Kids' Ambitions Reflect the World Their Parents Made

In "School," a Greenpeace ad by DDB/Paris, a teacher poses this question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Her students' responses are laced with guilt-inducing grownup undercurrents: climate worries, health concerns and capitalist gusto conceived in ecological exploitation. Fascinating.

"I want to be in the water business to make lots of money!" one girl cries. (If I could be seven again, I'd be her.)

"I will sell oxygen masks," another decides. Who says that?

Perhaps most poignant (though there's plenty of competition), "I'd like to be an astronaut, so I can get out of this place." This one won't be getting many prom dates. Though she'll probably move to New York and write a few sordid bestsellers.

Closing text: "Les hommes salissent tout, meme les reves," which translates to something like, "Men soil everything, even dreams," which sounds a lot like a life lesson from Sex and the City.

Nice work, Greenpeace (via in:fluencia).

When I was small, kids seemed far less imaginative. We wanted to be doctors, nurses, lawyers and famous. Sadly, the closest most of us ever got to any of those professions was Halloween: randy doctor, naughty nurse, sexy Cochran and Hooters girl.