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Sep. 22nd, 2011 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
webofevilOnly in recent years have drinks companies even begun to acknowledge that there might be a downside to their product, with “drink responsibly” taglines in print and helpline numbers appearing on cinema adverts, and none have yet openly tackled the problem of alcoholism. So congratulations are due to Carling for finally tackling this taboo in their poignant new TV spot.
The ad features a man sitting on a train, thinking only about his next drink. Everything he sees from the window has associations with his own experiences—an unnamed woman, games of football, gigs he has attended—which, in turn, he can view only through the prism of his addiction. The beer he is anticipating he envisions in bright colour, while his experiences are all portrayed in black and white, perhaps because they are tinged with regret; who knows what domestic or sporting violence he has been responsible for while drunk? Finally he escapes the train (does he even stay on the train till his intended stop? This is left ambiguous) and slopes off guiltily and alone to the first visible place where he can feed his addiction without suffering the judgment of others. It's a sad and accurate portrait of a lonely and ultimately debilitating illness, and Carling should be commended for raising awareness of it.
At least, I'm presuming this is what they were intending.
The ad features a man sitting on a train, thinking only about his next drink. Everything he sees from the window has associations with his own experiences—an unnamed woman, games of football, gigs he has attended—which, in turn, he can view only through the prism of his addiction. The beer he is anticipating he envisions in bright colour, while his experiences are all portrayed in black and white, perhaps because they are tinged with regret; who knows what domestic or sporting violence he has been responsible for while drunk? Finally he escapes the train (does he even stay on the train till his intended stop? This is left ambiguous) and slopes off guiltily and alone to the first visible place where he can feed his addiction without suffering the judgment of others. It's a sad and accurate portrait of a lonely and ultimately debilitating illness, and Carling should be commended for raising awareness of it.
At least, I'm presuming this is what they were intending.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-22 12:25 pm (UTC)"these are all the things I dream of happening in my life...
"And this is the only thing that IS."
L Here
Date: 2011-09-22 04:11 pm (UTC)Over the years I've had endless discussions with clients and advertisers and I can never recall any of them trying to break the rules of not showing health/life benefits of drinking. It's usually one of the most tortuous parts of researching booze ads is making sure it's all fun without being too fun. That will be taken off air I can almost guarantee.
Re: L Here
Date: 2011-09-22 08:35 pm (UTC)Re: L Here
Date: 2011-09-22 08:37 pm (UTC)Said it before, will say it again: tell me what the product does. Don't pretend it's my saviour or my friend.