Guys, guys, guys. So much to say on The Hoff commercial. Where to start? Lets go:
1.) Argentina: land where washed up American celebrities go to make a quick buck. See the concert tours every year from Megadeth and other bands who were popular 20 years ago. Perfect for David Hasselhoff!
2.) The lifeguard who tells him to leave, is apparently the classic lifeguard in lots of old-school Argie movies. It's minorly anti-yanqui for this guy to tell The Hoff to leave the beach, for no reason!!! It's classic Argentina pulling a little stunt to show it's better than others--when it's not based on reality at all! (There was no reason for him to leave the beach!)
3.) Lots and lots of hot girls in the video. I won't deny it. I quite liked that aspect!
4.) The government (of the Province) paid for this. Why? What are they trying to achieve? The government spends its money to pretend to tell 2nd-rate American washed up celebrities that they can't come to their beaches? Huh?
5.) So I've been to the Argie beaches dozens and dozens of times, particularly in Pinamar, Carilo, and Mar del Plata (just two weekends ago in Carilo; one weekend ago in Chile but that's another story! Side-note: I bet I'm the only person ever who spent the weekend in Carilo reading the complete works of Hannah Arendt... for fun!). The reality is contrasted soooo strongly with what is presented here: the girls aren't as cute; everyone is with families, barely anyone that isn't sitting in a big circle with the extended families; and, the kicker: if The Hoff were on the beach *everyone would be going crazy over him* and so excited and staring and talking to him and the girls trying to pick him up etc etc! They would love him! (Celebrity-worship etc.) No way would he be socially excluded from the beach: the exact opposite!!!!
6.) The Hoff's evolution over these 20 years has been utterly fascinating. He has self-consciously turned into a parody of himself. You see, it is usually a tragedy when someone becomes a parody of themselves (see: the tragedy of argentina becoming a parody of argentina) but that is alleviated by the fact that he's very conscious of what he's doing, doing it on purpose. Irony, in other words, becomes a substitute for purpose. It's so modern. I love it.
7.) The timing of this. The last 24 hours have been absurd in Argentina: even by Argentine standards. A toxic cloud hovering over the city? A storm so strong it flooded whole neighborhoods? Major twist in the government taking down the biggest newspaper, key step in the way towards full dictatorial control. Mobs attack the major shopping mall (Dot) forcing Dot to lock all of its customers inside. And then the day is topped off with.... the Hoff promoting Argie beaches? The timing is absurd.
8.) The production quality of this video is.... well.... well.... I had expected much more from a country that prides itself on its great ads. The Hoff running and then a lifeguard telling him to get off? That's the best y'all can come up with?
I think I want to go back and get another degree, just to write a doctoral thesis on this commercial
