You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
Last week, I covered a truly atrocious commercial for you all. So this week, I decided to do the exact opposite, and grace you with some of the best ads in the “There are some things money can’t buy – for everything else, there’s MasterCard” series.
I’m not gonna tell you these commercials are the best things ever or anything. But dang if they aren’t charming. They’ve just got so much warmth and wholesomeness to them that, combined with the nostalgia rush I get as I recall seeing these ads in my youth … well, they make me feel all good inside.
Check them out for yourself:
I think what makes these work so well is something you don’t often see in commercials: humility.
Most ads, they try to sell you their product as the greatest, be-all, end-all, must have that your entire life should revolve around. It’s usually done as obvious hyperbole for comedic effect, but that’s still the typical commercial vibe.
So the fact that these ads are willing to step back from that, and acknowledge there are things more important and meaningful than what MasterCard can do for you, it makes a difference. It’s telling you that you don’t need the armor of cynicism and irony you normally bring to commercials. It’s being genuine with you, and inviting you to be genuine back, and I like being able to meet them on that ground.
Of course, with any popular, long running ad campaign, there does inevitably come the cynical self-parody:
