Facebook’s First Ever TV Ad Will Blow Your Mind
The social media giant’s first attempt at global branding unwittingly revealed its own hubris.
In the annals of big corporate marketing, there may be nothing like it. The ad starts with a red chair suspended in the air in a dark forest. Then images float by of an old Black man sitting a bus stop, a young Latino man reading a book on his porch rocking chair, and two young Black kids spinning one another on an old office chair in the middle of a residential street. While we see more images of a group of dancers on chairs, a smiling old Asian man resting on a bench, a girl putting her rag doll on a chair, a dinner party and a couple snuggling on a love seat, a woman narrator starts to speak:
“Chairs. Chairs are made so that people can sit down and take a break. Anyone can sit on a chair, and if the chair is large enough, they can sit down together. And tell jokes. Or make up stories. Or just listen. Chairs are for people. And that is why chairs are like…”
Wait for it.
No, this wasn’t an ad for Ikea. Or for Herman Miller.
It was an ad for Facebook, made by Oscar winning Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu (the director of Amores Perros), produced by Wieden + Kennedy and released in October 2012.
