage to Saul Bass' work on posters like Vertigo, which also fit the with time frame of the show.

and let's not trivialize 9/11 for one second, it was a terrible tragedy and we should never forget it

but c'mon guys, this is reaching a bit too far

if we're going to get upset about the poster, why not get upset because of all the other people who jump to their deaths every year? did you know that in Hong Kong over 50% of suicides are by defenestration? why not get upset over that instead

at the risk of sounding callous don't we have bigger things to worry about these days than whether or not a poster that, if you stop for a second and don't go with your immediate "omg! I'm offended" reaction, you'll realize fits in with the theme and context of the show

and besides, nothing happens if you get offended anyway, so just chill out and enjoy the show when it comes back in March
(omgomgomg)

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