Small Streams

P. Diddy Stands Alone

One of the most fascinating things I've seen on TV lately is the Pepsi commercial with Sean "Puffy" Combs. You know, the one where he's standing in the desert and gets picked up by a Pepsi truck. The commercial playfully sends up Combs' image as a trendsetter and people's mawkish starstruck behavior. I've never bought an album produced by Combs/P. Diddy, or any of his clothing line, or his cologne, or what not, but I do find it engaging that throughout the commercial he's by himself. P. Diddy is known, among other things, for the entourage that goes with him — someone to procure the champagne, someone to drive the Escalade, someone to handle the cellphone, someone to take care of the financial transactions, etc.

But in the Pepsi commercials it's just him, no tribe, no inner circle, no handlers. Given P. Diddy's prescient ability to catch the next wave (in some ways, he's like a male version of Madonna or Martha Stewart), I'm wondering whether being by yourself will now be a signifier of being cool. Dave Hickey, writer of Air Guitar, mused that Americans no longer are comfortable being alone. They don't want to be Gary Cooper in High Noon, or James Dean, or Sam Spade. Maybe what people take away from the Pepsi commercial won't be an urge to drink soda pop, or pimp a Pepsi truck, but the ability to face the world around them alone.