[One of my old posts from the JTA blog, Good for the Jews, may it rest in peace.]
There's one commercial that always gets to me. The Folgers' commercial
where the grownup kid hitchhikes back into his parents' house
before Christmas, surprising them and awakening them with the brisk
smell of coffee. My eyes tear up every time. Especially to someone like
me who has no family connection to Christmas, that the ad provokes such
an emotional reaction is slightly absurd. But somehow the commercial
works. It evokes family, homecoming, and surprising the people you love
with something you know they will really love. And it's from 1986.
These days, advertising isn't about sentiment, it's about buzz. People talk about ad campaigns--at
work at the water cooler, after work with friends. From actors Justin Long and John Hodgeman playing the instant icons of
Mac and PC
to a talking gecko, from a car that goes "zoom
zoom" to celebrity pitchpersons, memorable is the new meaningful. So
perhaps it's time for Judaism to take a lesson from Mac, Geico,
Priceline, Travelocity and others--by sinking money and creativity into
a "corporate rebrand" and hiring today's most innovative thinkers to
create a Judaism that really pops.
With many Jews falling prey to health and diet messages in the
mainstream media, the vitamin-deprived may want to open a new can of
Coke and try new Diet Judaism Plus: no calories, tastes like regular
Diet Judaism, but with a supplementary ten percent of the religious
equivalent of whatever zinc and potassium represent in this metaphor.
Perhaps we need a talking animal to help us out--perhaps a goat,
recalling ancient temple sacrifice, or as rendered by a cartoonist friend of mine, a
blowfish, quietly co-existing until threatened by hostile neighbors. And if there ever was a spokesperson designed to be the mascot of the Wandering Jews, it is certainly Travelocity's roaming gnome.
Maybe a scantily clad woman washes her car (in preparation for
Passover), will inspire the unaffiliated or fence-sitting Jews to jump
one way or another? If Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk will shill for
Priceline, why not for Judaism?
The challenge remains, for American advertising and American
Jewry, to maintain the level of entertainment and buzz, creating an
experience that is memorable, while also ensuring the survival of
substance and meaning.