New Partners

Here’s a revealing little trend. Commercial advertisers, who supply what may be today’s most influential cultural grammar, are increasingly suggesting that corporations are more reliable than lovers and families. You can’t really trust your marriage, but you can trust . . . the company that brought you this ad. 

Consider. A recent magazine ad from Chevrolet Cavalier shows a dependability meter which begins with “the weather” (very undependable), goes on to “Mom” (somewhat dependable) and ends up with a Chevy Cavalier: “one of the few things in life you can actually depend on.” A current ad from Chrysler shows a splendidly isolated 2001 PT Cruiser under the banner “Emotional rescue” and above the line “Ah, emotional fulfillment at last.” An ad from Avis, the rent-a-car company, features a blurry, black-and-white photo of two unsmiling figurines, a bride and a groom. The ad banner says: “Trust. Understanding. Commitment.” The ad copy begins: “We’ve got someone special for you.” And who would that person be? Yes, it’s that “one person to meet your car rental needs.”

Here is the entire text of a recent magazine ad from Honda: “The sad thing is, it’ll probably be the healthiest relationship of your adult life. You’ve tried the personals, blind dates, even one of those online chat rooms. Why? The Civic Sedan is smart, fun, reliable and good-looking. Not to mention, it’s ready to commit, today. Looking for a good time?” 

To make the same basic point, several new print and television ads bluntly employ the themes of divorce and unwed childbearing. A magazine ad from MassMutual, the life insurance company, features a 30-something mother, looking very much in charge, holding her new baby and explaining her situation quite clearly: “‘I’ is now ‘we’. My new start-up has only one key shareholder.” Which is why she is partnering with MassMutual. 

In a new television ad from John Hancock Financial Services, a tired, stressed-out single mother is imploring her ex-husband to “do more” for their son, Joey, only to be told by the ex-husband that his girlfriend wants him to move to California. “You tell Joey that,” the woman replies angrily. “You tell him.” Which is why she needs John Hancock, a company that offers “Insurance for the Unexpected.” In another TV spot from John Hancock, we see a couple engaged in heaving petting. They stop. Him: Please stay, I don’t want you to go. Her: “I promised the sitter I’d be home at 11.” Him: Let’s move in together, get married, so that “I could take care of you and Molly.” Her, with quiet determination: “We can take care of ourselves.” Well, not exactly. She and Molly will still need some friendly support from . . . John Hancock.

Commenting on the Hancock ads, Judith Langer, who runs a trend consulting firm in New York, told the New York Times that women consumers, including those who are married, view marriage as a “precarious” arrangement today, adding: “There’s a lot of anxiety out there.” Anxiety which advertisers now use to sell their products, in part because people’s sense of vulnerability on this issue is immediate and real, and in part because divorce and unwed childbearing are now becoming normative in our society.

By the way, not to sound naive or overly literal-minded, but does anyone, including the people who make these ads, actually believe that the suffering and anxieties stemming from the collapse of marriage can be reduced, or addressed at all in any meaningful way, by car, insurance, and financial services companies?

Sources: Patricia Winters Lauro, “Advertising: Divorce Becomes More Common in Campaigns,” New York Times, October 12, 2000.

First published Winter 2001.