Don't Give Up on Nature

I wanted to write a parody showing our obsession with digital entertainment over the actual splendor of nature. Verizon beat me to it.

In the Camping commercial from the company's It Matters advertising campaign, a family goes out camping at night. The narrator sets up the scene with "Big questions..." A quick moon shot brings hope that the kids' questions will be, if not deep and weighty, at least inquisitive or child-like curious.

Mom, dad, and two kids appear huddled together looking up. With smiles on faces, they might be stargazing under the firmament. But, no, this ad is not a depiction about imagination. It's about substituting reality with passivity, and contemplation with consumption.

The family is in its tent watching late night video. The punchline is more like a punch to the gut. The narrator calmly asks, "If you're not on [the network], what are you giving up?"

What are you giving up? Really?!

The ad then segues to a vast outdoor panorama with a stunning sky bespeckled with unobserved stars, while the puny tent is aglow from within during video hour.

I invite you to attend the Michiana Star Party, May 15-17, 2015, at Dr. TK Lawless Park in Vandalia, MI. Tents will all be dark, and connectivity is a low priority. Here's my overiew of a star party, sponsored by Michiana Astronomical Society Inc. I encourage you to pre-register with this form.

Don't give up on nature. Instead, look up and wonder.