Coleman Gets It

I was watching television - a truly rare occurrence - when a commercial actually got me to listen to the message. If you are like me, commercials drive you to distraction. I understand that they are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but I truly don't believe that the denominator that they are appealing to really exists.

This clever commercial was for the Coleman company. They make camping gear - tents, lanterns, stoves, etc. The commercial showed what looked like home movies from the 50s of families camping with scenes of family members pitching a tent, cooking, and sitting around a picnic table eating. The narration said that the Coleman company created their products to bring people together socially, therefore the Coleman company was the original social networking site.



This company really gets it. There is nothing new under the sun. As Alan and I discussed in The Last Original Idea, social networking sites began with prehistoric men and women sitting around in their caves or around the campfire. The Coleman company may not be the original social networking site, but they played a part in its evolution and were clever enough to recognize it.