Good and ill

During my tv binge (that is dying, mind you), I saw this commercial about how good spreads good. And ultimately, how everything comes around. In the first scene, a toddler drops something on the ground while the mother is looking elsewhere. A man walking up picks it up and hands it to the mother. The mother walks into the coffeeshop and sees a mug that is above to fall. She shifts it over for the owner. And someone overlooking the moment does something good…etc. etc. A pay it forward kind of thing.

I was impressed with how it was nicely done. Although I have no idea what it was advertising or branding now. Sounds like an insurance commericial.

It’s true that when someone helps us, we do feel more helpful as a result. When we feel good, we will attempt to make others feel good unintentionally and intentionally.

One thing I noticed is that people are never that aware and observant. Today, after I had gotten something at Trader Joe’s, I drove out of the parking lot. A man walking to the store something on the ground in front of me. I stopped to let him pick up. And a woman walking to my left threw up her hands in exasperation-a why are you slowing me down gesture and didn’t notice why I stopped. So did I cause her to have a frustrating moment? Will she pass her frustration to others? And for the man or observers, will they pass the good will? We can’t make everyone happy.

Another commercial I have liked recently is that mastercard commercial. The scissors dancing on the ground cutting up credit cards. It’s just a visual pleasure (and incredibly superflouous). The best scene was when there was toddler (encouraged by the mom) to drop a credit card to the dancing scissors. Doesn’t the mother know that dancing scissors are dangerous? Well, what if you could start over? But I wouldn’t.

2 thoughts on “Good and ill

  1. In fact, it is an insurance commercial. What about that commercial says insurance, though? It seems like the notion of “good will” is a hazy value that any company could reasonably claim, but most don’t because it’s a cheap marketing ploy to tap into your emotional decision making.

    Ultimately I think people just need to keep their eyes open and be aware of other people living their lives. We’re all in this together! I’s all about empathy, which HCI people tend to have an abundance of (since we are always trying to understand what other people think, feel, understand, etc). So maybe if we keep the kindness going, others will follow our examples.

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