The big corporations no longer operate on a financial economy.
Something changed over the past three years and now nothing is real. We can buy NFTs, intangible art, with cryptocurrency, intangible money. Men can become women, and vice versa. Artificial Intelligence, an intangible entity, is posed to replace the brains in the heads of writers. And the big corporations don’t seem to want your hard earned dollars, because instead of pushing products they’re selling lies.
Lies aren’t real. An untruth is an anti-truth.
Why else would Bud Light make Dylan Mulvaney their spokesperson? The economic fallout has been catastrophic (for now—I think they’ll be back). The reason is that they’re looking for something else, that to them (the nebulous “them”) is more valuable. A financial loss is acceptable if they can have our attention. That’s the real commodity right now.
We live in an attention economy.
I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s a conspiracy, designed to break down the traditional family and give the powers that be more power. For once, though, I’m less interested in the why than the what. What’s happening isn’t good. It isn’t true. We know that when we realize it, and I don’t want to live in a kingdom of lies. I didn’t want to write about Bud Light and Mulvaney, because I’d rather think on things that are good and true. Praiseworthy.
I didn’t want to give them any more attention than they’ve already received.
The best thing we can do is pay (note the word: pay) attention to things in the culture that present truth. Ignore Bud Light. Ignore Disney. Stop paying them in the currency of attention. Even outrage is good for them. Instead, look at what’s true and take note of it. Shine a light on things that are good and watch them grow. These things aren’t so hard to find if we’re willing and able to look for them.
Duracell Batteries has something good, so let me shine a light on it.
Right now there’s a joke that you never see single-race families in media. I’m not against interracial relationships, but the inundation of something that doesn’t reflect our current reality is wearying. This ad from Duracell is noteworthy for showing a father and daughter of the same race. The little girl isn’t being a brat or putting her father in his place. The man isn’t an incompetent. Sure, she’s being a pest. But she’s a cute pest, and even without words we see they’re teasing each other. This is a game. And dad isn’t so invested in his ball game that he can’t play.
Now, listen to the narrator: “No one can take better care of your child than you can.”
Contrast that with President Biden’s recent remark that, “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child. No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.” Uh, no. Your child is your responsibility, not the nation’s, and no one can take better care of your child than you can. You. Certainly not the nation. Duracell knows that.
Why aren’t we talking about this?
Instead of being so focused on canceling a crummy beer (note that the dad in the Duracell ad is eating wholesome popcorn and not slugging a beer), maybe we should focus on endorsing a good battery. I don’t need child-safe batteries. But I do need a culture where parents, especially dads, take care of their daughters.
I need a culture that attracts me with true things, not lies.
