Secrets – Don’t Tell Mom

Please enjoy this brief Hyundai commercial. 

Can the phrase, “Don’t tell mom” really sell SUV’s?  I really like this commercial it captures so much activity and emotion in just 32 seconds.  I was impressed with how engaged this dad was with his kids although some of his activities would bring his parental judgement into question hence the need to tell his children, “Don’t tell mom.”  My favorite scene is where the dad is grubbing on an enormous hamburger while the kids are in the back seat of the SUV eating the biggest ice cream sundaes I’ve seen this side of “Man vs. Food.”

This commercial is brimming with messages the majority of which are intentional and perhaps some even unintentional.  If you think my plane has left the runway of reality please check out what other people have commented about the video.  I do understand this is just a commercial to sell Hyundai SUVs but I do believe those clever and talented writers, directors and producers take every opportunity they get to share/influence us with their beliefs, opinions and values.  In this commercial, the message to buy a Hyundai SUV is buried under more prominent messages like:

• Dads ________ with your kids.  Pick from the following words to fill the blank:
  
  • have fun
    
  • take risks
  • engage
    
• Dad’s hiding things from your wife is necessary to avoid negative consequences
  
• Mom’s hiding things from your husband is necessary to avoid negative consequences.
  
• Parents it’s okay to burden your children with responsibility for remembering what you want to hide from the other parent.

The narrator’s voice at the end of the commercial concludes saying, “The best stories you’ll ever tell are the ones that start with, “Don’t tell…”  Sharing secret knowledge seems to be a way of peaking people’s interest in what you have to say.

While secrets in the world of TV can be made to be cute, entertaining and I guess even sell SUV’s,  the consequences of secrets are more serious and the stakes higher in the real world.   In the real world it’s important to understand a secret is a secret based on withholding information from your spouse regardless of the subject or content.

Honesty, trust and communication are part of the foundation of every successful marriage – secrets are one of the fastest ways to erode these foundational blocks.

Be on the lookout for my next post in this series which will look at the specific problems with secrets.  Please rate this post with using the Stars below.  Thank you.