"Prom"

24 January 2022

60s

Musical memories.

As a young man crosses the dance floor at the school prom, The Flamingos 'I Only Have Eyes for You' provides the musical accompaniment. True to the words of the song, his eyes are locked on the young woman who has caught his eye, and when Lance Acord's camera shifts its focus to her, we see that she too can see only one person in the room.

We catch up with them many years later, once again on the dance floor, and once again listening to The Flamingos, the transition disguised by a flare of white light that saturates the screen.

Initially we can see that the lovebirds still have their eyes fixed on one another, their devotion undiminished by the passing years.

But, movingly, that's not the whole story here. While his attention is fixed wholly on her, we see something else in her eyes as they drift away from his. In a moment, we get it. Her commitment hasn't waned, but her health has. And music provides a brief salvation, because – when he asks Alexa to play their favourite song again – her eyes are once more locked on his, and her smile returns.

The beauty of this commercial is the way it lets the audience piece together the story, and its reminder that music can provide a path back to ourselves... even if it lasts only for the duration of a song.

UK

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