Change the Chanel
Any progress I might arguably have made as an individual since leaving college has now been barbarically destroyed by the last three days spent working from home during the subway strike have caused me to revert to a troglodytic state of grunting simian anarchy. (My writing has also devolved, as evidenced by the preceeding run-on sentence. Mrs. Smith, I am sorry. I WAS paying attention in 7th Grade English)
It’s not simply that I’m eating all my meals from delivery or at the diner down the street. Television has taken over my mind in the evenings. I can’t bring myself to re-read any more of my books, so I’ve been watching transit strike coverage and other drivel.
As a result of watching more television these past three nights than I have seen in six months, I have also been forced maybe 20 times to watch a shortened version of the Baz Luhrmann ad for Chanel 5, featuring Nicole Kidman (Australian, and with the accent to prove it) and and Rodrigo Santoro (he’s Brazilian, and women find him Braziliant).
I can’t say I’m unhappy to see this type of commercial back, with its dreamlike quality and some degree of subtelty in pushing its product. I just hope this means we’re not in store for a slew of retro-80’s ads, like the infamous Obsession commercials. Though with all the reality in advertising now, it’s not so bad having to watch some unreality.
