Posted on 02/06/2017 1:11:40 PM PST by BradtotheBone
Uplifting and patriotic ads are a staple of the Super Bowl, so last night the astonishing cynicism of that 84 Lumber ad really stood out. “Come on, illegal immigrants: Risk your lives, drag yourself across the harshest terrain and endure the most agonizing hardships. We need the cheap labor!”
In the 90-second spot for the construction-materials company, a Latino mother and daughter who are apparently sneaking across the southern border of the U.S. rise in the dark, walk along a barbed-wire fence, clamber aboard the boxcar of a moving train and wade across a river.
In the full-length, six-minute version, which the company said was rejected by Fox for being too political, the mother and daughter are despondent when they encounter an enormous wall in the desert. Then the little girl presents the mom with a crude American flag she has assembled from scraps of plastic bags, and the pair discover a gigantic set of doors in the wall. They proceed to stroll right through.
The ad is an unmistakable invitation to lawbreaking from a building-supplies company that, because of the industry it represents, is strongly associated with illegal immigrants. A Pew survey conducted between 2007 and 2012 found that construction was the sector that employed the second-largest number of illegal immigrants, after the service industry.
The guy who made the ad all but admitted the purpose of the ad was to draw illegal immigrants to work for the company. Michael Brunner, the CEO of Brunnerworks, the agency that created the spot, said its purpose was threefold: To generate awareness of the company, create pride in its workforce and fill jobs. “We’ve got over 400 positions that we’re looking to fill at all levels, at all capacities,” Brunner told KDKA, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
JC Penney
Target
Amazon
Starbucks
84 Lumber
2017 is looking like I’ll be wasting less & less time at certain places.
I think the purpose of the add was to encourage Mexicans to jump the border illegally so they could work for them.
I have been told that you should go to the net and watch the end of the video on 84 Lumber’s page.
It actually supports Legal Immigration. It suggests that immigrants find the Door and ask to come in.
Beyond that, don’t have an 84 lumber near me, so, I can’t boycott them.
Yep, pandering to contractors who employ illegals is not a very good sales technique. Not to mention insulting all of the indigenous construction workers kicked to the curb by the cheap labor f### america crowd.
It’s no wonder all of the banks were putting illegals at the front of the line for home loans, they were the ONLY ones being employed at that point.
If they stuck with reality, the mother and daughter would have been raped by the coyote.
Put that in ad, 84 A**holes!
They left out the scene where they are both raped and the little girl is impregnated. Got to have an anchor baby.
going out of business
Why is it, when companies decide to weigh in on some social/political issue , it seems that they want to bend over backwards to prove they are liberal.
It seems time after time, these companies are pushing a liberal viewpoint with advocacy ads or their corporate policies.
Why the need to show they are liberal??? Hard core liberal radical types who will be impressed By this, are about 20% of the population. While many may be indifferent about corporate positions, they are risking that far more than 20% could take offense and take their business elsewhere. So why do they feel compelled to do it???
“We’ve got over 400 positions that we’re looking to fill at all levels, at all capacities,”
Do they have a problem finding 400 Americans to fill these spots?
Very typical when a company forgets who they are and starts listening to their “hot” ad agency.
Think about it. Who shops (or did shop) at 84 Lumber? Contractors, Builders and DIY yourself people. Probably 75 to 85% male.
So they run this political commercial, and it will cost them business, not build it.
AGAIN, of course not advocating violence, but when America gets really pizzed off, ever been to a lumber yard fire?
I don’t see roasting going on at FB. I see complaints being met by a very strong group of supporters of the commercial.
They were not thinking anyone with 1/2 brain and with an option to go somewhere else for building supplies will
Apparently, they’d just rather not.
And Starbucks, n'est ce pas?
...Which has exactly nothing to do with the Super Bowl. It was a dumb ad for the occasion, period (I'm not lecTuring you; I know YOU know).
They are taking PLENTY of flak on FB. There are always tons of libs on FB ready to rally for any PC cause. The poster is right — they are getting shellacked.
Yeah, I want 84 Lumber contractors working on my project with my reputation on the line. Pfft... What a boneheaded move.
Glad to see someone can have more impact than I can do just complaining on a blog!
Oh I agree about the “nothing to do with the Super Bowl”.
I wish they would go back to the marching bands for the halftime show.
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