The holidays are here, and with that comes the incessant barrage of holiday commercials as well. I’m not complaining. I get it – everyone wants to tap into that festive feeling to sell their products or services. That’s just common marketing. We all know that. But, it’s like everything else…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In the case of Folgers coffee, it didn’t work. They tried to tug on our heart strings with the reuniting of a brother and sister at Christmas, and the whole thing just came across as a little too sexually tense. I never said it out loud because I was afraid that I was the only one who saw it, and I was overreacting to a harmless commercial. But, thanks to a tweet that reminded us that this thing exists sharing the same sentiment I had, I’m no longer afraid to share my opinion – this commercial is actually creepy.
SOON. https://t.co/5BmnXIQ5KN pic.twitter.com/SjU0KtUFFj
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) November 23, 2023
I remember seeing this for the first time and thinking, “whoa – this feels a little charged.” Glad I wasn’t alone in that sentiment. The commercial was done in a way that made it unclear what the relationship between these two actually was from the jump, but the more times you saw it, the more you realized that they were brother and sister. I don’t know – it’s the bashful eyes that do it for me. The way these two look at one another tells me they’ve done some shit that makes them unable to maintain eye contact with one another. You can see it in the brother’s eyes – he longs for this woman, but the shame he feels just looking at her is too much to bear. It’s gross and I’m not sure what Folgers thought they were tapping into with this one.
Unless, and this is some real big brain shit here, Folgers knew what they were doing and thought they could plant little subtle hints at incest to creep us out enough for us to remember this commercial long after it had run its course. They knew that if they just did it in a way that seemed indiscreet, they could get away with it. It’s just vague enough that they could be like, “oh no – no way that’s incest. We didn’t mean for that to come across that way,” while also being like “if we make them think there’s incest here, they’ll remember this commercial forever.” In a way, this could be some of the most brilliant marketing of all time. I don’t know, and either way, I’m feeling a little uncomfortable watching this commercial.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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