"The Fawn"

11 September 2024

86s

Oh deer God.

If 'Bambi' scarred you for life as a child, Lord knows what this United Sense of America spot will do to you. Released in the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting, the ad is all about misdirection: when you listen to what the narrator says, your blood runs so cold it freezes.

A kindly voice says: "It's beautiful, y'know? Light as a feather… you see them everywhere." He must be talking about the CG fawn that ambles into view, right? A creature of pure innocence in its natural habitat—if the ad stopped here, you'd have a lovely piece of bucolic escapism. It doesn't, unfortunately.

"It's capable," he says. "You can trust it—I feel like I trust it." Who would talk about a fawn this way? Of course, it's not the animal he's on about, but the assault rifle he uses. The fawn is not shot, it's torn apart, with directors Rubberband committed to the grim, bloody reality of guns miles beyond reasonable force.

USA

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