'Our Community'?

December 25th, 2007 4:53 PM

Honest, I'm not looking for trouble. Just hanging out on Christmas afternoon, watching the Heat vs. the Cavs on ABC, when a State Farm Insurance commercial comes on. Funny stuff. A guy on a treadmill gets so distracted by a shapely young woman on a hamstring machine that he slips and falls off.

Then a trim man, identified by a screen graphic as Dr. Ian Smith, comes by to help him to his feet, and says:

Go on, laugh. But it's not easy getting back in shape. That's why we created the 50-Million Pound Challenge. It's a new way to help our community get healthier together. Get started at 50-Million Pounds dot com.

View video here.

As captured in the photo, as he says "our community" he points to himself, emphasizing "our" as he pronounces it. I'm jarred. Going to the web site confirms things. This is a State Farm weight-loss program explicitly targeted at African-Americans. The program's logo is shown to the right.

So, am I being too touchy? Perhaps. Why don't we do a mirror-image ad?

Cut to a tennis club. A slightly paunchy white guy gets so distracted by the looker on the next court that he runs right into the net post. The white doctor coming to his aid says the same thing as Dr. Smith, again pointing to himself, and . . . we interrupt this commercial to bring you a massive national boycott.