Honda shot an ad with Matthew Broderick which is a distillation of the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If by any chance you haven’t seen it yet, click through and watch. I’ll wait.
Click here to go see the commercial
This ad makes me happy because it perfectly embodies the nostalgia of the film. I loved the film. I recently re-watched it with my kids and they loved it too. As an ad, it doesn’t work so well. I feel inspired to go watch the movie, not to buy a car. On the other hand, perhaps it works really well because here I am blogging about it and lots of people are sharing links to the commercial
However, I also come away from the commercial with a sadness. If the ad makes you happy and you want to stay happy with it, feel free to stop reading.
One of the most wonderful things about Ferris Bueller is that he thought big. Lots of high school seniors sluff school, but Ferris didn’t just go to the mall or stay home playing video games. He did a dozen things that wouldn’t even occur to most teenagers, a fine art museum, a fancy restaurant, dancing in a parade, etc. His horizons were broad, he reached for the sky, and he dragged his friends along with him. I’d expect an adult Ferris to figure out how to get two weeks off of work so that he could travel the world, draw street art in Paris, dance in Portugal, earn a million dollars and give it away to villagers in Africa. That one guy who did his silly little dance all over the world is doing exactly the sort of thing I’d expect Ferris to do. This car commercial shows me Matthew Broderick doing the adult equivalent of hanging out at the mall. Not only that, but Broderick is all alone. Where are his friends? Ferris didn’t just free up himself for a brilliant day, he gave one to others as well. It makes me sad to picture Ferris growing up to be so very ordinary.
I’m off to go see if Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is available for streaming.
Moral: Go be more awesome than that, kids. MORE AWESOME.