The scene is a funeral, open gravesite service, weping widow.
Approaches a group of older men (grateful dead types) they pour a box of Kraft Dinner into the grave, followed by a thermos of hot water, butter, milk and cheese powder.
The tearful widow turns to the woman next to her and says “College roommates”
Cut to a FUNERAL WREATH in the shape of the Krft Dinner logo.
is it just me or is that offensive?
A funeral wreath in the shape of a corporate logo???
And when you consider that Kraft is now owned my cigarete giant phillip Whatsit, well, what is that? Irony?
Well, you know, it’s not like anyone ever associated “high-class” and “Kraft mac and cheese” in the first place, so I can’t see that there was much damage done.
I fail to see why that’s offensive. It’s really funny, actually.
KD is a FOOD GROUP in college (along with instant ramen and cold cereal), and the roomies throwing KD on his grave are just throwing something that was part of their shared life - it’s the same thing as if they’d thrown a picture of themselves on the coffin.
And the wreath…it’s tying in the neccessary logo shot with the rest of the ad, as the other ads in the campaign do.
The glowing radio-active KD ads are freaky, but this one’s quite clever.
Perhaps if it’s the grave/funeral of a real person, and you’re making the joke in front of someone who cared for the deceased, but this is a fictional funeral, at a fake graveside, for a fictional person - humour is very possible.
Well, it isn’t funny to me. And I’m betting it isn’t to others. I haven’t seen this particular commercial, but I’ve seen this kind of joke in commercials before, and I don’t understand the logic.
If you think about how many funerals there are every day multiplied by how many people cared for the deceased, and then risk that sort of joke in front of those people, I don’t know. It seems kind of weird to risk offending those people. It seems like a bad strategy to have your commercial offend potential customers, especially for such a product.
Seeing those grave sites on commercials or on television reminds me of funerals I’ve been to, and people who have died. And that depresses me a bit. And the idea of it being funny borders on offensive. And people pouring stuff into the open grave…?
Just my opinion. Oh, and this is the pit – so if you don’t like it, you can kiss my big ole booty.
Speaking of graveyard commercials (hows that for a segue!), the one that really bothers me is the Craftmatic Adjustable bed, where the guy goes to visit his friends mausoleum. At the end, he puts a wreath on the doorstep, saying “I guess he’s resting comfortably now”. It’s like a vague, implied threat, like the guy got what he deserved because he never bought the freaking bed. Offensive.
Ever see the film “The Loved One”? It is all about funerals, funeral homes. It’s sick - but funny. I can think of a lot of examples of black humor being used in TV and film.
Some people think it’s perfectly normal and OK to have an open casket, and take a photo of the “Guest of Honor”. I personally think it is dreadful.
Some people think it is horrible to cremate a body. I think it is the only way to go - my dad was cremated. Sometimes people look at me in horror when I say that he was cremated. They think it is barbaric.
We all have vastly different ideas about what is appropriate at a funeral. That’s never going to change.
In this particular ad (which I haven’t seen) it sounds like the widow thought it was a fitting thing for her husband’s friends to do - to remember him that way. I mean, yeah, it’s just a dumb ad - but some people do the MOST bizarre thing at funerals. So it’s not that big of a stretch to think that these people would do this thing.
As far as I’m concerned, the ONLY people’s feelings that matter (as far as what is “appropriate”) are the bereaved. So if the weeping widow (in this hypothetical case) is OK with the roomates covering her husband’s casket with Mac and Cheese - why should the rest of us be bothered?
I would be deeply disturbed if the ad showed the roomates doing something, and then the weeping widow acts horrified, or upset. But since she apparently wasn’t reacting that way…it’s fine with me.
What’s wrong with this? All the grandchildren did it at my Grandfather’s funeral (poppies for a veteran (and our Poppy), rather than KD, but, still - same deal).
For the record, I’ve got a dark, dark, dark sense of humour. For instance at the dinner after said funeral, I mused on the fact that a moose heart was among the foods offered, when my grandfather died of a heart attack. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if it was delightfully appropriate, or absurdly ill-thought out. I’m probably the only person there who noticed it, but…
She - and most of the others assembled - had a WTF look on their faces, until the other person mentioned the college roommates aspect, then they all nodded, with a look of realization, as they decided that it was quite appropriate.
Considering that I laughed at the description in the OP, I’m guessing I’d find the commercial funny, too. I enjoy dark humor, darker the better.
Anyway, this is obviously aimed at college guys, because A) it’s on late at night, when it’s mostly college-aged kids watching, and B) it’s for Kraft mac and cheese, which is fatal if ingested after the age of thirty (I mean if the ingestor is older than thirty. Kraft mac and cheese has a shelf life measured in geological time.) And, of course, the guys are his former college room mates. I think this is a very tightly focused ad, whose target audience is almost certain to not find it offensive. Kellibelli, unfortunetly, got caught in the crossfire.
Miller posted exactly what I was going to, thus saving me the trouble. The people the ad offends aren’t the kind of people who are likely to buy KD anyway, so fuck 'em (I presume is the thinking)
To be honest, I find funeral humor rather funny. I would have liked to have seen Federal Express make a commercial about how the USPS lost my grandmother’s remains. I honestly think she would have, too.
Also, who the hell could afford name-brand Mac and cheese in college? I always bought the cheap-ass store brand, 4 for $1.
*Unless, of course, you are in Canada.
