When I grow up, I want to be famous. That's what I had decided when I was in middle school. I had come to accept that I was terrible at science, and I did not want to dissect a worm especially if I couldn't sew it back together to revive it. When I was a child, you see, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and on my spare time I wanted to be an artist. This was the decision I came to; after having a brief conversation with my father, who pointed out that "artists don't make very much money," and that I liked animals so maybe I should be a vet. When I reached college, I found out that artists can make money after all. After hearing an amazing life story from one of my art teachers I decided that multimedia studies might be the way to go. I mean it would make me sound like the Swiss army knife of Art. Then reality happened, I managed to get a few internships, and landed a job with a small time newspaper, which later on fired me for trying too hard... really that is what it boils down to. I found myself defeated. “I am conforming...” I feel this happens to the majority of people, they feel defeated at some point, stop fighting the system and conform. How much of this feeling is myself, how much of it, is perpetuated by what the media says I should do? How many different types of factors are in play, when someone does decide, what they want to be when they grow up?
Well what if self-defeat happened at a younger age? How about a much younger age, say 8-10? What if instead of having big dreams of being your own boss, all you want to do is be lucky enough to have a job. This commercial was exactly that. In fact, it affected me then, the same way it does now.
The ad begins "When I grow up, I want to file all day. I want to claw my way up to middle management. Be replaced on a whim. I want to have a brown nose. I want to be a yes man. A yes woman. Yes sir, coming sir. Anything for a raise sir. When I grow up. When I grow up. I want to be under-appreciated. Be paid less for doing the same job. I want to be forced into early retirement." "What did you want to be? Monster.com there's a better job out there" (1999 monster.com commercial)
"There's a better job out there" the first catch phrase they used at the end of their logo, and a good one at that. This commercial was intended to reach out to middle aged people, who probably already have a job, or just got laid off. Undertones of what this commercial really says is "This is what our website has to offer, a better place, a better job, come look at our website, we will help you find the job, you not only want, but need." But what message does this commercial send to people still in middle school? or high school? It says "There is no room for individuality in the 'adult' world. A job is when you trade in your soul for money." This commercial preys on the fear of growing up and becoming an adult. It says "Our website can help prevent all those bad things from happening. We will be your safety blanket."
I blame this commercial, and a few TV shows out there for Peter Pan Syndrome (a syndrome that has yet to be considered a psychopathology). The basic description, if you have not guessed it already; adults who refuse to "grow up" they behave like teenagers. “’These are failed adults.... Those who return become weak, indisciplined and infantile,’ warns Dan Kiley, the Tucson, Ariz., psychologist who wrote ‘The Peter Pan Syndrome.’”(Mark Muro, Boston Globe). In eastern countries, they have a term for this age group they call them N.E.E.T.'s (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young people ranging from 16-24 in the United Kingdom, and 15-34 in Japan.(Peter Kingston) Alright, so this commercial is not responsible for PPS, but it certainly holds its two cents, it affects the way a younger demographic would view the future that awaits them. In the interview with Kay Hymowitz, she quotes men from her studies (in regards to “growing up” and marriage), “I have had any number of men say to me, well, why do I have to even be thinking about this? I could be well into my thirties or 40s even before I marry.” Young adults with PPS want to be like the people from sitcoms “Friends” or “Sienfeld” 30-somethings with no kids and no commitments.
This was Monster.com's first super-bowl commercial, they hired Mullen Advertising of Wenham, Mass. Director Bryan Buckley was shooting the commercial, he said “There was an entirely different board when I won the job somebody sitting in a shrink chair, talking to a psychiatrist about getting a better job. They switched it to “When I Grow Up” at the last second,” I would have nothing to write about if they had gone with their first idea. I found a second version of the commercial, they have a different child saying “I want to have a brown nose” and at the end; instead of “I want to be forced into early retirement.” They have the little girl who wanted the brown nose saying “I want sunshine blown up my dress.”
Visually, this commercial did a great job. They picked young children, who are at that age where we adults start to encourage them to think about the future. The commercial was shot in black and white, and for some reason anything filmed in black and white always makes us think of the past, our past. This worked perfectly for this commercial; not only are they young they are clean, which makes us feel like they have good potential. What made this commercial so significant, was that it was believable. Sure after watching for the first time we all laughed and probably said something along the lines of "oh, those poor dears." But we were left with a fear, what if that was us? "Well, no couldn't be, we wanted superhero jobs, like astronauts, or firemen; but if that's us now, we better check out that website."
A tone of naiveness, starts in with the first child, he is clean, his hair is a little long, but it was cut straight. He is wearing overalls and sits on a porch of: a house on a farm, perhaps? His voice is deep and slow, but he speaks clearly, so he must be educated. "When I grow up, I want to file all day." This is what the possibly 13 year old said, but to file all day, would be very boring and a quite meaningless job with no self-fulfillment what so ever. Yet that’s what this child wants to do. He represents the child of America, from the late 1800's when children were still allowed to work, they would wear overalls, and a hat, they came from the farm but went to the city to find high paying job. (Most ended up in factories). They went to school too, but gave it up, to work. So to have a job that doesn't involve the labor of a farm, or the dangers of a factory may be appealing to this child. That's why this child was first.
