The "I'm Feeling Richer" Effect

I love this commercial. It is so applicable to how we live our lives. Even if the point of the ad is for you to switch wireless companies, I think there a couple of things we can pull from it:

1. We often disguise our conversations or talks. If you notice at the beginning of the commercial, the woman is on the phone. Talking about CRAZY dinner plans. Cornish hens??? Who does that? Answer: nobody...unless you are a CEO or President. So nobody that those people in the commercial would know and (most likely) nobody that you and I know. This woman is trying to make herself feel important because she is talking about a subject that she thinks the other person will regard as high society or important. How many times have you done this? I'm not talking about discussing Cornish hens (although if you have...I apologize), but using our words to make us look important or distinguished.

2. We hide behind our stuff. Clearly this is the overwhelming message of the ad. That normal, everyday Joe couple would never drive the same car as hip-hop music mogul would. They drive a station wagon. Because that's normal. But, when you think you are better than you are or more important than you, you buy a lot of stuff to uphold this image of yourself. AKA...fancy cars, ones like Kanye or Jay-Z would drive (never thought I would ever mention them in my blog...awesome). Way too often, people buy more stuff to hide their "stuff." Their worry. Their pain. Their sorrows. They think that they can't let anyone know that they are just like everyone else, so they try to be BETTER than the average Joe. With Cadillacs...Lexuses (lexii??)...Beamers.

Sure, we laugh at this woman's stupidity for thinking she drove that nice car and could fix Cornish hens at her dinner party. But how many times have we been right there with her??