Above is the Hushme, a device that allows you to talk on the phone in public without disclosing personal information. And on paper, that’s got a use for all of us. We’ve all had to find a private place to talk to our doctor, or discuss a family member’s private circumstances, and it’s awkward enough that one can see the appeal of a device like this, although really the value would be in making other people wear it, especially that guy two cubes over who seems to want everybody to know about his wart.
But that’s not the issue this ad raises. Instead, this ad, about a grown man with a painfully unhealthy relationship with his mother, forces us to ask a few questions, like:
1) This poor guy can’t set boundaries with his mom? If your mother is calling you repeatedly at work, it’s generally safe to say it’s probably not a genuine issue. Learn to hit decline, dude. You’re an adult, you’ve earned the right to screen your calls.
2) He can’t teach her to text? Granted, teaching your parents to text, access Facebook, or otherwise express every single thought they have digitally, can potentially open the yawning portal to the hell that is their id. But it seems like a cheaper, more practical solution, especially in terms of emotional capital.
3) What do his coworkers think of this? If you looked over and saw somebody with what looks like a high-tech ball gag over their face, wouldn’t you wonder what was going on? And wouldn’t those concerns deepen when you learn your coworker is talking to his mother with this thing?
4) If your relationship with a parent has gotten to the point where you’re seriously weighing which form of public humiliation you prefer, forcible supervillain cosplay or having your coworkers hear your side of a conversation in which you try to get your needy parent off the phone, isn’t that money better spent on therapy?
But on the bright side, if you wear this often enough, you might be asked to work from home instead! That’s a feature, right?
(via Twitter)