Do the right thing

I was flat on my back on the couch at the end of a lonnnng day a while back, when the above television commercial grabbed me by the throat and sat me up.
I guess it was the excellent acting. Or the camera and sound work. That moment when the grizzled guy starts his uncomfortable announcement about "changes" at work. The sick expressions on the wife's face. The silence of the kids. Suddenly I was right there, zeroed in. Tears were forming about the time he started talking about "promises we made, your mother and I...may have to be put on hold." Oh, God, do I really have to relive this now?
Then, the tag line, printed on the screen. "Doing the right thing says a lot about a person. And a company."
What the...?
Doing the right thing? Really? What right thing is that, exactly?
It's not too clear. About-to-be-laid-off guy talks about keeping expenses down. To me, though, that doesn't represent a choice. What else are they going to do but keep expenses down?
This doesn't look like a family that has a lot of extravagance to cut out to begin with. Apparently they have grandpa living with them.
So what right thing does Liberty Mutual--the company behind this ad--have in mind? Surely they're not suggesting that dad "accidentally" end up pinned beneath his tractor in an irrigation canal. Or that the wife and kids start trading in illegal prescription medicine.
Perhaps Liberty Mutual wants the family to do the right thing by becoming activists and union organizers, joining in anti-globalization marches.
I think not. Really, it looks to me like Liberty Mutual's idea of the "right thing" is to quietly accept the their station in life, cut back on even the tiniest of pleasures and never speak ill of the company. "The missus and I, we'll make due." Yeah, that sounds about right.
Okay, I know this sounds a little angry for an optimism post, but damn! This ad seems to me just a little bit clueless.
Turns out its part of a campaign called the "responsibility project," in which LM creates fictional problems to start a discussion about what the right thing to do would be. (Example: Pick up your own kids from soccer but leave their one friend alone waiting for his ride?) Go here for New York Times story.
Any other time, I'd be right on board with the positive messages of the responsibility project. Pay it forward? You bet. Optimistic belief in the good intentions of our neighbors usually brings out the feel-goods for me. This time, though, I feel the hot fires of cynicism flaring up.
I love it when insurance companies and bankers feel the need to educate us common folk about personal responsibility. It's the burden of the management class, I guess, to strengthen the moral fiber of the chronically lazy workers. Let's see how LM has done, responsibility-wise.
Hmmmm. Looks like they pulled away from the worst of the stock market's problem children just in time. To their credit. Let's see what else. Liberty Mutual, Liberty Mutual....
Ah, here it is. March, 2009. "Connecticut orders Liberty Mutual to pay nearly $930,000 in fines and restitution for overcharging thousands of customers, settling claims incorrectly and violating state laws in the appointment and licensing of agents." (Insurance Journal story here.)
And they think they've got something to teach us unemployed and under-employed people about ethical standards. Please.
Guys, how about this?
Scene: Well-dressed managers are seated around the boardroom table, exchanging small talk and shuffling papers. Leader nervously clears his throat and calls them to attention.
"There have been some, ah, changes going on in our sales and expenses. Profits are down and I don't know how far it will go. It will affect the money we have coming in. Some of the bonuses we've promised...may have to go on hold. But if we keep expenses down and we all tighten our belts, we can get through this."
Now there's an ad I'd like to see.