The Billiken's Bluff

I was waiting on line outside of RARE , an aptly named lounge in the Meatpacking district. A wispy-haired, middle-aged Caucasian gentleman was talking to two women, flaunting his semi-celebrity-personality. I interjected, drunk and boisterous.



ME: "Oh you're the dude from the Verizon commercial. I posted about you on my website, about a month ago."

VERIZON FATHER: "Yea that's me. That commercial has caused a lot of chatter on the internet." (He proceeded to try and return his conversation to the two women, but I persisted..)

ME: "Yea, I was wondering where the black or Hispanic mother was in the commercial. But she was nowhere to be found. It was just you and two hispanic kids running around, setting up the internet."

VERIZON FATHER: "It was a real successful campaign. There was a lot of buzz about it."

ME: "So are you coming in to see the Show tonight?"

VERIZON FATHER: "No, I actually have to go to meet my wife."

ME: "Is she black? Hispanic?"

VERIZON WHITE: "No, she's white."

ME: "Best of luck to you."

VERIZON FATHER: "And you."

Tom's nuclear family unit, as it exists in the commercial is described on the Verizon website-



"Meet the Elliotts"

Multicultural family of six
-Father, Tom
-Mother, Marta
-Georgia, 17, a socially active daughter who phones friends endlessly
-Raphael, 12, a techno-centric son whose favorite activity is surfing the Web
-Christina, 9, independent, savvy and ready to take on the world
-Oscar, 4, faces typical challenges of a child
-Grandfather, Ralph, makes occasional visits
-Dog, Hambone

If you are so inclined, you can watch the commercial here.

I often find Slate's online magazine has commentary's on stories that I can't find anywhere else. They, like the good folks here at Billiken, found the Elliot commercial newsworthy.

Seth Stevenson writes:

"In the Elliotts campaign, race is 1) an attention-getting gimmick and 2) a way to lend the brand a modern, distinctive vibe. This is a delicate (and slightly duplicitous) balancing act, because No. 1 relies on the fact that a mixed-race family is still sort of a big deal while No. 2 relies on Verizon treating it as no big deal at all."

Be that as it may, there is dog is named Hambone, which you have to respect, no matter who your DSL service provider is.