Science World here in Vancouver runs a continuous loop of the 1987 Fischli and Weiss film "The Way Things Go". The borrowings of the Honda ad from the film are obvious to anyone who has viewed both. What is also obvious -- and ominous -- are the "non-borrowings": the autotalitarian elision of the gritty, angst-ridden edge that the original had. There is a definite sense of futility, debris and impending 'technological' lurching out of control to the original that perhaps, come to think of it, is more appropriate for a car ad than the sanitized white-painted walls and polished hardwood floors of the Honda re-make.
Interesting that the Biz 2.0 article fails to mention the Fischli and Weiss film. It's not as if the resemblance is a secret. For another take on "The Way Things Go," here's an excerpt from Arthur Danto: http://www.postmedia.net/999/fischweiss1.htm Tom Walker 604 255 4812
