Ad rant: Jeep Grand cherokee and Huggies jean dipers

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee TV Manifesto Commercial ''The Things We Make, Make Us''

I love the tone of this ad, and all of the direction for it. I even agree with the over all sentiment, America should move back towards a nation that makes things. However, I have a question about the choices of "things americans have made" in this ad. The cotton gin, and the colt revolver? In all honestly, they are right. Those two items are a HUGE part of the american culture and how we are perceived. America's long history of troublesome race relations, and a lot of government policy is still caught up in gun control (or lack there of.) But is an ad really the place to spark that debate?

With all the scrutiny that ads go trough those choices must have been conscious. Is Jeep trying to show an unbiased and hard line look at America? Or was Jeep attempting to find more "rugged" items invented in America? I'm not sure, but those two items just seem like bad choices to me. Ads should not be unintelligent, but there is a time and a place for everything. I'm just not sure a minute long spot is the place for that debate. Then again, will people even notice those references at all?


Huggies: I've Got Chic in My Pants
Now this spot makes me laugh just about every time. I love the dichotomy of high fashion and diapers. It is a little obvious, but I feel like the ad carries it off beautifully. Also the voice over is funny and spot on. it is a really clever ad that could have turned out horribly. Babies on a runway or digital babies "striking a pose" would have fallen utterly flat in my book. This take falls in to none of stereotypical pitfalls that those other ideas wold have. Also knowing how silly it is to actually have a "stylish" diaper makes the whimsy in the ad not only appropriate, but also wonderfully tongue in cheek as well. It's nice to see a spot for something so mundane done well, when it could have been a disaster.