I absolutely love this DSW TV commercial from Fall 2009, specifically because it shows how our clothes can say things that we would never dare utter out loud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuSftsLWh64
So I watch the ad a few times and it gets me thinking…
One of the reasons this ad stands out for me is because the
red shoe isn’t the only woman in the room. There’s a high boot and a black heel
– and, in fact, with the addition of the red shoe, gender ratio in the room
becomes 50:50. But I had to watch the ad a couple of times to pick that out. All
the other shoes are a very conservative black so that, regardless of gender, they
all look alike. And then the new board member wanders in and she’s a bright,
shiny red. Do you think all of the other shoes in that room were black to begin
with? Or did they become the same color as they all conformed to the
requirements of their position? Will the shiny, red shoe eventually fade to
black?
The red shoe tells the board’s chair that she is smarter and younger than him, and that she’ll be taking his job. While it always makes me grin, my ear picks up on the word ”younger” and I find myself wondering... What does “younger” really mean? I think it equals more energy and, somehow, the word “virile” comes to mind. With her youth and energy, will the younger shoe spawn ideas that are more current, represent the younger, upcoming generation? Perhaps. Will she keep striding forward long after her counterparts have worn out their soles? Perhaps.
But then I wonder… without the experience that
comes with age, what does the red shoe not have? What scuffs would help her
make better decisions “because she’s made those mistakes”? Similarly, might a
worn shoe also engender trust that it’s been there before so it knows the way
and can go there again?
Does the red shoe, young and shiny as she is, know what her weaknesses are as well as her strengths? It occurs to me that she can be the big shot in the board room, but she also needs those board members to help her succeed. They know the lay of the land, and they know the back-story behind where they are right now. Without them, she’d lose the history of the company, and you need to know where you’ve been and where you are if you’re going to know where you are going. There’s a benefit to her youth and energy, but the red shoe needs to tread lightly if she is going to step into her role on the board and be effective. She’ll need to be able to work productively with the rest of the board as part of her team if she’s going to succeed.
It might be fun to let the other shoes know where they
stand, but alienating them as soon as she steps in the room might not be her
wisest move.
I hope she knows all of this. I like that shoe.
