The Bride wore..... the right brand

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there

is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

I don't normally watch commercials, thanks to modern technology, I record what I want to watch and then fast forward through them. One day last week, however, I found myself subjected to a commercial whose messages an subtleties have irked me ever since.

This commercial opens with a beautiful blonde, thin bride, doing all the things that brides do in the hot sun-throwing her arms up in the air and dancing around. We then see a trio of equally beautiful bridesmaids who have discovered that their anti-perspirant has failed them. Their coral-coloured strapless dresses have wet marks under the arms, and they are mortified. It shows them attempting throughout the day to do all the things that thier friend-the perfect bride- is doing but without lifting their arms. Clearly, they are hindered in this area, and these scenes are juxtaposed with the bride in her white, dry arm-pitted, strapless gown throwing the bouquet, posing for pictures and dancing with abandon, while her hapless not-so-smart bridesmaids are left to dance with the less-than-desireables.

At first glance, this is a funny commercial. Who hasn't stood in the blazing sun, in a dress that is made of material that shows EVERY little flaw? Who hasn't endured the stress of having to be at their best in less than ideal circumstances? It's kind of cute.... and no one truly begrudges the bride a perfect day where the messiness of life seems to take a vacation and gives her a free pass?

But let's look deeper..... this commercial essentially sends the message that the people who are worthy of marriage are those who have everything perfectly figured out, those who have discovered the secret to not sweating on a 100 degree day. That those who somehow fall short of the expectation should expect nothing but bridesmaid's dresses for the rest of thier lives- especially since they cannot even reach above their heads to catch the bouquet!

In this world of high expectations, low self-esteem, and a declining rate of marriage, do we really want to send the message that only the perfect people get married? Do we want to plant it in a young woman's mind that how put together she is will determine if she marries? Marriage is a sacred unoin and a treasure for those involved, it should be highly repected... but not too highly regarded. If we make marriage such a rare jewel-like diamonds for the rich, those who feel like they cannot attain it, could end up settling for a cheap knock off.

Do I truly think that one silly anti-perspirant commercial will change the way a whole society views marriage? Probably not, although there are some very highly-paid people in a marketing firm somewhere that hope thier message DOES change someone's thinking. They hope that the subtle-or not so subtle- idea that love and acceptance is contigent upon purchasing their product will cause thousands if not millions of women to go out and buy thier client's product-in fact they have gambled hundreds of thousands of dollars on that hope.