DAI Forumers: We're Restless Hearted, Not The Chained And Bound, The Sky Is Burning, A Sea Of Flame, Though Your World Is Changing, I Will Be The Same

I've taken a real shining to those Sonic Burger commercials. Even though the closest Sonic Burger is all the way out in Anaheim, those commercials never cease to amuse me. I don't know if it's the dead-pan delivery or the fact they feel completely improvised, but every time I see one I have to look up from whatever it is I'm doing. I may have seen the same commercial dozens of times, even to the point of knowing them line-for-line, but I think that's how you know it's had its effect on you. It's much the same with a comedic film or a thriller, once the surprise is gone, the real test of merit is whether or not it can stand up to repeated viewings. Those commercials always do.

I know most people have a love/hate relationship with those commercials. Some people may claim not to get them or think the humor is pretty stupid. I would have to agree that the value doesn't come from overwhelming glamorous shots of the food or intelligent, witty dialogue. I do think that the commercials are intelligent in their own way. They portray a social dynamic we can all relate to, whether one is talking about the two guy best friends or the married couple. In either scenario the interplay doesn't feel forced; they both possess this exasperated tolerance for one another as well as this playful ribbing that never crosses into cruelty. That's a hard line to maintain, especially after at least a hundred of those commercials according to Sonic's website.

I think that's the real reason I enjoy those commercials so much because, for all their one-upping each other, they really do demonstrate what a healthy friendship or relationship should be like. They're not these stagnant, over-polite conversations that people would like to believe happen between two people who are meant for each other. But neither are they these energetic, peppy all-night discourses that people always seem to fancy when describing how they get along so well with somebody. It's easy to get along with somebody when you have something vital or exciting to talk about. Nope, what I like about these commercials--even as big of an opponent as I am to small talk--is how two friends or two lovers sound like in an everyday situation, when they are not engaged in a discourse over some weighty topic. The conversations are always mundane, commonplace, but they're never boring. Sometimes they veer off into rants. Sometimes they veer off into little bits of "nothing" like Seinfeld used to. But there is a method to this madness.

The other kick I get from the commercials is that even through all the subdued bickering, all the thinly veiled nitpicking, there's a constancy to the relationships between the couples. You don't see one of the two guys getting replaced by some new guy, nor do you see the married couple talking about getting a divorce or even going to counseling. Nope, what you get, which I like, is the same two faces sticking it out and, quite often, demonstrating their human ability to stay tethered to this individual they've chosen to include in their lives despite everything. The commercials all seem to have this underlying theme that we, as a people, have the ability to bend and not break when it comes to maintaining healthy relationships. We put up with the small annoyances to take advantage of the greater harvest a lifelong friendship or relationship yields.

Yes, I'm a sucker for a good fast food commercial. And, yes, the married couple in the commercial especially gets to the romantic in me because it reminds me of the myriad of playful exchanges I've had over the years. But the real reason I love these Sonic Burgers so overwhelmingly is because they plain show how a friendship is both a beast that evolves and remains the same depending on how you look at it. Each commercial is different, showing a different aspect about the same two couples, but yet there's a familiarity to the patter and there's a familiarity to the exact way each participant feels about his or her counterpart.

tell her I'll be waiting
in the usual place

That's why every time I view one of those commercials I laugh out loud, because inside my heart might as well be whispering, "awwww...."

Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers