Joe Frango, fellow ad writer and esteemed commentator on this blog, tipped me off recently to an ethanol company that named itself POET.
Frango asked (in a recent comment) "why would a company that markets alternative energy solutions call itself POET? Is it because poetry transcends the profit motive? Is the company harkening back to the Romantics? Is POET a way of 'naturalizing' capitalism?" These questions piqued my interest.
After a little research, I discovered that the firm had gone under a number of names (the last of which was Broin Companies) before it was renamed POET in 2007. POET is not an acronym. President Jeff Broin explains the name this way:
"We wanted a name that would represent, rather than describe, who we are and what we do...As a poet takes everyday words and turns them into something valuable and beautiful; we use creativity that comes from common sense to leave things better than when we found them."
Broin's desire for a name that "represents rather than describes" holds a familiar ring to poetry fans: isn't poetry the kind of writing that shows rather than tells? But what does POET show? To find out, I took a look at their website and a recent TV campaign.
Amber Waves of Grain
As you would expect, at POET's website you find images of corn, soil and silos. But what's interesting are the embellishments -- pix of children with wind brushed hair, golden fields, American flags -- and almost sepia-bronzed skies. This does create a sort of naturalized Romanticism of the American variety -- a bit like the poetry found in The Prairies by the 19th century author William Cullen Bryant.
And the site suggests that there's something about alternative energy that, like poetry, transcends the desire for pure profit: it's patriotic to use it, and good for the environment.
The TV campaign translates some of these themes into an urban setting. Here are two in a series of :35 second spots:
The Mystery of the POET
The nationalism of these spots isn't surprising. One of the most appealing arguments for the use of alternative energy is that it lessens dependence on foreign oil. The use of poetry to tie together brands and patriotism is also something we've seen before. Think of how Whitman's lines are used to announce the coming of a new, concerned generation of Americans (who also wear blue jeans) in Levi's Go Forth campaign.
But what I still find mysterious is that fact that few seem to be listening to the POETs in these spots. Does the company mean to suggest by this that its first concern is doing something good -- carrying on the good fight, as it were -- whether people want to hear its message or not? In other words, is this simply a way to signify integrity? (Certainly an attribute hard for corporations to come by now a days.)
Perhaps. But to me, such a setting also suggests a kind of vulnerability; these prophets in the midst of the urban wilderness seem like they could get run over by the street traffic hurrying by. Maybe that's why these images reminded me of a metaphor I once came across in the writings of philosopher Jacques Derrida.
Derrida once compared poetry to something like a hedgehog trying to cross the street in the midst of traffic (potential road kill, really). In other words, something out of place, and nearly defenseless.
But, despite this alien identity, poetry, like the POETs in these commercials, "is obliged to address itself to someone, singularly to you, but as if to the being lost in anonymity, between city and nature, an imparted secret at once both public and private..." (p. 223)
These spots are still mysterious to me. Any thoughts on them, or the poetry of advertising in general?
Frango asked (in a recent comment) "why would a company that markets alternative energy solutions call itself POET? Is it because poetry transcends the profit motive? Is the company harkening back to the Romantics? Is POET a way of 'naturalizing' capitalism?" These questions piqued my interest.
After a little research, I discovered that the firm had gone under a number of names (the last of which was Broin Companies) before it was renamed POET in 2007. POET is not an acronym. President Jeff Broin explains the name this way:
"We wanted a name that would represent, rather than describe, who we are and what we do...As a poet takes everyday words and turns them into something valuable and beautiful; we use creativity that comes from common sense to leave things better than when we found them."
Broin's desire for a name that "represents rather than describes" holds a familiar ring to poetry fans: isn't poetry the kind of writing that shows rather than tells? But what does POET show? To find out, I took a look at their website and a recent TV campaign.
Amber Waves of Grain
As you would expect, at POET's website you find images of corn, soil and silos. But what's interesting are the embellishments -- pix of children with wind brushed hair, golden fields, American flags -- and almost sepia-bronzed skies. This does create a sort of naturalized Romanticism of the American variety -- a bit like the poetry found in The Prairies by the 19th century author William Cullen Bryant.
And the site suggests that there's something about alternative energy that, like poetry, transcends the desire for pure profit: it's patriotic to use it, and good for the environment.
The TV campaign translates some of these themes into an urban setting. Here are two in a series of :35 second spots:
The Mystery of the POET
The nationalism of these spots isn't surprising. One of the most appealing arguments for the use of alternative energy is that it lessens dependence on foreign oil. The use of poetry to tie together brands and patriotism is also something we've seen before. Think of how Whitman's lines are used to announce the coming of a new, concerned generation of Americans (who also wear blue jeans) in Levi's Go Forth campaign.
But what I still find mysterious is that fact that few seem to be listening to the POETs in these spots. Does the company mean to suggest by this that its first concern is doing something good -- carrying on the good fight, as it were -- whether people want to hear its message or not? In other words, is this simply a way to signify integrity? (Certainly an attribute hard for corporations to come by now a days.)
Perhaps. But to me, such a setting also suggests a kind of vulnerability; these prophets in the midst of the urban wilderness seem like they could get run over by the street traffic hurrying by. Maybe that's why these images reminded me of a metaphor I once came across in the writings of philosopher Jacques Derrida.
Derrida once compared poetry to something like a hedgehog trying to cross the street in the midst of traffic (potential road kill, really). In other words, something out of place, and nearly defenseless.
But, despite this alien identity, poetry, like the POETs in these commercials, "is obliged to address itself to someone, singularly to you, but as if to the being lost in anonymity, between city and nature, an imparted secret at once both public and private..." (p. 223)
These spots are still mysterious to me. Any thoughts on them, or the poetry of advertising in general?
