Our relationship with other animals in the world is strange and varied, as perhaps nowhere so well epitomized by the surreal nature of advertising. Giving non-human animals human characteristics is by no means new -- people all over the world have displayed anthropomorphic and animistic beliefs, customs and ways of seeing for at least as far back as the early cave paintings. Maybe the difference now is, animal-related commercial ads are used to inspire people to spend some kind of money on some kind of product to enrich the all-human owners of the means of production.
Here we apparently have semi-literate cows crudely advocating for the substitution of chickens over their kind as food. Also, one suspects, substituting chickens for cows in slaughterhouses and in the market for cheap mass consumption by unreflective consumers. This odd and popular fast food chain, closed on Sundays, operates by this dictum: "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us."
Here, a dog -- possibly on hallucinogens -- follows a miniature horse-drawn wagon filled with "big tender juicy chunks . . . golden nuggets loaded with vitamins" of some kind, apparently tasty: Chuck Wagon dog "chow," 1970.
People are strange.
Today's Rune: Protection.
2 comments:
Yeah, those Chik-Fil-A adds kind of creep me out, too. Not to mention the Jesus freak atmosphere in the restaurants themselves. And yet, I have to admit I kind of like the food there.
As for the Chuck Wagon ads, I think all dogs have natural hallucinogens produced in their brains. But I definitely remember those ads, or more accurately, later versions from the mid to late seventies. I love how they try to make the dog food appear so appetizing that it almost seems worthy of human consumption.
There is nothing I hate more in a commercial than animals dressed or talking like humans. Why do we think these attributes are attractive on animals.
Post a Comment