Annoying, infantile ad campaign.

Lately I've been seeing this ad campaign by the Canadian Labour Congress. Here's their flagship ad.





I do not find the political causes annoying.  I am not against this ad as such.  I do not want to remove or roll back benefits, or institute discrimination in any form.  No.  That is not what I find annoying.  What I find annoying are two seemingly unrelated (but actually closely related) things.  They are

1. The entire premise of the campaign itself; and,

2. The popsicles.

The basis of the campaign is a cry for fairness.  There is something noble in that cry, an attempt to be a modern knight in shining armour, riding out for the betterment of all, in the name of truth and justice.  .It deserves a hero. But why ask for fairness rather than protest injustice?  That lies at the heart of my complaint: terminology. I can see a struggle against injustice, but, as a parent, I have come to hate the term 'fair'.  I hear it all the time. "That's not fair!" is the cry of a child perpetually living in fear that someone, somewhere, has it better than they.  It is, at its heart, simply jealousy.  Parents hear it all the time, to our chagrin, so we have to make sure everyone gets a popsicle, just to be fair.

And thus the popsicles are strangely appropriate.  Adults walking around showing their childish treats, signifying that they have never grown up, never shouldered the adults burden, always wanting someone to give them something more.  Grow up, put the childish things away, and accept that life is not always fair and not the way you like it.  Fight injustice, but stop whining like a child that your lot isn't fair.