reprage

Phew. The last couple of TGIM posts have been a bit heavy. If this were TV, we would cut to an ad break and give the audience a little rest. That way, everyone can build up enough mental energy and climb down the last half of the story.

*

During the Space Program 4 demonstration, there is a pause in the mission – an ad break – so the audience can hear a word from the studio sponsor. The idea that historical events can wait for hits of all-American consumerism is a hilarious exaggeration.

I was giggling before the advertisement even started to roll. Still, Tom has perfect comedic timing and pauses just long enough to make you wonder: What sort of ad do you run during a massive, historical event?

Then you see the Soviets? Holy shit, I lost it — one of those deep, full-belly laughs. I was caught entirely off guard by the switch from overt capitalism to the poster children of communism — images of Stalin, parades of Soviet tanks, and the Russians dunking on the USA in Olympic basketball.

I was laughing so hard I almost missed the twist at the end, where Sachs blows a raspberry across the Bering Strait. The ad cuts to a Nike Air galosh on the surface of the moon and let’s rip with:

“Just remember who beat the Russians.”

*

Alright, ad break is over. Just do it motherfuckers.

A screen grab of the Nike Air Galosh advertisment that aired during Tom Sachs' Space Program.

Originally written for the Sachsian Syndicate.

Previously: TGIM 35 - In Sachs’ universe, our consciousness doesn’t get a never-ending party. Instead, we live on in the memories and marks we leave behind, our children, art, and ideas.

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