January 21, 2012

What Do These Commercials Tell Us About Marriage?

Lately I've been seeing a few commercials that have similar undertones, all of them indicating this: "Don't get married; have fun instead!"

Take a look at these two:




I'll admit, maybe I'm being sensitive. But this does bring me back to a conversation I had several years ago with a woman who'd been married 20 years. I told her how I was glad I'd spent my twenties single since it'd given me an opportunity to really "live" life. Her response surprised me. "Really?" she said. "I felt like getting married gave me the excuse to start doing everything I'd ever wanted to do."
We all have different perspectives, and that moment changed mine.

Honda says it's not that the fun can't happen after the milestones, they're just talking about making a list of your goals before taking the next big leap in life - or a "Leap List." It's kind of like a "bucket list," but instead of coming up with every goal you want to accomplish before kicking the bucket, you can think in smaller, more manageable dreams that you can accomplish before taking your next big leap.

Still, those commercials make me wonder - do people really believe our best or most exciting adventures in life need to end when our partnering begins?
If so, what does that mean when we have kids??

3 comments:

Ruthie said...

None of these commercials are about single people. They are about people in relationships trying to decide their commitment level to being in the relationship.

It does seem that they suggest staying unmarried or childless an option that will provide them with greater flexibility or time to do things that would be difficult with children or may be more complicated with another person.

However, I say fair play for the following reasons. 1)There is a high divorce rate in this nation. Seems to me many people may be deciding to get married and then realizing it was a mistake for them. Maybe people should be encouraged to think twice before making that commitment. 2)There are many aspects in this culture that suggest marriage is a right of passage into adulthood and that something is wrong if you stay single. These commercials just seem to turn that table a bit, which is refreshing to me.

Ruthie said...

And, I will also add that none of the people in these ads are saying no to marriage or children. They are just saying, not yet.

Connie said...

I think that having a baby, seems like life is starting all over again, and it is literally.

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