The Heineken Beer holiday commercial below “taps” into a sad reality for many families: divorce and “remarriage.”
In these situations, most of the focus is on the happiness of the couple, with little to no attention paid to the effects on the children involved. For children, it typically means being shuttled between two different “homes” on a regular basis. They also must endure the pain and awkwardness of seeing their parents dating and possibly “marrying” others. As their parents set down the cross in order to pursue “personal happiness,” the children must shoulder it.
Even when the children of divorce become adults, much of the suffering continues. Not only are the emotional wounds still present, but the logistics of dealing with blended families present many challenges.
Leila Miller has explored these and other issues in her excellent book: Primal Loss: The Now Adult Children of Divorce Speak.
As for this commercial, it is lighthearted in its representation of the oddities, but it is ultimately a sad commentary.
Cross-posted at the Catholic Standard: cathstan.org/posts/the-pain-of-divorce-and-remarriage-in-a-beer-commercial