Commercial Message
Sam Aurelius Milam III
In
a recent Progressive
insurance commercial, a young man named Daniel walked into his kitchen
and said, "Computer, order pizza."
The
computer replied, "Of course, Daniel."
Next,
Daniel said, "Fridge, weather."
The
refrigerator showed the weather summary on it's TV screen and said, "Clear
skies and 75."
Daniel
said, "Trash can, turn on the TV."
The
trash can flashed all 5 of its indicator lights and said, "My pleasure."
A
small drone flew into the scene, carrying a parcel the pizza.
Daniel
continued, "Ice dispenser. Find me a dog sitter."
The
ice dispenser said, "Oooookaaaay."
Daniel
added, "And make ice."
The
drone dropped its parcel on the floor, having missed the table, and blew
the napkins off of the countertop. It announced, "Pizza delivered."
Daniel
put on his VR head-mounted display and began to wave his hands in front
of him.
Daniel's
father, watching from the kitchen table, asked Flo, "What's happened to
my son?"
Flo,
sitting with him, said, "I think that's just what people are like now.
I mean, with Progressive, you can quote your insurance on just about any
device, even on social media. He'll be fine."
Daniel
continued to wave his hands in front of him, and chortled at something
in his virtual reality scenario. The drone continued to circle nearby.
Daniel's
father asked, "Will he?"
Flo
replied, "I don't know."
The
remarkable thing about the commercial is that only 4 seconds out of 30
have anything at all to do with selling insurance. Most of it is
a spoof of our growing obsession with and dependence on our gadgets, capped
by Flo's dubious assurance that Daniel will be fine.
Why
would an insurance company make a commercial that has almost nothing to
do with selling insurance? Maybe somebody's actually concerned about
our future. Maybe they're trying to warn us about the possible consequences
of our ill-considered and growing infatuation with our gadgets. Maybe
they're using a spoof, so as to avoid bringing down upon themselves the
wrath of the other marketers. Whatever the reason, they're using
a method that will probably reach more people than all other methods combined:
TV commercials.
Cull
Sam Aurelius Milam III
There
are nearly 8 billion people in the world today, and we keep finding ways
to minimize any need for them. Little Caesars has a new way to reduce
the need for people during the sale of its pizza. It's their new
pizza portal, touted in one of their recent commercials.
In
that commercial, a man ordered his pizza, and paid for it, via his telephone,
using the Little Caesars app. He didn't have to interact with another
person at all. He didn't even have to make a voice call on his telephone.
Then, he went to the store, typed his access code into a keypad, and retrieved
the pizza from a drawer in the wall. He completely bypassed the people
at the counter. He didn't have to deal with another person at all.
It was entirely a transaction between one man and some technology.
In
stores that provide self-checkout facilities, I try not to use them.
I prefer to go through a checkout line with a cash register that's attended
by an actual person. I'm trying to preserve her job. However,
unemployment might not continue to be the real issue. The real issue
might eventually be survival, that is, who will survive and who won't.
How's that?
What's
the likely result of nearly 8 billion people in the world, with nothing
for most of them to do, and with all of them clamoring for attention?
I can speculate that maybe the people who're in positions of power and
affluence might get tired of the noise and commotion and conclude that
they'd be better off without all of that surplus population. What
might they decide to do about it?
| November 2018 | Frontiersman,0c/o
4984 Peach Mountain Drive, Gainesville, Georgia 30507
http://frontiersman.org.uk/ |
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