The home improvement chain Lowe’s has been running a series of television advertisements, aimed at homeowners during football season, that present a homeowner (male) being congratulated by another, “football,” version of himself for getting his household projects done before the big game of the weekend. They’re dubbed “make your football self happy.”
In one such ad, the actor is blowing leaves off his driveway, when his “football self” appears in a team jersey holding a bowl of nachos. The “football self” thanks the man for getting his projects done on Saturday so that he can enjoy the game on Sunday. While I could easily take issue with the presumption that one has to pay for the privilege of sitting down to enjoy a football game by doing chores, the thing that struck me the most was the OSHA poster boy presentation of the man with the leaf blower. He is wearing gloves, safety glasses and hearing protection. While all 3 aren’t a bad idea, only the glasses are what I’d call a really good idea, especially for a little hand-held leaf blower and a small and easily cleared driveway. Furthermore, it’s depicted a sunny day, and the man could just as easily be wearing sunglasses.
Two possible conclusions offer themselves for why they deliberately put the actor in full safety gear.
They could be looking to sell more product. Suggest to the viewer that it’s a good idea to have all of those items, and he might buy them – from Lowe’s of course. After all, there is a yard waste bag with a Lowe’s logo emblazoned on it, positioned just so between the actor and his football self in some shots. I think it more likely, however, that some corporate lawyers, got it in their heads that depicting the use of a leaf blower without all-of-the-above safety equipment might attract a nuisance suit from someone who claimed that he suffered hearing damage or nerve damage in his hands by following the demonstration of leaf blower use in the commercial. That, or concern that some government busybody might scold the company for its irresponsible depiction.
Am I reading too much into the commercial? Has my cynicism reached new lows? (no pun intended) Perhaps. What’s more expected, though, in our over-lawyered and over-nannied modern culture? That some marketing sort said “lets sell hearing protection by subliminal product placement” or that some liability lawyer said “put hearing protection on the character so that we avoid nuisance suits and government scolds?”
At least they didn’t put a dust mask on the poor guy.
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