Bizzaro World Ad

There's so much going on in this ad that deconstructing it is less a branding exercise, and more a foray into some strange and frightening bizzaro world.

Let's see...what’s going on? 

• The kids in the backseat are fighting over a technology toy that's probably supposed to keep them sedate
• Mom is literally steamed about it, and so focused on the problem that her eyeballs...now the size of other, um, body parts...have popped out of her head
• The headline tells us that the world is "overly caffeinated," and thus deserves a water brand that's "sensibly caffeinated."

So is the mom overly or sensibly caffeinated?  What about the kids?  Is this a before picture (so everyone needs more caffeine, however sensibly dispensed) or an after picture (after all, there's no blood splattered on the backseat, and mom's eyes are still connected to her eye sockets)?

Fortunately, there's a tagline along the bottom of the ad.  "It's how Propel does Energy Water."  Ok, maybe not so helpful. 

There's no need state portrayed here; nobody appears thirsty, and caffeine is only relevant to the moment in a negative way, if at all.  The imagery screams conflict.  The faces are all pained (check out the mom's Klingon forehead, and the tendon stretching-thing going on along her eyeballs a la The Mask).  Out the car window, the street is shrouded in a halting light, sans people or other signs of life.

This is a frightening picture.  Imagine the conversations in Propel about how the ad presents the brand. 

I know, I know, maybe its just an ad ad, not a branding ad, so it doesn't really have to make any sense.  You see, different rules apply to different definitions used by marketing departments.  So maybe the ad has nothing to do with the brand, per se, but is intended simply to break through the clutter in Newsweek magazine...in order to draw attention to the punchline, which is the product image (and the major ingredients bubbles) along the bottom.

Now I know that something exists called "Propel Invigorating Water."  Check.  And that is has caffeine in it.  Another check.

But having deconstructed the image, as it pretty much demanded that I ponder it for a moment:

• I'm scared
• I'm not thirsty, and
• I certainly don't want to do my shopping in the bizzaro world portrayed in the ad

If I'm a dim bulb on this one, what am I missing?