IT’S TIME TO PAUSE AND REFLECT.

While driving home from school this afternoon I found myself literally stopping in the middle of traffic to look at an advertisement by Diesel pasted on a wall at the corner of National and Overland. Although the picture itself was eye-catching, as it depicted a woman standing on a ladder flashing her breasts to a security camera, it was the text that stopped me: “Smart may have the brains, but stupid as the balls.” I started going over the possible implications of this slogan which in summary can be simply put as the encouragement of young people to be stupid. Although the acceptance of stupid behavior has been pushed for by our generation it made me really question what kind of life we’re encouraging young people to lead. I came home to look up the campaign and see if there were anymore ads similar to the one that I saw on the street and came across an entire movement and philosophy that Diesel is heading. After watching the video that Anomoly advertising agency created for Diesel’s “Be Stupid” campaign it became clear to me that Diesel had set out to completely change the connotation of stupid. Although the acts committed in the advertisements images included the epitome of what I would consider “stupid,” such as stopping to take a picture of your vagina while a lion is behind you about to attack, or running around the beach in underwear that reads “burn baby, burn” while feeding a mountain of flaming furniture, Diesel’s advertisements seem to be taking the word stupid and moving it away from it’s popular definition in contemporary society: 1 a : slow of mind : obtuse b : given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner c : lacking intelligence or reason : brutish

We have grown up in a generation that’s been told not to be many things. Don’t be too fat. Don’t be too thin. Don’t be ugly. Don’t be short, hairy, loud. Don’t listen to this and don’t watch that. And most of all, our parents generation has pounded into our heads that the worst of the worst that we can be is stupid. Before shows like Jackass and websites like YouTube where virtually anything flies, being stupid wasn’t okay. It was synonymous with failure as opposed to what it’s now come to be related to: cool. Many of us use this word on a regular basis to describe things like… George W. Bush, the kid at our  18th birthday party who smoked a little too much and tried to jump off of the roof and into the pool (and missed) or television shows like Jersey Shores. I know I can even list some very stupid things that I’ve done in the past that I will refrain from mentioning. And this I think is exactly what Diesel’s campaign is trying to hit on, is the fact that these stupid actions, thoughts and ideas should not be held down by the negative connotation that the word holds to many people, but should be recognized as common occurrences in everyday life. Their campaign seems to focus on the fact that the sentence “Don’t be stupid” is something that has been told to us all of our lives.

“Like balloons, we are filled with hopes and dreams. But. Over time a single sentence creeps into our lives. Don’t be stupid. It’s the crusher of possibility. It’s the worlds greatest deflator. The world is full of smart people. Doing all kind of smart things… That’s smart.
Well, we’re with stupid. Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret free life. Smart may have the brains…
but stupid has the balls. The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be. Smart critiques. Stupid creates. The fact is if we didn’t have stupid thoughts wed have no interesting thoughts at all. Smart may have the plans… but stupid has the stories.
Smart may have the authority but stupid has one hell of a hangover. Its not smart to take risks… Its stupid.
To be stupid is to be brave. The stupid isn’t afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.
Smart had one good idea, and that idea was stupid. You can’t outsmart stupid. So don’t even try. Remember only stupid can be truly brilliant. So, BE STUPID“

Avoiding being stupid is something that has been ingrained in our minds and keeps us from asking questions in class for fear of being judged as being stupid. Something that keeps us from arguing with a statement made by someone deemed “smarter” than us for fear of being judged as being stupid. Many of the best inventions were deemed “stupid” or crazy in the beginning, and eventually may have completely changed the world. I applaud Anomaly and Diesel for taking it into their own hands to change how people look at the word, and to change how people should judge each others ventures and ideas. When I looked deeper into Anomaly as an advertising company it became very clear to me where this message was coming from.  They are rooted in the idea that old world advertising companies are broken, tired and out-of-the-know. What people need to become aware of is that, “The traditional approaches are now obsolete. One hundred years of marketing thoughts are gone. Alternative approaches aren’t a novelty. They are all we’ve got left.” And this concept is very clear in the campaign that they created for Diesel. it’s time to start thinking of a different way not only to approach advertising, but a way to comment on life through the outlet of these media images.

On the other hand though, I think that the word stupid can be looked at in two different lights. The ads involve mainly two different kinds of messages: The fact that thoughts can be judged as stupid, and that actions can be judged as stupid. Although actions are always going to stem from a thought, the way that I am differentiating between the two is based on the idea that the actions themselves in these images are more on the side of being just purely dangerous. I completely agree with the statement that “To be stupid is to be brave. The stupid isn’t afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.” I think that this is one of the strongest parts of the campaign, as it encourages youth to take chances, to take risks and not to worry about failure because there’s no way to succeed unless you try. But I also believe that their ads are in a way pushing young people to do these “stupid” things that are downright absurd and unsafe. Although it would be almost impossible for a lot of people to put themselves in the situations shown in the ad’s images it’s overall glorifying the concept that “Smart may have the plans… but stupid has the stories,” and when many of those stories involve dangerous acts it’s clear that the act of embracing a completely stupid life should be taken with a grain of salt, and a large one at that. Unfortunately, as many advertising campaigns these days do, the ads also seem to make their point at the expense of others: the smart kids. What caught my eye when I first drove by one of these posters was the fact that they’re not just helping the stupid kids doing their stupid, revolutionary acts make it into the light, but they’re pushing intelligent ideas and accomplishments in a negative light. “Smart may have the brains… but stupid has the balls. The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be. Smart critiques. Stupid creates.” Who is to say that brains aren’t important, for aren’t the brains those who can eventually figure out how to get stupid out from between a rock and a hard place? Who is to say that critique isn’t necessary when it comes to weeding out the truly “stupid” ideas that people come up with, like pet rocks and movies like “Beverly Hills Chihuahua?” I think that in the end both balance each other out.

Personally, I totally can support one end of Diesel’s campaign. It is encouraging kids to come out of their shell and speak their mind regardless of the outcome. It’s encouraging creativity, spontaneity and uniqueness. It focuses on the fact that in the end everything’s credibility in the world really just depends on how you look at the situation.