3 commercials you simply must see

The good and the bad - and a Thanksgiving bonus

This isn’t what I was going to write about this week. I was going to give you some excellent scriptures to meditate on and share over your Thanksgiving table. Which I will still do, down at the bottom of this post. But there were three remarkable commercials released in the last few days, and two of them are what I’d call pretty good news for our culture. The other one, not so much. But let’s take good news where we can find it, no?

Bud Light gets it right

Bud Light of course enraged (probably more than) half the country with its woke trans ads featuring the now-thankfully-less prominent Dylan Mulvaney drinking Bud Light and acting like a 12-year-old girl (no, I’m not gonna link it. If you didn’t already see it, consider yourself blessed). After the backlash, they produced a few somewhat cringe-worthy ads with burly men doing man things and drinking Bud Light, but no one was really buying this craven attempt to win back customers. However. Now they seem to have gotten it. Check out this commercial with comedian Shane Gillis in which they completely poke fun at edgy, woke advertisements. It’s entitled “Wrong Commercial” which seems to indicate they may have learned a thing or two about “wrong commercials.” It’s definitely the funniest way they could say they’re sorry.

Okay, Bud Light, you’re forgiven. Don’t do it again.

A tale of two car companies

Speaking of companies that have not learned the “wrong commercial” lesson, I give you luxury carmaker Jaguar:

I mean, it kind of makes you wanna run out and buy a Jaguar, right? Ha ha, just kidding. In 30 seconds they manage to alienate literally millions of people who now have an excellent excuse to spend their car-buying money elsewhere.

I have a suggestion for that.

Volvo’s new commercial should be way too long for an ad, clocking in at just under four minutes. And yet. It was shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer of Interstellar and Oppenheimer. And it is almost certainly the best four-minute movie you’ll ever see.

The message. FOR LIFE.

No, this isn’t a Christian ad (if you noticed the brief reference to the couple not being married yet). But it affirms family, and a man and a woman creating something that carries on after them, and the unutterably precious gift of a new person. It affirms life. As such, it moves our culture in the right direction, and I’m here to call that a little bit of (beautifully-produced) good news.

LAST MINUTE ADDITION

Chevy has weighed in with their own outstanding little film. Enjoy:

And now the promised Thanksgiving bonus material!

• This article offers 10 Psalms of Thanksgiving and how they apply to us today.

• This one offers 5 scriptures to help guide your gratitude this Thanksgiving.

• This one shares 10 verses about giving thanks, with artwork for each one you can share on social media if you like (#8 is one of my favorite verses).

And finally, another Psalm that is glorious in its focus on God’s greatness and our thankful response to it — Psalm 103. Read this around the table before you pray the blessing! Here’s the NASB version:

Bless the Lord, my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
Who pardons all your guilt,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with favor and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

The Lord performs righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His deeds to the sons of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He will not always contend with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our form;
He is mindful that we are nothing but dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place no longer knows about it.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him,
And His justice to the children’s children,
To those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts, so as to do them.

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all you His angels,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, my soul!

Happy Thanksgiving my friends.