Confidence

It's been a long time, but I'm back now. Being as though I want to be in the business of advertising, I figured I'd write something about it. I was trying to figure out the name of the girl from the RGX body spray ads (if you're a warm blooded, half-brained and even borderline heterosexual you know why) and I ran across a guys blog.

In his blog, http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/05/25/tv-101-why-i-cant-stand-the-rgx-body-spray-girl-videos/ , the guy says he thinks the ad really says: "I'm that b*tch you knew in high school. You remember, don't you? Senior year, you had a crush on me and sent me that nice note which I laughed about at lunch with all my friends. Thanks for that, it was really funny. Anyway, you should know I only date douchey frat-boys. That's right, if a guy isn't driving a BMW that his dad bought him and wearing a Polo shirt with the collar turned up then I'm not really all that interested. I know you hate those guys from the center of your soul, but that's the only way you have even a glimmer of a chance with me. Lucky for you, there's a brand new product that can actually turn you into that guy. Buy it, try it, and maybe we'll talk."

Besides having some serious issues with women, I think he is completely wrong. In fact, I feel like this ad is taylor made for the nerdy guy who couldn't get girls in high school. It's saying: "You're scared. Just the thought of coming over and speaking to me makes you want to wet your pants. See, the thing is, I'll never know. If you decide to grow some balls and talk to me, I'll never know you're a pansy. I'll think you're a corvette driving, football throwing, power-suit wearing, corner office having, man's man. Not only will your confidence turn me on, I'll probably go home with you. So, go do some push-ups, flex in the mirror while calling yourself "the champ" or spray some RGX body. Do whatever you have do to boost you confidence to come talk to me. It will probably be worth your trouble." That's what I think these ads are saying.

Unfortunately, for some reason, confidence is a bad thing. Confidence, however, is different from arrogance. One is a sense of yourself, and the other a sense of superiority. For some reason, people have made the two synonomous. People are made to feel bad for being confident. If you're good at something you can't even admit it. You have to act apprehensive at the risk of seeming arrogant.

In his blog, the guy also said that it's dividing the world into winners and losers. I don't think so. That view just reinforces the couch-sitting video game playing mentality we have. If you don't get off the couch and try you won't fail. You may never prosper, but you'll never fail. The ads are really dividing the world into tryers and people too scared to get off the couch. The tryers don't always get the girl, but they get more than the guy who sits on his ass. You have to get in the game to get a hit. The guys who are always complaining about not getting girls are usually the guys who never even try. They stand in the corner and talk about how that girl over there is too stuckup and would never talk to them.

I'm proud to be confident. I'm proud that I have gotten shot down just as many times as I've prevailed. I'm proud that I was in the game rather than watching from the bench. You don't have to change who you are. You don't even really have to be confident. Just act like it and you've got it made. You may still be a nerd. Just don't act like it. Not even that. Just be confident in your nerd-dom. Everybody has something to be confident in. It may not be your looks or you body, but you have something. If it's math, then be good at math. If it's singing, then be a good singer, but don't sit on your couch and talk about how you're a better singer than everybody on American Idol.