Changing hearts and minds through ... commercials?

[urban-hermit]

I think this is terrific!

soccer commercial
youtube.com/watch?v=bggFBWn7YoI

If you have a slow connection please be patient - the video is less than one-and-a-half minutes long (takes maybe ten minutes to download on a slow connection) but is very well-done and meaningful, considering…

If this is the case for you, turn off your speakers and let the whole thing play through stutteringly as it downloads for maybe 10 minutes (catch up on some reading, take out the garbage, wash the dishes,…), then when it’s done, hit “Watch Again” to see it run through smoothly with your speakers on. Enjoy!

 

[Brigadoon]

That was so sweet! I was in tears

 

[Other_Eric]

This is a commercial that uses sentimental drivel to teach children how to be self-centered. The child in it essentially treats his parents as a sort of vending machine in order to advance his own selfish desire for a soccer partner. The infant, for him, is essentially just another one of his toys. If this is the sort of commercial that is intended to change hearts and minds, then I would advise that you keep your children away from it.

 

[estesbob]

This is a commercial that uses sentimental drivel to teach children how to be self-centered. The child in it essentially treats his parents as a sort of vending machine in order to advance his own selfish desire for a soccer partner. The infant, for him, is essentially just another one of his toys. If this is the sort of commercial that is intended to change hearts and minds, then I would advise that you keep your children away from it.

Did we watch the same commercial?

 

[urban-hermit]

This is a commercial that uses sentimental drivel to teach children how to be self-centered. The child in it essentially treats his parents as a sort of vending machine in order to advance his own selfish desire for a soccer partner. The infant, for him, is essentially just another one of his toys. If this is the sort of commercial that is intended to change hearts and minds, then I would advise that you keep your children away from it.

Does anybody else feel this way ? I was surprised to read this take on it.

 

[JimG]

Obviously he needs somebody to play goalie.

 

[marvin]

This is a commercial that uses sentimental drivel to teach children how to be self-centered. The child in it essentially treats his parents as a sort of vending machine in order to advance his own selfish desire for a soccer partner. The infant, for him, is essentially just another one of his toys. If this is the sort of commercial that is intended to change hearts and minds, then I would advise that you keep your children away from it.

Wow…

Lighten up Captain Bringdown!

 

[Leeta]

This was great. Of course, it is only for mature audiences.

My sons would wholeheartedly agree with the child. When our sixth was born, his big brothers who are big soccer fanatics wanted us to name the new baby after a certain Brazilian soccer star. I told them when they each had their own children they could name their son after any soccer stars they want.
They proceeded to teach the new baby how to kick a scoccer ball as he grew. So that the youngest was able to kick a ball before he took his first step!

Yes, every boy wants his own soccer team. When they are all at home they go at it in the yard with the soccer ball.

 

[urban-hermit]

When our sixth was born, his big brothers who are big soccer fanatics wanted us to name the new baby after a certain Brazilian soccer star.

Heh heh - so you didn’t want it to be like,

“These are my six boys: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and Pelé”

 

[rlg94086]

Thanks for posting that commercial…very cute. It is certainly better from a life standpoint than the condom commercial I’ve seen with a screaming kid in a supermarket.

I would rather see a commercial promoting a kid wanting a sibling for selfish reasons (he is a kid after all) than a commercial urging adults to use a condom for selfish reasons.

Besides, the very selfishness the kid portrays will be softened by his sibling…he just doesn’t know it yet. Love for brothers and/or sisters helps to take their eyes off of themselves.

 

[jediliz]

I thought the commercial was sweet.

But I thought it would be advertising NIKE or something, not a candy bar!

 

[Other_Eric]

Thanks for posting that commercial…very cute. It is certainly better from a life standpoint than the condom commercial I’ve seen with a screaming kid in a supermarket.

I would rather see a commercial promoting a kid wanting a sibling for selfish reasons (he is a kid after all) than a commercial urging adults to use a condom for selfish reasons.

Besides, the very selfishness the kid portrays will be softened by his sibling…he just doesn’t know it yet. Love for brothers and/or sisters helps to take their eyes off of themselves.

If one is going to compare this commercial to one promoting the usage of contraception, then the proper comparison to draw is that in each commercial the idea is being advanced that sexuality is merely a crude method of wish fulfillment. Whether one is using sex purely for the purposes of orgasm or one is using sex to obtain for oneself another to use for some selfish purpose is irrelevant. In either case, the end is an evil one.

Nor can we justify the child’s misuse of his parent’s sexual faculty by speculating about the lessons he might learn from it in the future. Were that the case, we could be justified in showing anything on the screen, including the disgusting spectacle of a twelve-year-old girl being raped. One cannot use evil in the pursuit of some remote good end.

As Christians, we must be careful to guard our children and ourselves from moral error. Especially when those errors come in a warm, fuzzy package bedecked with a cute jingle.

 

[Atreyu]

If one is going to compare this commercial to one promoting the usage of contraception, then the proper comparison to draw is that in each commercial the idea is being advanced that sexuality is merely a crude method of wish fulfillment. Whether one is using sex purely for the purposes of orgasm or one is using sex to obtain for oneself another to use for some selfish purpose is irrelevant. In either case, the end is an evil one.

