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.

Stargazing and imaginative wondering? No. Image excerpted from Verizon commercial.

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.

Image excerpted from Verizon commercial.

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.