The Budweiser commercial that aired during the Super Bowl seems to be a hit with almost everyone. It was a follow up to last year’s entry and again it featured a puppy and the beer maker’s famous Clydesdale horses. Even those who called it sappy, clichéd, and overly sentimental, admit they liked it.
Why is that? The commercial tugs at our hearts when it shows a very miserable looking puppy taking refuge from the rain in a cardboard box, we admire its bravery as it stands up to the wolf, and we nod in satisfaction when it is backed up by four giant horses. It pushes our buttons, we know that it does, and we don’t really care.
What I find most intriguing is that we all have the same buttons to push.
We are created for a different world, a world that is still to come. And we respond positively when we see it even hinted at. Sappy? As much as we may complain about the predictability of this or that movie or television show, the truth is that this is how the world is supposed to work and we understand that instinctively.
Have you ever watched a movie that, half way in, you knew exactly how it should end? Good triumphs over evil, integrity wins the day, and nobility is displayed as a virtue. In fact if the movie ends any other way you feel cheated and disappointed.
The good guy is supposed to win. Heroism and bravery is supposed to be rewarded. The suitor who has overcome tremendous obstacles is supposed to win the hand of his beloved. And the rookie receiver is supposed to make the game winning catch.
This is the world we were made to live in.