He’s a Lumberjack and He’s OK

Am I the only one who is completely baffled by this newish HSBC commercial? It only caught my attention initially because I thought the female protagonist was Alicia Goranson who apparently lives right near me. It’s not the original Becky from Roseanne, though. Then I couldn’t stop watching because I couldn’t tell what the fuck this cinematic ad was selling.

Loggers vs. protesters with a Joanna Newsom song playing in the background? My knee-jerk reaction was to hate it but it’s so way off the mark that it’s growing on me. I mean, it's not Vincent Gallo/Tony Richardson Belvedere Vodka loathsome. 

This a much longer version than I’ve ever seen on TV.

3 thoughts on “He’s a Lumberjack and He’s OK”

  1. YES!

    I was completely baffled by it. It actually came on a couple of times, and it wasn’t until the 3rd time that I paid enough attention to “get it”.

    I actually also can’t stand the HSBC print ads that I guess are ostensibly part of the same campaign. (you know the ones, where it’s like say a chili pepper and a high heel and they both say “pain” “pleasure” or something along those lines) They didn’t bug me that much when they first appeared, but now I feel like they are really grasping at concepts.

    But yeah, this tv spot is a REAL stretch and certainly didn’t make the grade from conference room pitch to execution. I just need my bank to give me good rates, not be clever or cute.

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