Last week, my wife and I went to see a movie, which means we were in the theater at least 30 minutes before the movie starts because I really enjoy watching the upcoming movie previews and commercials. I saw a commercial for the Mini Cooper. What caught my interest with this commercial was the overt message that being normal is safe, regular and familiar with one of the lines from the commercial saying “Normal can never be amazing.” Really? I can never be amazing by being normal?

The Mini Cooper commercial sparked a very interesting conversation with my youngest daughter.  Her thoughts were: “Where do you draw the line as to how far you should take being abnormal as opposed to being normal? Also, what exactly is ‘normal?’ Is there even such a thing? Is the only way to be amazing, fantastic, or great to not be normal? How and where do you draw the line between being normal or abnormal, eccentric, or just plain crazy?”  I think there is a fine line between being eccentric and being crazy because often they both look the same (so be careful how far you are willing to go to avoid appearing as “normal”).

The negative connotation with being normal is that it means you’ll follow the crowd. Well, consider the idea that, for products, the reason something is “normal” maybe because it is of such great value and worth, anything else would not and could not improve it.  Can you be amazing and normal at the same time? Of course you can. Because on the other side of the spectrum, when it comes to people, being amazing is being the best YOU can be!! Your greatness is not and should not be dictated based on whether society thinks you are “normal.”

I’m very intrigued by how Facebook came about, which was out of revenge and spite. After Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend broke up with him, he basically created (or copied) what we now know as Facebook. Is that to say that to be amazing you need to be revengeful or perhaps a little crazy? No!! In this instance, the abnormal worked out, but we all know this is not always the case.

What I love about the commercial is the overarching message of don’t be afraid to go “outside the box”, to take a chance, to listen to your intuition or to go with your gut on your way to being amazing.

Believe it or not, there are people who are afraid to be amazing.  They have no intention of being anything but average, familiar, and, of course, normal. But, sometimes by trying too hard to NOT be normal, we lose sight of things or people whose significance is worth treasuring.

Here are the words to the Mini Cooper commercial:

Normal is regular

Average

Medium

Normal is Safe

Familiar warm and comfortable

Normal is the thing you know, it is what is.

But, normal isn’t great.

Normal isn’t fantastic.

Normal can never be amazing!

Who could ever want to be normal?

Enjoy being normal or abnormal…but above all else, be YOU.

That will always be good enough.