I think the thing with the geezers in tubs on a hill is the same sentiment behind this "Now I'm free to see the world" lady: a false sense of remembered freedom that old age has robbed from them. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-GWZp1U2iS4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-GWZp1U2iS4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Thus, elderly people believe that, instead of dying, they may actually be able to use the contraption to go out and live the life that has passed them by, when what they're really going to use it for is to ride around in circles at the grocery market, still tired. Cialis is exploiting the same concept. To put them both in the same tub would be too frightening, after years of impotence; this type of advertising won't work by scaring its customers. It's the concept of freedom, an ethereal concept, to pursue past glories; the actual realization is too scary. Dunno. I think those commercials aspire to a kind of art. 98% of the intended audience won't even recognize Whitman (and the remaining two percent aren't exactly taste-makers/driving market share); the fact that they're even trying says something, more than just "Buy jeans." "Buy jeans" with traditionally prurient appeal to sex: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YK2VZgJ4AoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YK2VZgJ4AoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Those Whitman ads are the best advertising I've seen since this guy: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ox655_y_S8Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ox655_y_S8Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> And Walt Whitman would definitely care; he'd be checking out the lithe young things in those tight jeans, going off wordlessly into the dark to vanquish America's failings.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QiMw1Q65d4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9QiMw1Q65d4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
