"Stuff"

"Stuff"

I’m not a massive advert fan^* so it came as news to me that people would watch the Superbowl just for the adverts?! Obviously, it’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world, so companies will pay big bucks for a slot, but to consciously choose to sit and watch adverts? For fun? Mind blown! I thought I lived a boring life. Isn’t that why they invented pause and fast forward for live TV, so we could ignore the ads and focus on the game?

Anyways, I raise this because whist watching my football team on TV the other day, I came across the new Ewan McGregor Expedia advert, entitled “Stuff”, which apparently was broadcast as part of Expedia’s first venture into ‘in-game’ (assuming that’s opposed to pre- and post-game, hence more expensive) Superbowl advertising in over a decade.

It’s a great advert, as far as adverts go. It’s well produced and obviously had a big budget. But it’s the message behind the ad that made me stop and search it out on YouTube to view it again. Don’t think an advert has ever done that before. Buy a product maybe, but watch again? That’s another level. Essentially the message of the ad is: “Choose Life, Choose Travel. Chose Life, Choose Expedia.” (Full disclosure: I pinched that one from the YouTube comments section.)

It’s the monologue at the adverts core that’s particularly well done. It could quite easily have been from a popular minimalist podcast. It opens with the line “Stuff, We Love Stuff. And there is some really great stuff out there.” How true. I love stuff, no doubt you do too. From the shiny new SUV to the lightest light beer, and the smarter than smart smartphone that is then displayed (or more accurately mocked – the ad really does do a great job of intelligently poking fun at adverts in general).

But as the ad rightly continues: “I doubt that many of us will look back on our lives and think ‘I wish I’d gotten a slightly sportier SUV or bought an even thinner TV or found a trendier scent. I wish I’d have discovered a crunchier chip…’” Yes, when the regular chips are down, all that stuff just doesn’t matter. Not one bit. At all. So why waste the time pursuing it now, at the expense what’s most important? Pursue the things that truly matter.

Of course, Expedia wants to sell holidays, so they want travel to really matter most. However, it’s the principle that I want to take away. For the minimalist, life is about choosing experiences over things.

Mind you, travel is a great experience for a budding minimalist to think about. For one, travel is way better than stuff, in my humble opinion, but that’s the subject of another essay. Secondly, when you travel, how much do you take with you? We naturally must choose less. As much as you may try, you just can’t take the kitchen sink with you. So, you take what you need. The essentials. At that, I still normally take way too much stuff on holiday and end up using only a few key items. A book/kindle, a pair of shorts, a couple of t-shirts, flip flops, toiletries, a couple of sets of smarter clothes for the evenings, and perhaps my laptop/iPad. Oh, and some underwear, but even then, they are so easy to wash you only need a few pairs.

Do you sit there on the beech wishing you had a thinner TV? Or a shiny new kettle? Doubt it.

Similarly, do you think anyone of us will look back on our lives and regret the things we didn’t buy? Doubt it.

I can’t imagine us on our death bed wishing we had purchased that air fryer or smart speaker. Thinking that these things would have added so much more to our lives. (Except as the advert cheekily references, buying some Bitcoin in the early days may have helped!). Rather we may well regret the time we didn’t spend with our family. All that extra time at the office working, just to buy more “stuff” that we and frankly our kids just don’t need.

Life is not about stuff. It’s about people and experiences. That's the minimalist manifesto.

Hats off to Expedia for highlighting this.

* Excluding “Stuff” discussed here, the classic Irn-Bru “Electric Lady” commercial (which is perhaps my favourite 30second clip on the internet), and “Feel Good Travel” by Avanti West Coast, which is just a lot of fun.