Sometimes advertisers get it right.

A current Subaru commercial, which I think is charming, taps into the feeling that comes when generations relate to each other.

A grandmother, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter are on a family drive in the country.   The grandmother, who has that aging hippie look about her, is intent on connecting with her granddaughter. She shows her her crystal collection. At a flower stand, where they are petting a cat, the granddaughter asks her, “Can you really talk to cats?” The grandmother nods and smiles.

When they reach their destination, a tree in the middle of a field, the grandmother says, “This is where I met your grandpa, Right under this tree.”

The little girl runs over and hugs the tree.

In the next frame, they’re all hugging the tree, then the grandmother has second thoughts: “Or was it that tree?” she wonders out loud.

The commercial closes with the tagline: Love. It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru.

Love also makes a family, and knowing your family history gives you roots. You better understand who you are in the world. You know you belong to something bigger.

Quoting Tommy Lee Jones, he’s an actor, but he also went to Harvard: “There are things, points of view, uses of the language, habits of dress, ways of thought and believing that came to me from my grandparents and came to them from theirs. Things that are of good use in any situation, no matter what the future may hold.”

© 2014 Susan Marg – All Rights Reserved

Illustration by: Malchev