We can lump this video in with the others that attempt to shed light on issues in society that matter while discreetly hawking their wares in the background. The best form of advertising? I’m not sure, but the commercial makes space for some thinking about how generational experiences are becoming increasingly stratified and foreign to one another.
Are today’s youth doomed to be nothing but cloistered vid-heads who only know nature through what they have seen on the screens of their tablets? Possibly but I’m thinking that much of the fuss we see about losing out youth to technology is a direct result of our societies ruthless quest for economic productivity, seemingly at all costs.
Productivity has ever increased, but at what social cost? Remember when only one bread-winner was required to live a reasonable life and raise children? Successive generations have had to work harder for less money, just to stay in place. Community life has taken a back seat to the lifestyle focused the individual and consumption – social technology directly feeds into our atomization and separation from others.
The leaders of our society have learned the lessons of the past. All that New Deal/Civil Rights/ Second Wave Feminist scared them shitless and having witnessed what an organized community of like minded people can accomplish are doing their best to ensure that it (social change benefiting the masses) does not happen again. People with common interests, common community and commitment to bettering their own interests change society. Isolated lone-wolves mired in consumptive practices do not. Hence witness the trajectory of our society in which the ‘tailored-experience’ is all the rage; the idea that making choices (ones that are carefully circumscribed mind you) is empowering; and sadly the idea that social power resides in competition and being ‘unique’. These are all hallmarks of society geared toward preserving a status-quo that benefits a particular segment of society.
The video is playing up the same fears every generation has about the next. Are some of the concerns valid? I think so, but nothing that cannot be overcome with realization that social media friends are not the same as having friends in real life. Sharing (not the facebook variety) your life with others is a necessary part of healthily existing in society and cannot be replaced by social media. Can social media/technology be used to enhance and facilitate our social interactions? Of course, but it is not a replacement for the attachment and community humans need to be healthy and happy.
Societal analysis aside,I for one am glad that video games have come as far as they have. Video games are an immersive experience for me that allow me to spend some time outside of the real-world. At the same time I do realize that video gaming is just one aspect of life and must be balanced with other pursuits/activities/interests.
Admittedly, one must be careful in allocating time to video gaming as hours seem to disappear, especially when playing with your friends . It is very easy to lose yourself in the experience and come out bleary-eyed on the other-side wondering why the hell it is 2am and why you’re not sleeping. :)
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
4 comments
August 5, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Sedate Me
People with common interests, common community and commitment to bettering their own interests change society. Isolated lone-wolves mired in consumptive practices do not. Hence witness the trajectory of our society in which the ‘tailored-experience’ is all the rage; the idea that making choices (ones that are carefully circumscribed mind you) is empowering; and sadly the idea that social power resides in competition and being ‘unique’.
Knocked that one out of the park!
This is a truth precious few in our modern tech-worshipping society can even comprehend. Even fewer want to hear it. They just want to use their wonderful devices to keep abreast of the truly important things in life…such as Bruce Jenner’s latest nip-slip.
Sure, technology can be used to make (third rate, paper-thin) “connections” to people who may be complete works of fiction. But let’s be honest. These “connections” are mostly just a way to kill time in their otherwise empty lives and to substitute for actual connections to actual people. That, and justify the ridiculous amount of debt rung up for buying these pieces of shit made by starving Asian kids and the obscenely overpriced package your media oligopoly saddled you with.
I look at people on their devices exactly the same way I look at heroin junkies and public masturbators. Because they are. Everybody tries to pretend they’re “responsible users”. But people almost never use their devices for anything remotely important. They use them because they’re addicted to the instant self-gratification they deliver. In the process, they isolate themselves from those closest to them and nullify any chance of any meaningful social interaction during their decreasing exits from their homes & workplaces.
In a generation, or two, we will all be Bubble-Boys living in virtual cocoons. Divided & conquered by our own pathetic need to self-pleasure.
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August 6, 2015 at 4:08 pm
Sedate Me
And it is rather odd that a snack food company thinks that this…abnormally valid & honest….ad (???) is going to sell more granola bars.
Could it be that this is a message that can only be tolerated in the mainstream media because it’s being used to sell shit? I sure hope not.
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August 8, 2015 at 7:57 am
The Arbourist
@Sedate Me
Companies are trying the honest angle to hawke their wares it is a thing as of late – Dove for instance.
So if soap can do it, why not food items?
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August 9, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Sedate Me
The Arbourist,
Yeah, I’ve seen the Dove thing and had it in the back of my mind. How daring to expose their own industry’s manipulative tactics to…get women to buy their products! There’s certainly a high level of irony at work here.
Perhaps Apple should hawk their shit in the following way:
Hi. I’m one of God’s angels. Mr Jobs sent me down from Heaven last night to speak directly to you because, apparently, Heaven doesn’t have Wi-Fi. Here’s what He told me to tell you…
Do you like to sit around all day playing stupid games and masturbating? Need to crank one out in the office bathroom but tired of thinking about the secretary? Do you like taking “up-skirts” & “down-blouses”? Well, we make our products just for you.
Do you enjoy the ability to take a shit on anybody, at any time, and from anywhere? Do you like posting videos you took of old women falling down stairs? Well, we make our products just for you.
Do you want the entire universe to know every single personal detail about you? Do you enjoy being tracked in real-time by deranged stalkers and deranged corporations? Do you like it when people assume your identity? Does it make you feel special? Does it make you feel wanted? Does it make you feel loved? Well, we make our products just for you.
Tired of having to pay attention to boring friends, family members, TV shows, or other drivers on the road? Do you want to isolate yourself in a cone of silence, to cut yourself off from the world around you? Well, we make our products just for you.
Do you feel empty inside if you don’t buy something at least once every hour? Are you too lazy to go to a store to buy something? Well, we make our products just for you.
So, if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re probably a narcissistic loser with no life. You may even be a budding sociopath. Congratulations, you’re exactly the kind of customer we’re looking for!
So, next time we crank out some re-hashed version of last year’s over-hyped product, run out to the Apple store and get in line. Who knows? You’ll probably meet people EXACTLY like you…assuming you can pry them away from the device that they’ll throw in the garbage the second they get to the front of the line.
Jobs bless!
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