DON’T BUY THIS

 

There is an impactful commercial that plays rather often on the TV stations we watch. It shows a person standing at an empty refrigerator, looking for what is not there.  The person’s feature changes, to reveal different people from different cultures, as words flash above telling us that 1 out of 8 Minnesotans are hungry, including 1 out of 5 children.  It’s an effective ad for Second Harvest Heartland, one they hope helps people make a donation to their effort.  An especially effective commercial during holiday times.

 

Today, the commercial came up again: I watched the faces change, I read the sobering statistics. We’ve been giving to groups that feed the hungry since the pandemic started, and it reminded me how important that is.

 

The next commercial was for “your Twin Cities Jaguar dealer”. No faces changing into others, just shots of the car, and words about how much you can “save”. The purpose, as with the prior commercial, is to move people to give money—in this case, a lot of it, to purchase what they want.  An especially effective commercial during holiday times.

 

It struck me that we will never make real progress in ending hunger until we see the connection between those two ads.  The first one asks you to make a difference in another person’s life, by giving $25 or $50 or $100.  The second one asks you to let Jaguar make a difference in your life, by giving them tens of thousands of dollars.

 

Both commercials, ultimately, are geared to making us feel good about ourselves.  The first may lead us into guilt first, but our donation can alleviate that into a feeling that we are good because we did something good.  The second one skips the guilt entirely, just leads us into feeling good because we can afford a Jaguar, and therefore, at some level, deserve one.

 

I have nothing against helping the hungry.  I have a hell of a lot against “helping the hungry” without taking a hard look at our consumption, and the structures that support and enable grow inequality.  If we don’t make those connections—personally and on a national and global scale—we are going to see the same commercials next year.  We will be able to give to help feed the hungry, and we will be able to buy, or fantasize about buying, the sexy power car.

 

I don’t want to feel good about that.  I want it to chafe.

 

 

Be justice. Be beauty.  Be as critical as the times demand.

 

 

Patrick