Verizon has released a second, in a new series of commercials that has me wondering and a bit repulsed. These commercials are centered around "older" white males who appear very successful and appear very alone. So who are they having their intimate relationships with? Their phone.
In the first commercial, the guy is sitting in this swank apartment, going over his daily planner with his phone. The voice of his phone is female and somewhat younger than he is. The plot then takes on a new dimension, as the phone becomes more than a phone. I imagine that is what Verizon is shooting for here, but the idea that the phone has the capability to be more than a tool, possibly the only "thing" this guy can have an intimate relationship with, begins to emerge. Then the guy asks the phone to tell him a joke....
"Two I phones walk into a bar.... I forget the rest" and then they laugh together. First, it's a terrible joke, but the guy is so desperate, he finds it funny. From a psychological standpoint, this is deeply disturbing to me. Is this how disconnected with humanity successful (or non-successful) people are getting? Where is Technology taking society?
The second commercial has a guy riding in a taxi, interacting with his phone. Now, many people use their "personal communication device" to problem solve, research things, buy things, and so on. But when the phone begins taking on a personality and the sense of intimacy begins to develop, what does that say about one's connection to their environment? Are they not capable with having relationships with other people? It certainly seems so. It also seems sad. Here he is having a back and forth conversation, like a boss talking to his administrative assistant and telling her/it to change an appointment and she/it comes back and tells him it's already done.
What does this say about society and where we're going? It says to me that some people are so lonely and unable to develop intimate relationships, they're doing it with their "personal communication device". All the chat rooms appear to have people at the other end, but often "faceless" people. The incredible amount of people "gaming" and all the other computer related interactions. That's not counting how many people rely on TV to occupy their time.
What has happened to person to person, person to nature relationships? In my mind, this commercial series is taking us the wrong way on the path to inner connections. And it scares me.