Facebook has made a brand video to express what its place is on this earth…a chair. Or an airplane. Wait, make that a doorbell. No, actually it’s more like a great nation.
LOL WUT?
Behold, Facebook’s first commercial ever.
“The Things That Connect Us” — directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Alejand ro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel) — was released in conjunction with the news that Facebook has reached 1 billion active users.
Mark Zuckerberg explained the bizarre commercial:
“Chairs, doorbells, airplanes, bridges, games. These are all things that connect us. We believe that the need to open up and connect is what makes us human. It’s what brings us together. It’s what brings meaning to our lives.”
Straight talk: this ad is nuts! So let’s just break this weirdness down one frame at a time.
Opener – Floating chair, because chairs typically succumb to gravity, thus this must be what avant-garde means.
Lots and lots of chairs – Because Facebook is like a chair, dummy.
Voiceover – “Chairs are made so people can sit down and take a break.”
Gotcha, makes sense.
Voiceover – “Anyone can sit on a chair, and if the chair is large enough they can sit down together.”
Okay, but that’s what is known as a bench.
Auditorium with (surprise!) chairs – “Chairs are for people, and that is why chairs are like Facebook.”
Ehhh, you’ve lost me.
Voiceover – “Doorbell, Airplanes, Bridges.”
Say what?
Teary-eyed girl in a kitchen – Subtle metaphor for how Zuck felt after paying millions to have this video produced.
Voiceover – “The universe, it is vast and dark and makes us wonder if we are alone. So, maybe the reason we make all of these things, is to remind ourselves that we are not.”
Heavy stuff. That’s why if you’re feeling lonely and having an existential crisis, just log on the ol’ Facebook so you can see that Johnny Nofriends likes his own post. That oughta straighten you out.
Now enjoy this spoof.
