At this point I’m not ashamed to admit it. I enjoy professional sports. I enjoy the level of athleticism, the commitment to excellence, the unscriptedness, the personalities, and so much more. Sure, there’s a downside to professional sports that’s undeniable, but I think, on the balance, professional sports are a good thing. Professional sports teams enrich civic life, help foster community, get people out of their homes, and ultimate provide a great occasion for human connection.
Last night I was watching the FIFA World Cup. Like many Americans, I’m a new and increasingly enthusiastic initiate. It helps that America is hosting this year’s competition and that my city, Atlanta, is one of the host cities.
During last night’s match between England and Mexico in the Round of 16, AT&T aired a commercial. The commercial featured real neighbors knocking on one anothers’ doors and hosting an impromptu watch party. The conceit of the commercial, which seems to be factual, is that the neighbors didn’t know one another prior to filming the commercial. It was heartwarming watching the impromptu watch party unfold and also, felt highly plausible. Who wouldn’t want to watch a World Cup game with a group of previously unknown neighbors? It’s kind of like a glimpse of what the world could be. And the best part, it’s so proximate. It’s really within our reach. I found myself thinking, I could do that. I could do that because a) I don’t really know some of my neighbors, and b) I bet if I knocked on their door, whether to invite them to a watch party of to ask for a 1/2 cup of sugar, they’d probably say yes. Assuming I wasn’t already committed, I’d go to a watch party for a little while if a neighbor invited me. Why not?
AT&T’s slogan for the commercial was “When connection matters, it has to be AT&T.” As one astute friend pointed out, clearly their marketing was based on market research. They knew the message would land. Yeah, people want to live in a world where you can knock on a neighbor’s door, invite them over for a bit, and make a real, actual, felt human connection.
I’m all for it and I think its time that we rededicate ourselves to creating a world like the one in this commercial:
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