Thoughtful Messaging

The law of unintended consequences is one that applies to writers as well as to policy-makers. It is possible to be so close to one’s own words that an unfamiliar reader will interpret them in a way their author never even considered, much less intended.  

This phenomenon was vividly illustrated in, of all things a car commercial. Unless you watch no TV at all, you have likely seen (and been annoyed by) the relentless series of Chevy commercials in which a bearded actor serving as spokesmen/game-show host wows a group of "Real People, Not Actors" with amazing facts about Chevy cars and trucks and all their incredible features and awards.  

As an aside, I feel compelled to express 1) my hope that this actor is being well-paid because he may never be hired for another gig after this series airs its final episode and 2) my appreciation that these seemingly random groups are composed of such uniformly attractive and expressive people.

The single episode I am referencing is the one in which such a group is taken to a spectacular contemporary home in Napa Valley where they are shown a gleaming white auto from which all identifying badges and logos have been removed. The group proceeds to ooh and aah as Bearded Host explains all the great features this generic car possesses.

The garrulous group guesses the car might be a Lexus or a BMW or an Audi and that it surely must cost somewhere in the range of $50,000 to $80,000!  When BH announces that this is actually a Chevy Malibu, the group collectively exclaims, “It’s a Chevy?”

My own guess is that the (presumably former) writers at the Commonwealth/McCann agency that produced this spot which is titled, apparently without intended irony, “The Car You Never Expected,” set out to impress upon its viewers that this new Chevy Malibu offers extraordinary value: a vehicle comparable to completive ones, but at a much lower price.

Here, however, is the way I reacted to it from my first viewing: the Chevy brand is so devalued that they have to sell products bearing their brand for about half of what customers are willing to pay for a similar car, but with a different brand! In other words, why doesn’t General Motors sell this fabulous car with no brand at all—just like the one looking so sweet in the Napa sunshine—or around $60,000, instead of “starting at $22,000” after being adorned with the value-destroying “Chevy” badge of dishonor?

To avoid running afoul of the law of unintended consequences, try reading all your work with fresh eyes and giving it a few days, or months, of rest, or, better yet, ask someone who has no idea what you are trying to say to read it and explain it back to you. You may be shocked at some point at how far apart the two interpretations can be!