Skip to main content

Do I Want to Look Stupid?

I found this little slice at relevant.com. Read it and then I’ll comment.

One of the greatest products ever invented by humankind is the Snuggie. Combining a blanket with a monk's habit, the little blanket-that-could took the world by storm a few months back. Sadly, while you were warm, your little puppy was left out in the cold. But not anymore! Introducing the Snuggie for Dogs (the hilariously bad commercial is embedded after the jump). If you feel like your dog needs to be mocked by all of her doggy friends, buy now ...

I hope you understand their sarcasm. The Snuggie has to be one of the worst products foisted upon consumers. It is a blanket with a hole in it for your head to fit through. I have to wonder when wrapping a blanket around yourself became too much work. Sadly, it signifies one more way that advertisers convince us of what we need.

But we are certainly not the first generation to be exploited in every known way. We do get the award for doing it in the most inventive ways, as technology explodes with advertising quickly on its heels. I believe that ever since man was created, there has been someone telling him what he really needs. Consider Adam and Eve in the garden. They lived, literally, in Paradise. Along comes a snake to tell them what they don’t have. They fell for it and we have had advertising ever since.

Advertising is not evil in itself, but it is our hearts which continue to want more and more. I believe it was to people much like us that Jesus made His famous invitation in Matthew 11:28-30. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

There was no product placement, no fancy jingle. Just Jesus. Only God. After all, the snake was a deceiver from the beginning. All we’ve ever needed was God.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d