Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Honda Commercial Fail

Facts first: I have been married for nearly twenty years. I have three children. I drive a Honda (and I love it).

But what’s up with the new “leap” Honda CR-V commercials? Who came up with those? And can you get your money back, Honda? Seriously, this is 2012, and you’re insinuating that life ends after marriage and baby!?

The two commercials that I’ve seen are the baby question and the marriage proposal. In the baby question, the man (after having been told by his female partner that she’d like a baby) stops to consider all the things he wanted to do before having children: See the Northern Lights in Alaska, built an attack robot and go spelunking with his friends.




The first time I saw the ad, I didn’t think much of it. I turned to my husband and asked, “why can’t he go to Alaska with his baby?” My husband, wise man that he is, just shrugged his shoulders. We’ve lived on two continents, travelled countless airline miles, survived typhoons and one earthquake and somehow managed to do it with kids!

Then came the marriage proposal, which made even less sense. The woman who was asked turned to the camera to let viewers know that there were so many things she wanted to do first. Like hike with her friends, learn to play the drums and finish her short film.



Seriously? I can understand that a new father may not want to go exploring deep dark caves with a baby. It’s certainly not an activity that lends itself to bringing kids, but short films and drums? Northern Lights?

What’s up, Honda? What makes you think people can’t still have fun and adventures after they tie the knot? What’s with the bucket list? Your life isn’t ending. Fun isn’t over. On the contrary.

These commercials would have worked much better if the people turned to the camera, told us what they wanted to do in life and embraced the notion of doing it with loved ones and a family. Just think how much more awesome those Northern Lights are through the eyes of your toddler and in the arms of your partner.

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