I love this idea, but it has some problems if you analyze the ad like you might a short story. Essentially the problem is that Agent Smith is decidedly evil, and in his movies he can change any computer code to do his bidding. And so it doesn’t take long to realize that he could turn the GE software into a lethal program at a whim. Maybe Morpheus would have made a better ad? But the idea of seeing multiple copies of Agent Smith all over the hospital is fun. Although the problem is that it makes it seem more like he’s there to kill someone. Although, again, he could just alter the software to do that at a whim. And the fact that he’s in many of the hospital computer screens makes it seem as though maybe that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Of course, the idea of having any character from The Matrix (but especially Agent Smith) tends to make the hospital seem like a very threatening place. Plus, they show us at the beginning of the spot that the hospital is part of the matrix, with the code raining down all over the place (this isn’t just Agent Smith visiting a neutral environment!). And considering GE’s role working very closely with the government, it isn’t a stretch at all to consider the hospital to be the place where GE brainwashes patients who oppose government policies into becoming rabid supporters and foot soldiers. (<Is this why GE pays no taxes: because they’re really a part of the government, re-educating non-complacent citizens?) Gee, I guess the blue pill is all they offer in this hospital, huh? (Only here, it’s from a forced injection!)
But this ad also brings something else to mind, because isn’t there a guy named G. E. Smith? He was the guitar player and musical director of Saturday Night Live, and the guy Guitar Player magazine used to make fun of as the guy who epitomized the silly “hot face” look that a guitar player makes when he hits a certain, special note in a guitar solo (that looks like he’s having an orgasm in his pants). So for me, a fun joke at the end of this GE Agent Smith spot would have shown a room where Agent Smiths walk in, and G. E. Smiths walk out.
But like I said, I like this idea. I’m just not so sure that an evil computer program guy who kills everyone who doesn’t conform to the system is the best way to go with an ad about hospital technology, especially when the company the ad is for (GE) is so closely allied with the government, and so many Americans don’t trust the government. See what I mean? (Jeffrey Immelt is the CEO of GE, he’s an advisor to President Obama, and he was also the head of GE’s Medical Systems division. Seem spooky now? Maybe this new medical technology will be used to terminate everyone who opposes Obamacare, and this ad with Agent Smith is their version of a fair warning?)
And this bit at the end with the lollipops and the kid looks like exactly the kind of thing to make conservatives paranoid that the hospital is trying to indoctrinate their kids, don’t you think? In fact, the whole ad is a conspiracy nut’s dream, when you really think about it.
Here’s the coded conspiracy commercial:
