Emotional ads don’t sit well

I don’t own a television, so Super Bowl Sunday was pretty boring for me.  Rather than visiting some seedy pirated livestream and having my door kicked in the next day by NFL copyright police, I stuck to monitoring twitter and youtube.

But following the trending hashtags and watching the commercials after they were aired left me feeling a bit jaded.

Some of the ads were outright grotesque, like the GoDaddy.co “Bar Refaeli Make Out” spot.  The ad’s “Ick!” factor earned it the lowest score on USAToday’s 2013 Ad Meter. However, after Monday, the company saw its highest sales day in history, bringing in more than 10,000 customers, indicating that the shock-value worked.

Out of the top 10 rated commercials, I noticed many had strong emotional messages tied in. To be specific, the two ads Chrysler Group ran for their subordinate franchises, Jeep and Dodge, punted the “warm and fuzzy” football right into the homes of millions of viewers.

Jeep’s “Whole Again” ad was a clear publicity stunt for the USO’s “Operation Safe Return,” capitalizing on the sacrifices of our deployed service members, the suffering of separated families, and the joy of homecoming.  The ad was an audacious gimmick that played American heartstrings like a flag-studded violin.

The Dodge ad was equally smarmy. The voice over was pulled from Paul Harvey’s “God Made a Farmer,” a speech he delivered to the 1978 Future Farmers of America National Convention.

Powerful still photographs were mixed with Harvey’s signature staccato delivery, telling the story of the burdens honest and hard working American agriculturalists face.  The tag line in the end dedicates the commercial to “the Farmer in all of us.”

Out of anyone, these two ads should have brought tears to my eyes and chills down my spine. I grew up on a cattle ranch 50 miles west of Chadron.

I was parliamentarian of my high school’s FFA chapter; I even earned my State FFA Degree.  I joined the Marines after High School and sacrificed a year of my life in Afghanistan to serve the country and people I love.

But my eyes remain dry, and my backbone un-chilled.  The ingratiating tone of these ads insulted the ethics and values I was raised with.

I reject the implication that buying a Jeep is somehow supporting our troops; it’s no more sincere of a gesture than slapping a yellow magnetic ribbon on the back of a Ford Focus.

I also reject the notion that buying a brand new Dodge pickup makes you more of a Farmer.  Many ranchers I know have a passionate dedication for agriculture, but still drive the same rusted-out mid 70s Chevy they’ve had for the past 40 years.

These glossy ads were framed as tributes, but these commercials were not.  Companies don’t spend millions of dollars to air tributes, they crafted the messages, using shameless emotional appeals to push products.

Regardless of whether or not the ad was effective, it’s despicable to imply that consumerism equals patriotism.