The End of Men in Commercials

You’ve seen the commercials for Jared, so you probably have an opinion about them. Me, they tend to make my eyes roll, not only because they sell a brand of luxury that always comes across as crass and cheap, but also because of the mounds of cheese, the cliched, noxious depiction of relationships and their oppressively commercial obligations.

They’re not alone, particularly in their sad depiction of men. The man often just wants to be left alone, but sometimes he wants to do something childish or fun and then has to abide the rules of his whip-cracking or overly-demanding wife. Or he’s terrified that she will not be appeased, so the sales pitch is often, “appease her—with this.”

But this Jared commercial is the perfect depiction of modern corrosion and the people who laugh at this kind of shit are cheering a rot that will be as ridiculed in fifty years as the commercial depictions of marriage from the 50s are now. See the man trapped in his car, guided by the robotic female voice. See the feigned “who knows you like I do?” See his expression at the end which perfectly expresses a singular notion: “Escape.”