Test Driving with Spinoza

A determinism that follows a pattern both irrational and illogical to arrive at its end. Its not results oriented, its the journey that counts and accounts. The Honda commercial using the Rube Goldberg dynamic is like hundreds of small interrelated sculptures communicating among themselves to arrive at a finished production on the basis of consensus.

The advertisement, called ‘‘Cog’‘ cost six million dollars and 606 takes of patience.  Nothing was said about what Honda does  and everything is said about what Honda is. Its brand marketing with an artistic and poetic angle employing the use of movement to sell movement . The chain link of determinism was originally a theory of Baruch Spinoza and was conceived as a system of thought enabling people to free themselves from petty individualism and unrestricted passions.In this state, the pursuit of ecstasy is irrelevent.

Honda employs the chain reaction idea with the opposite intention and in effect this is the genius of the ”transformational” component of the ad which is its real ”content” and explains the unexplained to purchase a vehicle and the anxiety it produces. This tension is termed ‘‘cognitive dissonance” in marketing speak, and its manipulation of the consumer’s tendency to freeze and disconnect underlines almost all modern marketing pitches.

The narrative is well executed.It appears arbitrary and unpredictable, hundreds of random occurrences is a spontaneous conjunction which gives form to a norm of beauty where the brand is art through the door of design and engineering.

Rube Goldberg Cartoon

The artistic pretense lends credence to what is termed the ‘‘transformational style of advertising” . The success depends entirely on a positive emotional end state, to the exclusion of any objective  product analysis. The result is dramatic, emotionally authentic and ultimately reveals Honda as a company whose wherewithal is not an easy act to follow.