Sometimes (rarely, but sometimes) Twitter makes my day. After a long day the other night, I was doing some doomscrolling, and in between the horrors of Hurricane Ian, I came across a “Chevron” ad.
Why the quotes? Well, it was posted by Adam McKay, director of Don’t Look Up, the most famous climate satire of all time (it helps when you have Leonardo Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, AND Jonah Hill on board). I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say, the ad was not something Chevron would want posted. It reminded me of this ad from many years ago…
Both are brilliant pieces of advertising, in my opinion, and I wish we could see things like this actually running where they would reach new people. Part of what made the Adam McKay ad stick out to me, though, was that it now has 5 million views on Twitter! The guy has a knack for finding an audience.
It also got me thinking a lot about satire. This ad and Don’t Look Up strike similar chords — darkly funny, rooted in truth, and overdrawn. A satire.
Or is it? As I watched the ad, I thought about how it was certainly presented as satire, funny and over the top. The truth is, though, fossil fuel companies are killing us. Each and every day. So is it overdrawn or are we all just constantly trying to feel better and lie to ourselves about what’s happening? I’ll leave that to you to decide. No matter what, it will get you thinking, and that seems like what a great ad should all be about.