Clopay: Truly enviable
I know it's a joke. No one's sitting at Clopay Garage Doors maliciously scheming to pit neighbor against neighbor. (At least, I hope they aren't.)
But the ad - despite its playful take on this popular American saying - has truth to it because we do suffer envy. When you have something nicer, I notice. Enough nicer things and my notice turns dark - either against you for having them, against me in the form of discontent, or against God or a boss or a parent who didn't make nicer as possible for me.
Now the interesting part. The print ad here did little more than catch my intellectual attention. I saw the Joneses reference and finer print about calling "for your free guide filled with advice on how to make your garage truly enviable," but that's about it. It was the rotating display of homes on the website that grabbed me emotionally. I watched them and said aloud, "Wow."
That's when I felt bullied. The web pics are stunning and I'd live in any one of those houses. But I can't. Is it fair, then, for those who have, to push those who have not, even playfully?
3 comments:
The fact is that there will always be someone who has more and better than we have.
Is it wrong for advertisers to play upon our envy? I don't know but I do know that we can be distinctive by the way we respond to these ads
Is that what you felt they were trying to do? Or was it just the effect?
Not sure about Clopay's intentions. They certainly had to approve of the copy and the general envy theme. In that way, they were intentional. ESI asked if that were wrong. I'll say yes.
I wonder why couldn't they play on, say, beauty instead of envy. The ad and pics did have an effect on me. Why encourage that effect toward something harmful and competitive when they could encourage me toward something admirable and delightful?
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