What's the Deal with Metaconsumerism?

Grade: B

Recap: I guess I'm missing something. Apparently, having your spokesperson not want to endorse your product is a powerful form of marketing. (See post on Geico below.) Healthy Choice uses this tactic in the most direct way. In their new commercial with Julia Louis Dreyfus, JLD meets with her agent to discuss endorsing their new line of frozen dinners, a prospect she opposes quite clearly. A clever bit of dialogue the metaphorical functionality of which I don't feel like explaining develops, but then JLDreyfus affirms that, despite what just sounded like praise, she still doesn't want to endorse the product.

Analysis A: I generally don't like self-contradicting commercials. But while I don't love this one, I do like it much better than other similar ads because Healthy Choice is praised, though indirectly, and JuliaLDrey doesn't contradict that praise to explain why she won't endorse the product, she just seems to be a little lazy about acting.

I don't know how she is received by Healthy Choice's target audience because, well, I don't think I'm part of that audience. But if the target audience is women who want to look good as they approach 50, then JLouisD was a good choice. She's kind of a babe. Also she is an heiress to an enormous fortune.

Analysis B: Here's where things get whacky, wild, meta, even. First off, this is not just a commercial, but a commercial about a commercial. Whoa! More on that motif later.

Second off, Julia Louis Dreyfus, famous for her role as Christine on The New Adventures of Old Christine, is playing herself. What does that even mean? Is she really acting, or is this the real deal? Hm. Let's dig deeper.

Now, for some more meta: In the scene depicted, Dreyfus rejects the offer to endorse Healthy Choice. Apparently, she still has that spunk and brutal honesty she was known for on Seinfeld, taking no guff from nobody never. "But wait!" say the observant observer. "She clearly accepted this offer and was probably even paid for it, since she's in a commercial for Healthy Choice." Gah! So she does endorse it! But wait, she was playing herself and she rejected the offer, so thus she does not endorse Healthy Choice, right? Circular...

This raises an important philosophical question: Is it possible to play yourself when acting, or are you simply being yourself among actors? It's most likely that it's possible to play yourself and that Julia Louis Dreyfus endorses Healthy Choice. I like to think there could be more to it than that, but I know very little formal philosophy and thus lack the vocabulary to discuss it properly. Any insight into the matter would be much appreciated.

But back to the fact that this is a commercial about a commercial. I realize now that the Geico Caveman ads are commercials about commercials, and the Quizno's commercial is a metacommercial too. Apparently these and other products are not good enough to sell themselves, and/or Americans are desensitized to straightforward advertising. Instead, my compatriots and I must be manipulated with irony and self-referential commercials that demonstrate a company's sense of humor and humility.

So what have I learned? While image has always been an important component of brand management, it appears that image has become the only marketable quality for many products. I argue that physical quality is now so uniform across and between different brands that some goods and services are now purchased only because of the intangible, nonexistent qualities associated with them, and which the consumer hopes to acquire through a purchase. That is, we don't buy the product, we buy the product of the product. As metacommercials continue to respond and facilitate this trend, I am led to the following conclusion: We are no longer a society of consumers. We are metaconsumers.

Suggested Ads: A commercial about a commercial about a commercial, wherein a black hole develops and my head explodes.

Tidbits: There's a huge antique diving helmet on the bookcase and a smaller one, I think, on the desk. Also, this commercial was directed by Christopher Guest.