ABG
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us

Cumberland Island

“No, We Are Not Famous”

2/4/2019

0 Comments

 
​​Sam Burnham, Curator
@C_SamBurnham


You can’t have a Super Bowl with the commercials. There’s an entire subculture of America that tunes in for them rather than the game. A good friend of mine always records the game and goes back later to fast forward through it, stopping to watch the commercials along the way.
One commercial is stirring some conversation about rural America, particularly rural Georgia. There seems to be two camps who are debating whether this ad celebrates or insults rural folks. And both sides of the argument make a few good points. But this is yet another example of where the truth of both sides can be assembled to create option three, the right option.

I wanted to write this piece after reading an op-ed by AJC writer Maureen Downey. Downey says she is undecided about the ad but was bothered by the child narrator. While I agree with her that childhood should be a hopeful time the word that comes to my mind about this ad is “reality.” It’s the uncomfortable reality of rural life that city and suburb dwellers would rather not be confronted with while at a Super Bowl party.
PictureABG Sponsor, Click For Link
I’m glad they chose a kid to narrate the ad. I think it communicates the message more effectively. Here we have a young man who actually sounds like he’s from Georgia (except for pronouncing the second ‘t’ in Atlanta) explaining to the entire nation that he was born in this small town, and he hopes to have a future in this small town. His “big dreams” aren’t about leaving the only home he has ever known to seek fame and fortune in some big city. He’s content to have a career, a home, a family, a future. And those who know much about rural life can tell you that if you have all those, you’re probably living better than your neighbors.

​If you’ve never seen the sprawling Kia factory in West Point you can’t really understand the impact that place could have on a town of 3,728 people. I’m sure most of the employees commute from elsewhere as West Point doesn’t have the population to support that kind of operation. And yes, I’d rather there be many small successful businesses to help build the local economy but you work with what you have. Left with the option of Kia and nothing, I’ll take Kia in this situation.

​What Kia did, purposely or otherwise, was to draw a contrast between life in rural Georgia and the glitz, the glamour, and the excess going on 81 miles up I-85. It drew the contrast between Atlanta and the rest of Georgia - a place where we spend billions to secure a party that will gross a few million vs a place where we don’t spend squat for any reason.

There were several small town guys in Sunday’s game. Quite possibly the local heroes of those towns. For every one of those players there’s 5 or 10 thousand back home who will never leave that town. If you ask them they’re liable to tell you that’s okay with them. That’s home. It’s where they intend to take their stand, for good and bad. Some will farm, some will build things, fix things. Some will run a cash register at the local gas station. Some may go away to college and then come home to teach at their local school. Many will do whatever they can to make a living. That’s reality. While it’s not encouraging kids to dream big, it is showing them that if your football or acting career doesn’t take off, you’re not less of a person. If you’re not an executive in an office tower 81 miles down the road, you still have value as a human, what you will do still matters, perhaps even more than that fancy job in the city. It’s telling them what was said in the closing line, that I do so love, “No, we are not famous but we are incredible and we make incredible things.”

That’s not just true at the Kia Motors Assembly Plant in West Point, Georgia. It’s true in thousands of small towns across America.

So, did the ad celebrate or insult? I’m afraid the better question is: how did the ad impact you and how is your perspective on reality in small rural towns changed? Watch it again. Be uncomfortable. Be changed.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sam B.

    Historian, self-proclaimed gentleman, agrarian-at-heart, & curator extraordinaire
    ​READ MORE


    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor - Click for Link
    Tweets by @BiscuitsGA

    Social Media

    RSS Feed

    Books Blog Directory

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Art
    Books
    Business
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Community Revitalization
    Culture
    Education
    Family
    Fashion
    Fiction
    Film & Television
    Food
    Garden
    Hiking
    History
    Home
    Industry
    Local
    Music
    Native American
    Outdoors
    Politics
    Restaurants
    Revolutionary War
    Tradition
    Travel
    World War II

    Archives

    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2010

Copyright 2015
ABG. The celebration and preservation of Southern history, culture, and agrarian ideals.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us