In my column at Salvo Magazine, I recently walked through the various commercials that have aired for the metaverse, showing how they reveal a shift in branding. From the article:
Meta Platforms has gone through several false starts in their attempt to convince us that life is impoverished without the metaverse. And now they are getting more skilled. Their latest commercial has exchanged the macabre vision of hedonist dystopia for high culture solipsism, indicating a shift in branding from the metaverse as an orgy of escapism to a means for fulfilling our greatest intellectual aspirations. No longer are we told that the real-world sucks and must be left behind for a virtual utopia; rather, now we are told that through the metaverse we can build heaven on earth. It is a salvation story where the disorder of the real world represents a type of fall from which computer code can redeem us. Watch their latest commercial here.
To watch the commercials and read my commentary, visit my article “New Camouflage Disguises Meta’s Dystopian Vision: Latest Metaverse Commercial Shows Shift in Branding.”