August 12th, 2003

 

Life lessons from beer commercials

 

Gene Mage

 

Those of us who cut our teeth in the world of marketing tend to look more closely at TV ads than the average viewer.  It reminds me of the “salad days” of the now defunct Corning Consumer business when we turned restaurant plates upside down to see if they were using our product.  Given the right motivation, people tend to look more closely at ordinary things and in doing so discover more than first meets the eye.

 

Beer commercials work.  The words, images, and music work in harmony to connect with some genuine sentiment on the part of the viewer.  So the idyllic portrayal of friends hanging out at the bar touches the sincere sense of camaraderie most of us long for in daily life.  The Budweiser Clydesdales remind us of noble themes such as family ties, tradition, craftsmanship, and patriotism. 

 

A client, producer, and director get together to tell a story designed to motivate us to buy.  While we admire the effectiveness of these ads, we would do well to look more closely at their message.  These ads illustrate human philosophies that can help us or hurt us.  Let’s look at two examples:

 

  1. “Go for all the gusto you can get.”  Does anybody remember Schlitz Lager?  The word “gusto” implies the pleasure of eating and drinking.  It is a contemporary “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” message.  Live for the moment.  Make the most of today.  Enjoy the journey along the way.

    On the plus side, I applaud the advice to enjoy the journey.  Happiness is not a destination somewhere “out there”, but a state of mind somewhere “in here”.  We do not need to wait for our circumstances to change in order to enjoy life.  And, if we cannot enjoy life now, what makes us think we will be happy when things change?  Would you agree that miserable people carry their misery into whatever new situation they find themselves?   

    On the minus side, the “eat, drink, and be merry” mentality flies in the face of self-discipline, wise planning, and faith in the future.  Few get far in life by ignoring tomorrow. 

 

  1. “Yes you can have it all.”  Well dressed yuppies celebrate getting the big contract over Michelob Lights at the local watering hole.  Before work, they compete furiously on the racquetball court.  After happy hour, they return to happy families.  Moving from success to success these modern movers and shakers set the pace for our fast lane existence.

    You cannot help but admire their energy as these super employees carry out impossibly full schedules punctuated by frequent celebrations.  When we look at our own lifestyles, we feel that little twinge of shame that we somehow cannot juggle all those balls without dropping one. 

    Well for all of you wannabe super working moms, extremely effective dads, and compulsive careerists out there, I have a secret for you, “No, you can’t have it all.”  Very few people actually live the lifestyles promoted by popular culture. 

    Most of us are busy serving clients, paying taxes, driving kids, fixing our homes, and meeting our community responsibilities.  And most of us, if we are honest, have to admit that when we overload the schedule by trying to “do it all” something will eventually short out.  Job performance suffers, kids rebel, marriages deteriorate, and stress levels soar.  Contrary to the lie of the “you can have it all” crowd, real life says “you can make a choice.”  Life involves tradeoffs among lots of attractive alternatives.  The wise person knows when to say “no” to good things in order to experience the “best” things life has to offer.

So rather than buy into the “work hard and play hard” ethic of the beer commercials, why not learn to “work well and play well”?  Rather than trying to “do it all”, why not “do the best?”  In the long run, balance always wins.

 

Syndicated columnist Gene C. Mage is author of the book Managing for High Performance.  Visit www.makingitwork.com for the complete column archive.