The new Cadillac ELR Commercial - Boldly American! or what American used to mean...

[Guest]

I just love this commercial!

I didn't see it on TV... I looked it up on youtube after reading some article about it saying how bad the commercial is. Cadillac commercials have always been really good and so I got curious about what this one says...

And man! I LOVE THE COMMERCIAL! That journalist on the Huffington is what's wrong with today's America. The guy in the Cadillac commercial (he's a well-known actor) is what I've always believed America to be... which is why I defied my dad, crossed the Pacific, and made my mark here. Thank you, Cadillac, for bringing back the America I love. Even if it's just for 1 minute and 2 seconds.

The First Ever 2014 Cadillac ELR: Poolside - YouTube

N'est ce pas... IT IS, IT IS!

Edited March 7, 2014 by anatess

[pam]

And I see the commercial totally different. I see it as a fallacy. In the commercial it could have one believing that everyone that works hard will have a nice house with a pool and drive a Cadillac.

It's just not like that for the majority of Americans in the real world. And also because we take 2 weeks off in August instead of the entire month? I don't even know what it's like to have 2 weeks off at one time.

[LittleWyvern]

Promoting a good work ethic: good!

Assuming that a good worth ethic necessarily leads to being rich: not good!

EDIT: genius commercial, though. It's definitely targeting the demographic that would probably never consider buying an electric car.

[Windseeker]

AMERIKA...HECK YA!

I liked this commercial too. What's wrong is that we give power to people who thrive on milking and regurgitating our past mistakes. Imagine what would happen to most the people in government, if Americans all the sudden appreciated and valued what's awesome about our country.

So yeah..it's no surprise to see a Journalists try to demonize and suppress such independent thinking.

[Guest]

And I see the commercial totally different. I see it as a fallacy. In the commercial it could have one believing that everyone that works hard will have a nice house with a pool and drive a Cadillac.

It's just not like that for the majority of Americans in the real world. And also because we take 2 weeks off in August instead of the entire month? I don't even know what it's like to have 2 weeks off at one time.

That's because you live in America.

You come from the Philippines, your peanut wagon in America is a Cadillac.

The whole concept of the commercial is - in America, you get somewhere by working for it. It's completely what I embraced about what being American means. You are the pilot of your own destiny. In the Philippines, you work your butt off just so you can rise above the mud and see a tiny sliver of opportunity... and then the government squashes you like a bug so they can pocket your tax money.

Edited March 7, 2014 by anatess

[LittleWyvern]

The whole concept of the commercial is - in America, you get somewhere by working for it. It's completely what I embraced about what being American means. You are the pilot of your own destiny. In the Philippines, you work your butt off just so you can rise above the mud and see a tiny sliver of opportunity... and then the government squashes you like a bug so they can pocket your tax money.

I think there's a gradient here, rather than a binary condition. There's an entire range of how much your own hard work can get you ahead, and how much you get a head is a function of many variables which may vary from country to country. Ideally, it's a 1:1 ratio or at least a low ratio: 1 unit of work should get you 1 (or slightly less) unit of social mobility (with a very loose definition of unit, of course). Keeping this ratio as close to 1:1 as possible is definitely an American value, but it's not simply inherent: keeping that ratio low is hard, and doing so takes constant effort (and there's many differing schools of thought on exactly what keeps that ratio low, but that's a conversation for another thread). In the United States, whether your 1 unit of work gives you any social mobility depends on a lot of different factors: social class, race, gender, and so forth. I think the USA isn't doing as good with social mobility as it has been in previous years. Regardless, simply assuming that 1 unit of work gives you 1 unit of social mobility because we're America and America does that is a harmful oversimplification, because it hand-waves away the reality of poverty and social class in the United States. With that in mind, it is also important not to forget that this idea is still a strong social value in the United States, far more than many other countries.

Edited March 7, 2014 by LittleWyvern

[The Folk Prophet]

This may be the first time I've 100% agreed with anatess.

[Guest]

This may be the first time I've 100% agreed with anatess.

[Windseeker]

I think this thread illustrates nicely why many of you will be seeing Doctors and working for Bosses who's first language is not English. Like anatess those coming to this country still have this 'outdated' notion that hard work pays off rather then the "You didn't build it"/expecting a handout mentality.

[The Folk Prophet]

Reminds me of your avatar, strangely.

[Roseslipper]

Reminds me of your avatar, strangely.

This was only funny the 1st time, sorry.......

[The Folk Prophet]

This was only funny the 1st time, sorry.......

O......k.....???

[Palerider]

I recall while serving my mission the tv series Dallas was very popular. We ran into many people going door to door who thought or felt that all people living in this country lived like those in the show Dallas.

[Guest]

I recall while serving my mission the tv series Dallas was very popular. We ran into many people going door to door who thought or felt that all people living in this country lived like those in the show Dallas.

I never saw Dallas, but I did watch Lifestyles for the Rich and Famous.

And yes, for all intents and purposes, all people living in this country live like those. Because for us who are still struggling with feeding our kids 3x a day, there's not much difference between one who drives one beat up Honda and one who has 10 brand new Cadillac ELRs...

My uncle goes to the US... works as a cashier for 7-Eleven for minimum wage. He goes home to the Philippines and the difference is palpable. Even his clothes smell rich! All the Filipinos coming back from America have that smell. You open their suitcases and it smells rich! It wasn't until I got to America that I realized that rich smell is something called Fabric Softener. So yeah. Lots of Filipinos can't afford soap, let alone Fabric Softener... So, if you're minimum wage worker putting Fabric Softener on your clothes, you are rich.

That commercial really strikes a chord with me. "You make your own luck!"... N'EST CE PAS! And here I'm reminded of a quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel... "Everything is going to be alright in the end. If it's not alright, then it's not yet the end!". That is possible in America. In the Philippines, not so much. And that possibility is growing dimmer in today's America. Unfortunately.

Edited March 8, 2014 by anatess

[dahlia]

And I see the commercial totally different. I see it as a fallacy. In the commercial it could have one believing that everyone that works hard will have a nice house with a pool and drive a Cadillac.

I don't see it quite so literally. I do see it as, if you work hard and do your thing, you will have the rewards that YOU WANT. So it's not a pool, maybe it's just having a house after being raised in apartments or trailers. Maybe it's being able to take a vacation to somewhere other than grandma's once a year. Maybe it's not having to count your pennies when you go to the grocery store.

The other week someone asked me, if I could have anything, what would I want, and I honestly couldn't think of anything right away. I have a house and a car, I have a child who is finally on the career path he should have been on years ago :), I've got clothes and shoes that I haven't even taken the tags off of yet and so much food in 2 big fridges that I'm ashamed to say how much I waste. When I travel, it's usually on someone else's dime. Finally I thought, I could use some new furniture. That would be nice.

So, with 1 adult child, would a big house be realistic for me? No. But there is a lot I have worked for and achieved. I'm OK. My step-father's people were from a small island in the Bahamas. His father was a butler, but he himself was able to go to law school (on the GI Bill) and drive a Mercedes. All of us went to private schools. We had a nice brick house. As big as some in the ads? Maybe not, but to him, he achieved his American dream; from butler's son to arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court. It's all in your perspective.

Everyone's American Dream isn't the same as everyone else's.

[Sali]

I know my opinion will be unpopular but this commercial IMO promotes materialism. Look at what you can have if you work hard and only take two weeks vacation! This in my mind, equates to look how much stuff you can have if you work so hard and have hardly any family time. It's a false message. I know tons of Americans that work their tails off, with one week or in some cases no vacation time, to survive. Yes work ethic is great, but using materialism and lack of family time to promote it, is not.