Sunday, January 20, 2008

Kohler is cool with your affair.


Kohler is cool with your affair.

Kohler is the Nike of bathroom faucets and toilets. They have a ton of products, but chances are, those are the two you might have seen. Normally, I have a strict policy about writing posts concerning faucets but tonight I saw a commercial that was a little surprising.

In the spot, a guy is walking down the front steps of his brownstone in the city. He sees a sexy woman plumber walking into his neighbor’s house. He immediately runs back in and starts to flush things down his toilet in the hope that it will clog and said sexy lady plumber will come over.

It’s mildly humorous, as he throws in a towel, candles and eventually a bag of dog food. Kohler is big on bragging about how they’re toilets don’t clog so the point they’re trying to make is clear. But the commercial ends with the guy’s wife walking in on him pouring the dog food down the toilet. Interesting that she’s average looking and not at all sexy like the gal plumber.

What’s the underlying message in that ad? That marriage is so dull you’ll fill your toilet with Alpo for a chance to see an attractive female plumber? Really? Is that what I’m supposed to believe? Marriage is so boring that life has boiled down to tricking hot service people over to your house?

Maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way. Maybe this is aimed at wives and the message is, “Unless you have a Kohler toilet, your husband will flush a hand towel and run off with the plumber. Buy Kohler!”

That’s stupid, and maybe this makes as much sense as the post, “Your dad is having sex. Let’s get drunk!” And I’m not going to protest Kohler or write a letter or never use my kitchen sink again.

But I do at least want you to be sensitive what people are spending millions and millions of dollars to tell you and me. Marriage doesn’t matter. Flirting is OK. Adultery is kind of funny if it involves dog food and a toilet.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know - if you are so willing to destroy your marriage, why must you do so by destroying your plumbing. I agree that we have way too many commercials that are "intended" to have humor, but the underlying message is too sad.

Anonymous said...

Jon, why wouldn't you at least write a letter to Kohler, protesting the "not funny"-ness of this commercial?

This is EXACTLY how the enemy of your soul and mine has gotten such a stronghold in this world. He comes at us with seemingly innocent, funny in a squirmy kind of way, things and we sit there and take it. We don't fight back. We don't do anything. And we have far too many people in this world who think it is ok to put dog food in the toilet so that they can leer at the plumber! Because no one ever does anything about it.

Doing nothing is the same thing as giving approval.

Just my two cents...

Anonymous said...

I don't know about you, but nothing reflects the ultimate pathetic futility of trying to break the Kohler, as the expression of chagrined bemusement oh his face whent he and we realize he already HAS a wife.