Amazon's "Joy is Made" commercial - what does it mean?

[bcla]

Pretty interesting. Apparently these series of ads (this one is the longest) were directed by Taika Waititi.

A lot of the articles on this ad say how special the snow globe is the this girl and how her dad makes things magical for her by buying a shredder and fan, then creating "snow" in a greenhouse.

I haven't seen one posted that shows the one that shows up on actual YouTube ads or on TV. That one is radically different where it seems to provide context for what the snow globe represents. Mom isn't physically present, but in that version one sees a photo of mom and dad together with her. The daughter places the snow globe on a chair at dinner, with a seat belt in the front seat, and in bed to comfort her. It's pretty clear in that version of the ad that the snow globe is serving as a surrogate for mom, although it's not clear if mom is just on a long trip or maybe she passed away. Certainly the photo lends a little bit more context.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have only seen a condensed version of this on TV. I thought that was great. I think the long version here is spectacular. I LOVE it!!.

 

[georgina]

I liked the ad so much I watched the 2.5 minute version online a few weeks ago. Definitely gave me more context, although not exactly where mom is. When I watched the shorter one first I thought maybe the child had autism

 

[DLgal]

So, as someone who reads WAY too much into things like this and can figure out the plot/ending of most movies/TV shows after about 5 minutes, this is my interpretation of this ad:

Mom has died. Mom gave daughter the snowglobe, obviously. The snow globe is a proxy for mom. Kid hasn't fully been able to accept Mom is gone. Kid depends on snow globe for comfort. Dad worries about this. Dad wants kid to be able to experience life with joy, even though there is sadness and a void.

Dad takes the thing Mom gave the daughter, the thing she finds comfort in, and decides to make it "real." He thinks that by doing this, it will show his daughter that the real world has all the same joy and beauty that the world inside the globe has. Kid probably thinks of the world inside the globe as the last time she felt truly happy and secure (cause mom gave it to her). If Dad makes this scene come to life, perhaps girl will be more willing to "let go" a little bit and experience life more fully.

In the context of Amazon the message is: "you can create anything you want because we literally sell everything you need."

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.