Reality Sucks

Look at this ad.  

What's the first thing you see? 
Set against a dark and stormy sky, you see a woman in a crisp white shirt.  She and her lover stand in the classic pose from Titanic, but in a second you will notice that they are far from the bliss of Jack and Rose.  Their faces are scrunched up in horror - with the woman especially looking miserable - as a seagull rams into them.  Next the eye goes to the text at the bottom.  In huge white letters, the ad boldly declares "REALITY SUCKS." and gives the name of a cinema.   

  
Your first reaction was probably laughter (mine was, at least).  We’re used to the movie version of love: one that’s picturesque, perfect, magical.  At the very least, it is free of seagulls.  Just take a look at the original:

Hair blowing in the wind, a beautiful sunset, and Jack leaning in close.   The colors are warmer and darker, which projects of a sense of passion and mystery.  Compare the colors alone to the ad, which is washed out and gray; this gives it a stormy feel, and almost a cold, uncaring feel.

We all want a perfect moment.  But the sad truth is that often times when we try to recreate the perfect moment that we see in movies, even if we don’t get smacked with a seagull, it’s never as magical.  We look foolish.  We feel unoriginal.  It just…doesn’t work.  This ad plays on that fact.  It points out reality's inability to live up to a movie, where the people, the dialogue, the angle, even the lighting, is perfect.

The shortcomings of reality are highlighted by two simple words: REALITY SUCKS.  Why the word sucks? Why the period?  Why capitalized? So much about this ad can be revealed by these two words.  

Sucks isn’t technically a curse, but in my home it was up until the day I entered high school.  I don’t think my mother is completely insane; assuming this to be fact, some other people find the word “sucks” to be offensive.  So why use it?  It is being used because it could be offensive.  We all have memories of parents saying “oh no don’t say that it’s bad,” which gives the word the feeling of power unique to curse words, without actually cursing.  The ad could have used another word that starts with “S” (probably in the form “REALITY’S S***”).  It could have used many other words as well.  “Sucks” delivers the strength of a swear, without actually being offensive to many people.  The period functions similarly; it ends the phrase harshly and adds to the emotion.  The capital letters do the same thing, and help convey strength of emotion.  Compare these two versions:

Reality sucks

Simple, sad, and hopeless.

REALITY SUCKS.

Powerful, angry, and emotional.

It seems to say “reality sucks, and we should do something about it!  We can’t get this perfection in real life and it’s just not fair!”

Smoothly, the eye follows the text left to right, and lands smack on “UTOPOLIS group of cinemas”.  The image and the words click.  The ad implies that if you can’t get the perfection in reality then you should go to see a movie where it will be perfect.  (Even the name works towards this; Utopolis immediately made me think of Utopia).  The ad is funny in a way that makes it memorable and directs the eye in a way that makes the implied claims clear.