I thought our supposedly progressive western world was finally done with the whole “look at me, I’m so different” routine. As a society, we’ve been lapping it up for fifty some years now and it’s well past any sane “best-before” date. Sure it was something back when Brando wore a T-shirt with jeans but is there anyone left still travelling in lockstep stricture with much of anything anymore? Look around – people act, dress and speak pretty much however the heck they want. Seriously, when you can go through a day and no one bats an eye at the dude with all the piercings doing tax returns or the insurance gal at the mall with tattoos up her neck I would say we have officially become post “different”.

Which is why the new Mini Clubman campaign bugs me so much.

Now Mini has made a great line of cars ever since they re-introduced themselves back in 2001. Their campaigns have been, almost without exception, sharp, cheeky and all in all fun. Generally, this continued even as they launched a new larger version of the Mini dubbed “The Clubman.” But this time, I gotta say their choice in ad narrative has me thoroughly stumped.

The current ads are a series of magazine pieces designed to work in concert with one another. The first sees a hopelessly traditional family photo with one family member so glaringly out of place that your eye goes right to him. The family picture is tagged “The Other Peterman” as the stand-out just happens to be a young man dressed like an extra from a Twisted Sister video shoot. The next one has a similar family of squares titled “The Other Fitzpatrick” as their particular sore thumb stands out front and center wearing mini-gangster gear and sporting a gold dollar sign along with buckets of attitude in stark contrast to the family behind him so tragically stuck in the past. While the almost last one highlights “The Other Niedermayer” as a doppelganger of Axl Rose done Mini-Pops style his family of nerd stiffs look happily on. Finally, we turn the page and get the by now expected pay off as we see the Mini Clubman tagged defiantly “The Other Mini.” Oh my, how very clever.

Now, one can argue that the mag spots are cute and all – and they are – but if the Clubman really is the black sheep of the family does that mean the original Mini is the equivalent of the dorky family members? While I doubt they want us thinking that it becomes even more ludicrous when you actually compare the two cars directly. The Mini comes in way more far out colors than the staid Clubman ever has so to pump up the Clubman by slagging the Mini is an odd choice in itself, but to act like driving a Clubman makes you some sort of rabble-rousing hepcat is just stupid.

Advertising has always capitalized on our bottomless buckets of lame insecurity and criminally low-self esteem. By telling us we need to stand out even as we beg to blend in has allowed them to mint money at our expense for years as we all dutifully hand over our hard-earned bucks to feel different without actually having to be different. I guess that’s why we get so many car ads showcasing their rainbow of bright and flashy colors while the vast majority that actually get sold rarely vary between black or white.

To be fair, Mini can’t really admit that the Clubman is little more than a Mini with a third door. If they want, sell the silly things they do have to do their best to make them stand out in a crowd no matter what. It still gets me though. Not to be obtuse or anything but with everyone trying so bloody hard to be different is the true rebel actually the lone individual that tries to fit in? Wait, don’t answer that – it may just lead to some sort of inoperable tear in the time-space continuum of our overall societal self-awareness. Either that or maybe a headache.