By Dave Andrusko
A tip of the hat to Lauren Enriquez who alerted readers to what she described as “Incredible new Guinness ad speaks to dignity of human life.”
As Lauren subtly points out, none of us would ordinarily look to a beer commercial for a celebration of the dignity of all human beings. They tend to be, shall we say, less than edifying.
But this commercial—found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwndLOKQTDs– is of an entirely different order of moral complexity. The kicker (the tag line at the end) is “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.” To which we would, of course, say, “Amen!”
Like most of you I am always reduced to near-tears when I see veterans, who lost limbs in the line of duty, fighting through those limitations. This particular commercial is of a spirited game of wheelchair basketball. A friend of mine tells me this jockeying for position (the kind we see in this commercial) was far harder than anything he ever experienced before he lost both his legs from the knee-down.
What makes this ad so powerful is at the end, everyone but one man walks off the court. They had played in wheelchairs to level the playing field for the man who left the court in a wheelchair.
Truly the character of all these men was on vivid display.
Take one minute, one second and go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwndLOKQTDs.
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