(click to enlarge)
Where to begin?
O.K.: first of all, I Red Cross N.Y.?
Second of all, is the guy in the ad supposed to be...cool? fun? wacky? somehow representative, somebody with appeal to us urban folks—like, "Yeah, I totally identify with that guy"?*
Relatedly, but deserving of its own separate recognition: the braided beard?? Are we at a Phish concert in 1995?
My guess is that the model is supposed to represent "variety," that there are lots of these ads, each with a different douchebag, and that the idea is that all sorts of people with all sorts of sensibilities should donate blood. But (a) even in an emergency, I do not want that gentleman's blood in my body, and (b) to pick as an illustration of "diversity" somebody who is obviously trying really really hard to be different, in an awkward, self-conscious, irritating way,** is almost more refutation than it is illustration: it suggests that the way in which "people are different" is that people are pretentious and totally full of shit.
Although I'm sure he really does Red Cross New York.
* Is this an ad they're also running in Minneapolis?
** I think it might even be less the beard or pony tail than it is the hat and jacket.
3 comments:
As your outrage illustrates, this ad is offensive, at least in part, because it tries to appeal to what we think is cool and fails. I have wanted to be cool and alternative since 1993. Even though I have yet to achieve this goal, I know an uncool dork in an ad when I see one, and I'm offended that you would think that I would think he's cool (I'm not *that* uncool, etc.).
Ultimately, though, don't you think this poorly played game is sort of touching? It's not unlike when your mom buys you a Hypercolor t-shirt as a special surprise because she noticed that the other kids are wearing them, but actually you are Goth and don't wear colors, much less clothes that change color when you sweat... ????
Three things:
1--The American Red Cross in Greater New York does _not_ handle blood. That's the New York Blood Center.
2--The American Red Cross in Greater New York is New York City and several upstate counties. Why on earth _would_ they run in Minneapolis?
3-All the people in the ads are genuine volunteers. Say what you want about their appearance, but they give time to make NYC a humane place in the face of fires, crane collapses, and plane crashes.
1. OK.
2. OK.
3. Did I say something negative about volunteering for the Red Cross? Or is your point that anyone who volunteers for the Red Cross is from that point on immune to all criticism of any sort? I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll say what I want about their appearance: you've got yourself a deal.
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