Here's to diminished returns.

I've been seeing a lot of a semi-new Heineken spot lately, where a young man engages in an ill-conceived maneuver and buys a Heineken for the lovely daughter of his frightening boss. Not bad, but nothing special.

And then it hit me. This ad nicely contrasts with a Guinness commercial that aired few months back. So I thought it could be a useful exercise to revisit said Guinness spot for a little cultural criticism. Bear with me though, this might smell a bit.

Just to refresh, in the Guinness spot, a glass of the black nectar makes its way across the city to a young man who has just asked for a raise for himself and his team despite being on the job for less than a week. In New York we call that chutzpah. Guinness called it being bold, probably the safer line if you want to reach a broader demographic.

Both ads are a toast to today's confident bright young things in the marketplace. In both ads we see intrepid individuals take a risk and assert themselves. But that's where the similarity ends.

The assertiveness of the young man in the Heineken ad is rather mild. Which consequently makes his triumph equally small. So he buys his boss's daughter a drink behind the ogre's back, whoopdedoo. Not exactly masters of the universe stuff.

Our hero in the Guinness spot, on the other hand, not only took a whopper of a risk in making his play, he doubled down. A raise not only for himself, but his entire team. Did this guy have balls or what. If he was in the Heineken ad he wouldn't have gone after the boss's daughter. He would have gone after the boss's job.

And yet, it's the Heineken ad that rings truer. It is very much grounded in today's sobering reality where people are working harder for less and the bonus is they get to keep their jobs. Forget raises. It's about lowering expectations. Even his expressions betray someone who isn't entirely cocksure. But it feels all the more authentic as a result.

Usually, we would love the aspirational quality to the Guinness spot with its unabashed boldness. After all, advertising through the years has always been at it's most effective when it raises the dream bar. But somehow when you watch it again in comparison, it feels very unconvincing. Indeed the whole look of the spot with its clever visual gags and effects now seems way too manufactured and phony, much like a Goldman Sachs "shitty" derivative.
 
Let's not despair though. The bold times will come back and we'll love the advertising that promotes it. Mind you I for one would prefer to celebrate with Champagne instead.