The story is, from what I gather, there's some kind of 5 Gum laboratory in which human subjects participate in sensory experiments (experi-mints?) that represent the particular flavor of gum to the audience. The tingle of spearmint, for example, apparently equates to being dropped in a pool full of birdshot pellets while some scientists drop the bass.
Minty fresh.
The bleak,
monochromatic setting and the stony-faced authority figures are probably
supposed to evoke a sort of rigid, futuristic coolness which, juxtaposed with
the avant-garde and awe-inspiring abstraction of whatever the
"experiment" is, creates a distinct image for 5 Gum's brand. Here's another one, involving what's probably a fourth-dimensional Rorschach test.
It's clear that what's literally going on isn't as important as the emotions and sensations evoked by those images. Instead of using a structured narrative to make the audience feel something, 5 Gum cuts to the chase and hopes some of its out-there imagery will resonate with the viewer.
Even if that was the intent, since I'm not used to this particular marketing technique, I found it easy to be profoundly distracted by the lack of narrative. Where the hell are these people? Why is this person in boxers? Why are they vulnerable and half-naked, while those folks in the press box get to wear sharp black suits? I get Stanford Prison Experiment vibes from this kind of imagery and I'm pretty sure that's not what 5 Gum wanted.
Narrative stuff aside, by the end of the commercial, I associate this brand of gum with artful technology that's just weird enough to be a little dangerous.
But it's still, you know, gum.
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