Anybody who watches TV shows on hulu will have seen these new "Raisin Brahms" commercials:
I laughed too when I saw it the first couple of times. What's great is that the commercial uses Brahms rather than one of those composers you get sick of hearing all the time (i.e. Mozart, Beethoven). The more I see it, though, the less it makes sense to me -- not just the video itself (an obvious spoof on our favorite Kool-Aid commercials), but the whole marketing strategy behind this campaign. Consider the following:
1.) This.
By feeding your children the arts, you may risk their eligibility for international sporting events (I couldn't find a picture of the little girl growing the same thick beard). I guess the message is that the arts make your kids more mature, but if anything, this might extend that stereotype of classical music being mainly for "old people."
2.) Hulu audiences are not very similar to the family portrayed in the commercial. Can you imagine the dazed, robotic parents in that segment even understanding how to operate a computer, much less watching family-friendly shows like Shaq vs. or Hell's Kitchen? I don't see this video striking resonance with too many viewers.
3.) The commercial is just plain silly. While I appreciate the good use of humor in advancing a cause, I'm not so sure that a commercial like this one clearly communicates the actual contents of the arts. In fact, it strikes me as a desparate attempt to expand arts viewership during a bad economy by portraying the classical arts as something that they're not. Developing fine arts audiences has never been a quick and easy process, and I think this commercial tries too hard to take that shortcut -- a move that could ultimately undermine its own intent.
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