The second child, is a younger boy about eight or nine, with big ears and beady determined eyes, a sharp but slightly crooked hair-cut, and a slightly high-pitched but still masculine voice says "I want to claw my way up to middle management. "You cannot make out the background, it's out of focus and purposely so. This child represents a lab-mouse, always spinning the wheel, but never going anywhere, that’s what that statement really means. Important enough, because he keeps the “wheels” turning, but not smart enough, to move on to a better job. To "want" to claw your way up to middle management, means that you: want to, and like to, suffer. Really, who does that, works hard all their life, just to get to the middle, and not the top? I'll tell you who, mice.
The third child, a skinny kind of lanky girl, plane in the face, wavy almost frizzy but short hair, in front of another farm-like setting says "be replaced on a whim." The very thing about this girl is that she looks like so many other girls out there. She'd be working for someone who doesn’t see her skills as valuable, and thinks that her job can be done by anyone, “A dime a dozen” they’ll say.
The fourth, another girl, in a garden setting, her hair in two braids, she is nicely dressed, and she says while moving from side to side "I want a brown nose." Because she is in the garden setting, she represents the rich, because she so unknowingly, yet so willingly said what was asked of her with a smile on her face, we can believe she is naive. So when she grows up, what will we expect for her, but to not have the skills she needs to advance in life, because everything has always been given to her. So naturally good manners and flattery are what this girl has left, and hence become that self-fulfilling prophecy.
The fifth and sixth, a boy and a girl. Both are African American. The boy is from a country setting. The girl is from the city. Both want to be "Yes" people. The 7th, a boy that nods his head up and down, while his lines "Yes, Sir, coming Sir" are played. The way he says it, and the way he nods, makes me think he will become a great Waiter. Then The 8th child slowly chimes in "Anything for a raise Sir." This boy dressed in a cap, and jacket, seems ready. Ready to do his job, whatever it will be. This child is in front of: what at first glance looks like a construction zone, but at a closer look you can figure out that it’s a tall stack of coil spring mattresses, (without the cloth or fluffy material). This says so much. Like the princess and the pea, a fairy tale that claims if you are a true princess you will be able to feel the discomfort of a pea under a stack of 100 mattresses. The worst part of that story is that you would have to climb to the top of the mattresses just to prove that you are what you say you are. That’s why these mattresses are here. It was a ridiculous task for the princess, but she put herself through it, just to prove herself. And that is the hardship that "Yes" men and woman face.
Children nine and ten start off "When I grow up" "When I grow up..." one is a well-dressed girl in a country setting, the other an African American boy, plainly dressed, who is also in a country setting this says the girl probably owns a horse or two, and is well off. The boy is probably just a farmer. Right after them is child eleven, who is on an Arial lift, and his cable car is on its way down. With a sad look on his face he says "I want to be under-appreciated." This group of children, that are from all walks of life, want a job where no one cares how important their job is, they don't want any praise or glory, there is no fulfillment in this, but they don't care, because no one cares about them.
The twelfth child, a girl, who is not pretty, rather plain, messed up hair, in a country setting, wearing overalls, says "Be paid less for doing the same job." This is a situation that happens in a few different situations, but in this girls case, I assume she may have been demoted, and yet she is still doing the same job, the problem she's getting paid less, it happens.
The thirteenth and final child, a boy with glasses, a big nose, and a straight hair cut, says "I want to be forced into early retirement." This boy looks like he could be a boss someday. He could run a business, and one day he will be kicked off his throne by someone younger and more up-to-date with the times. Here is the kicker, the reason they decided to go with this statement “I want to be forced into early retirement” instead of “I want sunshine blown up my dress” because it really does happen. People get forced into early retirement all the time. Had they ended their commercial with “I want sunshine blown up my dress” they could have been accused of doing that themselves: making false promises, with their website you could find the job that is right for you. What if you couldn’t? Then you get people like Lev Grossman, who question why we have so many "young adults" taking their time at growing up.
Believable? Yes, is this really the case? no, these are hired actors. But nevertheless that "fear" was real. We believed it for a second, and a second was all it took. When you get a commercial like this one, not only preying on your very real fears of adulthood, but exploiting them, you get people who are afraid. Afraid of success, afraid of accomplishing anything -- because to accomplish something, means you are capable of being independent; and to be independent means you are capable of getting a job, and to get a job means you are an adult. "When you are successful, ... you have to grow up. ‘Growing up’... means that you can't hand ... your usual stock of rationalizations and excuses. You will be expected to deliver." says Christine Ballew-Gonzales.
In the year 1989 the TV sitcom Seinfeld began and lasted till 1998. In the year 1994 the TV sitcom Friends started, and lasted till 2004. In 1998 the TV sitcom That 70's Show began and continued till 2006. These TV shows have a few things in common, they were sitcoms that all started in the 90's and were still being re-run through 2000-2010. These sitcoms were about people who started off single, the casts of these people where from the age of 14 to 40, and they each had at least one character who had full blown Peter Pan Syndrome. However these where fictional characters so I cannot prove it as fact. What we do know, is that N.E.E.T.’s range from the ages of 15-34, and people with PPS are on average the ages of 20-35. And yet here we have this commercial to have come out in 1999, when the unemployment rate was only at 4.5% before the recession, before 9-11, before Occupy Wall Street, and still become as popular as they did, shows how much of an impact this commercial made. If this commercial was to air today, today when the unemployment rate is at 8.3%, and to be aired when now, that our generation is of working age. Now that we as adolescents’ watched from our classrooms, through the TV, those twin towers become rubble. Now that the economy has failed us, to the point that millions of people around the world became involved with Occupy Wallstreet, because our representatives, people who we elected to represent us, failed. Now, when the country needs a hero. Imagine the product of fear.
Works Cited
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