Nor can we justify the child’s misuse of his parent’s sexual faculty by speculating about the lessons he might learn from it in the future. Were that the case, we could be justified in showing anything on the screen, including the disgusting spectacle of a twelve-year-old girl being raped. One cannot use evil in the pursuit of some remote good end.

As Christians, we must be careful to guard our children and ourselves from moral error. Especially when those errors come in a warm, fuzzy package bedecked with a cute jingle.

So a child’s desire to have a little brother is an evil end?

 

[rlg94086]

I agree with the earlier poster…lighten up! The commercial doesn’t show the parent’s motivation for having another child, so there is no reason to believe they did it just to fulfill their child’s wish. However, people do sometimes have children because they would like their child to have siblings. Is that evil? Really?

You are comparing a child’s desire for a sibling, with the rape of a 12-year-old??? :ehh: Get a grip.

I don’t know if you have kids or not, but I have four. I have heard all sorts of selfish comments from my children in anticipation of a sibling. I didn’t chastise them and lecture them about the use of sex to fulfill a selfish purpose.

If one is going to compare this commercial to one promoting the usage of contraception, then the proper comparison to draw is that in each commercial the idea is being advanced that sexuality is merely a crude method of wish fulfillment. Whether one is using sex purely for the purposes of orgasm or one is using sex to obtain for oneself another to use for some selfish purpose is irrelevant. In either case, the end is an evil one.

Nor can we justify the child’s misuse of his parent’s sexual faculty by speculating about the lessons he might learn from it in the future. Were that the case, we could be justified in showing anything on the screen, including the disgusting spectacle of a twelve-year-old girl being raped. One cannot use evil in the pursuit of some remote good end.

As Christians, we must be careful to guard our children and ourselves from moral error. Especially when those errors come in a warm, fuzzy package bedecked with a cute jingle.

 

[Other_Eric]

So a child’s desire to have a little brother is an evil end?

The desire for a brother or sister, in and of itself, is not evil. It is a good thing. That, however, is not what the commercial linked to depicts. The child in this commercial does not desire a sibling in order to love and rejoice in that other person’s uniqueness. Instead, the child means for that other person to service his selfish desires. For this child, the value of that sibling is contained entirely in the potential for that sibling to be used to this child’s own end. This is the very antithesis of love. It is therefore an evil.

 

[Other_Eric]

I agree with the earlier poster…lighten up! The commercial doesn’t show the parent’s motivation for having another child, so there is no reason to believe they did it just to fulfill their child’s wish. However, people do sometimes have children because they would like their child to have siblings. Is that evil? Really?

You are comparing a child’s desire for a sibling, with the rape of a 12-year-old??? :ehh: Get a grip.

I don’t know if you have kids or not, but I have four. I have heard all sorts of selfish comments from my children in anticipation of a sibling. I didn’t chastise them and lecture them about the use of sex to fulfill a selfish purpose.

Indeed, the commercial does not show the parent’s motivation for having a child. The commercial is filmed in such a way as to suggest that a child can manipulate his parents into providing him with a sibling for no other reason than to satisfy his own ends. This is the thesis of the entire commercial, that others around the child exist solely for his benefit. Let’s call this thing for what it is, a romanticizing of the sin of pride.

 

[rlg94086]

Indeed, the commercial does not show the parent’s motivation for having a child. The commercial is filmed in such a way as to suggest that a child can manipulate his parents into providing him with a sibling for no other reason than to satisfy his own ends. This is the thesis of the entire commercial, that others around the child exist solely for his benefit. Let’s call this thing for what it is, a romanticizing of the sin of pride.

Okay…I just realized you are typing all of this tongue-in-cheek. You had me going for a minute. No one could really be offended by this commercial.

 

[Other_Eric]

Okay…I just realized you are typing all of this tongue-in-cheek. You had me going for a minute. No one could really be offended by this commercial.

I assure you, my response is genuine. You cannot justify the promotion of evil simply because it arouses comfortable passions.

 

[rlg94086]

Oh.

Well, I see no evil being promoted in that commercial. I don’t believe that the innocent, albeit selfish, desires of a child for a sibling are evil. I also don’t believe that parents having another child after their current child set them up with a nice dinner and romantic lighting is evil. I wish it happened more often.

The way I see it, this child rekindled romantic love between his parents in this fictional tale. That’s a good thing. A child comes from such good things.

I assure you, my response is genuine. You cannot justify the promotion of evil simply because it arouses comfortable passions.

 

[Other_Eric]

Oh.

Well, I see no evil being promoted in that commercial. I don’t believe that the innocent, albeit selfish, desires of a child for a sibling are evil. I also don’t believe that parents having another child after their current child set them up with a nice dinner and romantic lighting is evil. I wish it happened more often.

The way I see it, this child rekindled romantic love between his parents in this fictional tale. That’s a good thing. A child comes from such good things.

The entertainment we choose for ourselves needs to be judged not by the emotions it evokes but by the cold, sober glare of correctly informed reason. If this commercial featured a child rekindling the erotic love between his parents without the selfish desire for a sibling-as-toy, it would be fine. Because the commercial’s entire premise rests upon this child’s selfish desire to use a prospective sibling for his own ends rather than to respect the human dignity of that sibling, I call it evil.