Media is at the root of our beliefs and ideals in modern society. You cannot drive half a mile without seeing an advertisement for some major brand or product. This system of marketing pervades and permeates into the very foundation of our lives as we know them. Nowhere is this seen clearer than Sprite’s new marketing campaign.

Many would be hard pressed to try and find another human being that has not seen or heard about Sprite’s new Cranberry Sprite ads featuring Lebron James and DRAM. The latter being a rapper that had one big song a while back, and the former being one of the biggest names in professional sports. The commercial starts off basic enough, simple, clay based animation of a family party, but the Christmas tree begin to fall over. Just at that very moment Lebron James enters the front and asks the question that everyone knew the answer to before he said those fateful words, “Wanna Sprite Cranberry?”.

Before anyone can answer, the tree rights itself, aided from the all powerful magic of Lebron James and his Cranberry Sprite. After this the party continues unabated, yet the party itself is no better than ever now that everyone is drinking a Cranberry Sprite. But why discuss the seemingly uneventful and semi original commercial promoting a soft drink flavored with the 17th best berry that exists on gods green earth?

The reason I bring this up is to show just how much our entertainment intertwines with our lives. The fact that Sprite can put out an advertisement featuring a basketball player using magic to place cans of soda on a Christmas tree and somehow convince people to drink a CRANBERRY soft drink just shows that people have really lost touch with reality. This is why we need transcendentalism.