{"id":1933,"date":"2008-12-02T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2008-12-02T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=1933"},"modified":"2008-12-02T09:00:42","modified_gmt":"2008-12-02T14:00:42","slug":"quite-contrary-marys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=1933","title":{"rendered":"Quite Contrary Marys."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"You<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve never been a huge Mary J. Blige fan. But I’m utterly moved by, and can’t stop watching, her new Chevy Traverse commercial<\/a>, above.<\/p>\n

The piece poetically captures the mournful sense of triumph that’s authentically and autobiographically part of MJB’s history and persona, particularly for those of us who feel like we’ve lived it with her. Mass marketing will go near a negative aspect of an endorser’s history if it’s not controversial and can be played for comedic effect; see John McEnroe. However, I’ve never seen a company embrace something delicate as a spokesperson’s history of naked, self-abnegation without crushing it. I’m not just referring to that closing piece of script: “The space to take everything with you \/ The wisdom to leave the baggage behind.”<\/p>\n

\"Mary\u2019s<\/a>That would be a cheap shot, of course, but what redeems it is the video. There, Blige roams New York City’s highways and byways, collecting versions of herself from across time. In Brooklyn, she picks up the Mary from 1992’s “Real Love” video<\/a>\u2014the track, of which, beds the spot\u2014who excitedly kicks it with 2002’s No More Drama<\/em> Mary, above right. Meanwhile, 2005’s The Breakthrough<\/em> Mary serenely gazes from her side window, her placid expression, detached silence, and golden crown braids rendering her regal, her survival proving her victorious.<\/p>\n

Of course, this being advertising, 2007’s Growing Pains<\/em> Mary\u2014the most fulfilled, self-developed, at-peace-with-herself one yet\u2014is in the driver’s seat…and dumps the expensive, green, alligator skin luggage set. “Our female target audiences\u2014especially African American females\u2014connect emotionally with Mary’s authenticity,” says Chevrolet general director for advertising and sales promotion Kim Kosak, using my word, ” which is why she is such a great ambassador for Chevy. This new TV spot really leverages the many phases of Mary’s life to illustrate a key differentiator of the Traverse\u2014its eight-passenger seating.”<\/p>\n

How wonderfully crass. Isn’t that just like advertisers: Every so often, to make something nearing beauty, only to ruin it with the sales pitch? Kosak: Leave a tender moment alone. Mary: We love you, girl. Keep living!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve never been a huge Mary J. Blige fan. But I’m utterly moved by, and can’t stop watching, her new Chevy Traverse commercial, above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,44,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}