Poetry #1

From what poem/author does this commercial borrow (without credit)?

• The commercial borrows from the author Charles Bukowski. They used his poem "The Laughing Heart."

Why might the use of this poem by a corporation be considered ironic?

• The whole thing is ironic because the meaning of the poem is to embrace life, to have the motto "carpe diem" stamped unto one's head, but the whole idea behind the video is consumerism (advertisement). Charles Bukowski intended the poem to help people reevaluate the way they thought about life. In other words, the poem was written to tell people to live life your way, you are your own master. Consumerism is the opposite of that whole ideal; the more goods you have, the happier you will be.

Does the poem reflect the reputation of the author? Why/why not?

• The poem does reflect the reputation of the author at a certain point. Through grit found on most of his work and uncensored truth, Bukowski continues on with his tradition "The Laughing Heart." However, there were notable points that doesn't speak with his reputation. He is well known as a poet that portrays victimized, poverty stricken society.

How did you find the answers to #1 & #3? Describe your research process and your sources in detail.

• I clicked on the link provided by the teacher which led me to a news article on a controversy faced by the company that created the advertisement. The link not only provided me with the name of the poem and the author but also gave me a slight background information about the poet and the company's troubles. I then used good ol' Google to get the rest of information I needed and wanted to know about the poem and the author. I typed in the authors name and clicked on his website where more than 1,000 of his manuscripts and poems were located.