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I’ve never created, directed or produced a television commercial but here it goes.
Like tens of millions of other heads of households around-the-world our protagonist opens the front door to the morning sunshine ready for a productive and long day at work.
I am thinking there are going to be several versions.
One will have a white male. Another version with will feature a woman. Maybe there will be a few ethnic takes.
After taking a deep breath to enjoy the fortune of perfect weather, our principal walks down the front path towards the driveway. For background music I am thinking about “Something Great” from LCD Soundsystem. They also have a song “North American Scum” but for this commercial that would be a faux pas.
Here’s where we add the first unusual element. Trailing our protagonist is a line of people. With suspense building we try to make out who is following our leader? Clearly it’s not their children. One person perhaps is a nanny. And the second person could be a cook. Hmmm. Restaurant at home doesn’t make sense?
As our principal person gets down to their car it is clear there are more people behind them now. It looks like perhaps couple landscapers. And there is clearly a pool boy. But what’s even more interesting is as our main character gets in the car this line of people gets in too and what looks to be a driver gets in the passenger side.
The car pulls into the street and now from the various storefronts on Main Street people are literally coming out of the shops and getting into our slow moving car. These people clearly aren’t customers of the shops, but people who work in them.
The car turns at the light and instead of pulling into an office parking lot, it pulls onto an airport tarmac. Our protagonist gets out and heads to a waiting private jet with what is now a literal parade of 24 people behind him.
I’m thinking James Earl Jones for the voiceover. “Last year people like Jim each created 24 jobs each, not from the taxes they paid. No! Not from the companies they created. That’s even more jobs! Last year, people like Jim each created 24 jobs each just from their purchases of watches and jewelry, fashion and accessories, trips to spas and resorts and that new home theatre. People like Jim and his family help keep our global economy going. Jim is Super Rich. Next time you read hateful articles about the very wealthy, think about Jim and his family.”
Cutting from James Earl Jones’ voice we see our 24 people lined up next to the private jet almost like one of those 1970s “Fly Me” airline commercials. As Jones finishes, in chorus, they say, “Think about us, and think about our jobs!”
Jones finishes with a quick, “How many jobs did you create last year? This message was brought to you by the Ultra High Net Worth Marketing Council.”
If one uses figures from Wealth-X that 211,000 Ultra High Net Worth families spend $234 billion a near on luxury lifestyle creating over five million jobs (my estimate) that works out about 24 jobs per UHNW.
If each of the 211,000 UHNW families (each worth over $30 million) donated $1,000 each we could have a $211 million ad campaign. Perhaps since the Super Bowl is one of the world’s top draws for private jets, the campaign could launch at next January’s big game.
When I was interviewed and narrowly missed being impaled by National Public Radio for defending Stephen Schwarzman’s multi-million dollar birthday party in 2007 I said that the Super Rich had a public relations problem. We should be encouraging them to spend, not shaming them into saving their surplus of funds.
Judging by the Jeff Greene fiasco at Davos, I would say not much has change.
What do you think?