SUPER BOWL ADS INDICATE CONSUMER CONSCIENCE

You could say the cosmic consciousness of the pubic (or ad agencies take on it) revolves around war and peace. At least that’s what the Super Bowl XLI ad line-up indicated. Coca Cola, on the other hand, went for whimsy and fun, which I think is a more appropriate consumer gauge.

“The ongoing war seemed to linger just below the surface of many of this year’s commercials. More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoon-like vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.”

“During other wars, Madison Avenue has appealed to a yearning for peace. That was expressed in several Super Bowl spots evocative of “Hilltop,” the classic Coca-Cola commercial from 1971, when the Vietnam War divided a world that needed to be taught to sing in perfect harmony.”

“Coca-Cola borrowed pages from its own playbook with two whimsical spots for Coca-Cola Classic, “Happiness Factory” and “Video Game,” that were as sweet as they were upbeat.” (this is what the trades had to say)

With this in mind, keep aware of the fact that the war theme has infiltrated into your customer’s thinking. Just this week we heard that the kaffiyeh (a scarf with a black and white chain-link pattern and knotted tassels worn in Arab countries) was making a comeback in fashion circles. The New York Times said so.

“Once the trademark headwear of Yasir Arafat, and long associated with his Palestinian countrymen, the kaffiyeh has lately shown up on the shelves of adventurous boutiques in the United States and even mainstream retailers like Urban Outfitters,” said a Times story entitled, “Where Some See Fashion. Others See Politics.”

According to this fashion report the Kaffiyeh has more to do with politics than actual runway fashion. “Perhaps what is most telling about the mainstreaming of the kaffiyeh is what it says about the country’s political mood. The scarf’s popularity seems to have less to do with solidarity with Arabs than it has to do with the war in Iraq….

“In Britain, where voters are even more united against the war than Americans, the kaffiyeh’s fashionability has been taken a step farther. TopShop, the high-street juggernaut, is selling kaffiyehs stamped with skull prints, conflating two hot looks of the recent past.”

Although there has been opposition from the Jewish community, the word on the street is that this rebel scarf trend is more the mark of a hipster than a gangster. Go figure.