21 July 2010
Life of Chivalry
Do you think chivalry is dead? No? Neither, it seems, does Chivas Regal. I typically ignore televisual advertisements, even for alcohol, but this one caught my attention. Take a look. How this advert made it past the Planetarian censors, I have no idea. I see it several times a day on Bloomberg TV. It was filmed in Argentina. The message is provocative. It speaks to a code that is true to our nature and therefore eternal. Today the code is buried or ignored, or obscured by kandy-koloured rainbow haze of consumerist propaganda. But for how long? I wonder. New challenges force us to reassess commonly held beliefs and to undertake actions unthinkable just yesterday. Challenges include growing energy needs, government control, environmental issues, Islamic incursions, competition over resources, racial and cultural clashes engendered by migration trends. The postmodern world is breaking down. The decline deepens. A condition of chaos prevails as the world swirls furiously on the Z-axis of time. Our task is to identify an eternal code and grasp it. For the world is returning to archaic values. There is no stopping it. Human beings are not individual atomised units, but rather, as Hellenes knew, zoon politikon. That is, we are political animals, or social beings, who belong to distinct biological and cultural communities. This is the true meaning of Being. We engage in a struggle for survival. History has not ended; it is about to be written. Forward to the past.
The message itself is good!
ReplyDeleteEternal recurrence.
ReplyDeleteLet us only have the greatness of the Roman soldier at Pompeii and the terminal phase of the cycle will end. The fear that the wagon wheel will rot and break at this low point should be in the mind of the noble man.
ReplyDeleteHere, here. One could only hope that the women in our lives appreciate this as well. Thank you.
ReplyDelete~Hilton
Normally, a witty advert or off-kilter message briefly grabs my attention, but fades as quickly as it appeared. This promotion is rather remarkable, precisely because it rejects most of what is only to common-place in our modern world. Great find, Admiral. Truly.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear rather. The drink is to blame.
ReplyDelete~H.
Very stirring advert. Britain is crumbling, we are being bred out of existence, very few are brought up to understand the meaning of "cives" and duty.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate chivalry. I also appreciate the late singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood. For he was a great fan of Chivas Regal
ReplyDeleteIn summary, this advert is nearly perfect
All best,
B
I'm glad you enjoyed this, but to someone who spent 30 years as an advertising Creative Director, it’s just another generic spot. Well-produced to be sure, and a nice snooty tone.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it could be for fifty other products; just plug in [YOUR PRODUCT NAME AND PHOTO HERE] and you’re done.
In the 70s, Doyle Dane Bernbach did the ultimate work for Chivas. The tone and style of the advertising was completely proprietary, and you’d recognized it even if the bottle didn’t have a label.
This is why it’s called the Golden Age of Advertising. It was wonderful and fleeting and has never been equaled.
AC:
ReplyDeleteThanks. That ad is fantastic.
"For the world is returning to archaic values. "
ReplyDeleteTry "For the world is returning to PAGAN values."
You may not like it, but there is no chivalry without Christianity. Why do you not mention this in your post?
Without Christianity, male honor ends up as a blood bath in the Coliseum - it neither enobles nor protects; it only extols the strong over the weak. It is barbarism.