Commercial 3

For my final commercial I chose to critique a commercial I found really effective and hilarious. It’s short, snappy, and quick to the point, featuring a famous celebrity known for comedy. It is “Cat Filter” by Goodby Silverstein & Partners for Common Sense Media The children start by sitting at a table saying they miss their dad, and all get in a fight about who misses him more. After their voices start to raise, panning to a very confused and upset looking mom, the camera shows Will Farrell playing on his phone at the of the table saying “everyone shut up this filter makes me look like a cat”. Although it’s a simple message and only a few seconds long, it is a hilarious take on a public service announcement to promote human interaction away from technology once in a while, a simple family friendly PSA. I think it’s so clever as a job to those who really can’t be off their phone and I love that instead of an angsty teen or brat child it features a dad, part of the older generation who generalize millennials for being on their phones but then also can’t open Facebook. If I were to critique it I would find fault first in that it’s a table of white people only, and that the children fighting over missing their dad is a bit much, it would almost be funnier if they just said “yeah I miss him too” and all looked sad until it showed Will playing on his phone saying the cat filter line. Overall though for a short PSA using humor instead of sad/fear emotions is clever and think using Will Farrell plays a huge part of why it’s so funny. It definitely wouldn’t have the same appeal with a normal dude. It is likely the most effective way to create a PSA I’ve seen.