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16 years ago today, John Lennon was assassinated in New York City. Those of us old enough to remember will probably never forget that night as long as we live. It was on a Monday, the night of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting. It was, indeed, an altogether forgettable evening except for the gunfire which shattered our collective grasp of sense-making forever. After Lennon's shooting, every "senseless" crime or public spectacle seemed to make more sense than this one ever could. For those old enough to remember - and young enough to care - it was a night that seemed to destroy our ability to be surprised.
I was pretty sure of that until a few days ago. It is, once again, Christmastime, and so we are accustomed to the usual displays of ersatz corporate goodwill that seem to permeate the airwaves this time of year. Lennon's song Imagine is featured in a new ad campaign by American Express. At first, it seems rather similar to the familiar "Save the Children"/"Plan International" - type ads with which we are all quite familiar. Soon though, we find something strange happening, something actually surprising. In the full version of the television ad, Lennon's widow Yoko Ono appears on-screen to personally endorse the "Charge Against Hunger" sponsored by the credit card monolith. With every purchase during the Christmas season, the company has pledged to donate a small percentage to an anti-hunger organization. Yoko implores viewers to do something. But what? What are we being asked to do? Donate our money, our time, our abilities in the fight against domestic hunger? No. Yoko is asking us to simply use "The Card" in our Holiday purchases. It's that easy - buy something for a loved one or yourself and you've "charged against hunger." One is asked to help others not through any kind of personal sacrifice, but by directly enriching a major multinational corporation. In the view of Amex, charity certainly begins at home.
After Yoko throws down the gauntlet, the real action begins. John Lennon sings his lyrics over a backdrop of typical "unfortunates" delicately photographed in the manner of all such charity campaigns. Everything seems so familiar. With, of course, the exception that Lennon is singing lyrics that ought to dissolve the sense of Amex's "effortless" charity campaign. "Imagine no possessions," he sings with his usual clarity and force. If we are to feel the song, and act on the song, it becomes impossible, of course, to carry through with the wishes of American Express. One cannot truly "imagine no possessions" as one is collecting more and more of them, can one?
Ameerican Express certainly hopes so.
The shock of the campaign lies in the irresoluteness of the contradiction. Either the song will dissolve the idea of "The Card," or using "The Card" will destroy the meaning of the song. The latter is, naturally, the hope of the advertisers. The use of the song is an obscene, but rather traditional attempt at co-optation of a radical piece of popular culture. The contradiction is so extreme, so outrageous and surprising, however, that all bets are off. The campaign becomes a cultural gamble which risks offending viewers to the extent that they really listen to Lennon's lyrics and critically evaluate their relation to the product they are being enlisted to buy. As such, the campaign is a rare opportunity. Many a thoughtful viewer will be outraged enough to wonder how on earth one can fight hunger by buying a Nike soccer ball sewn in India by child slaves? The wild, galling illogic of the ad actually takes it apart and allows a viewer to see the deceitful truth behind the conceit of "corporate responsibility."
While Lennon himself might initially have been outraged to think that Yoko could ever be party to such a profanity, he might also come to understand that Ono is, after all, a conceptual artist. And this might well be her masterwork.
Copyright © 1996 by Robin Markowitz. All Rights Reserved.
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