Get a grip
I was just talking to a colleague about the WWF ad below that apparently caused a huge stir and was pretty much nailed to a cross, and I have to say I'm pissed.
Yes, it's a strong statement. Yes, it uses a terrible tragedy, but only to illustrate another. Maybe people all around the rest of the world should get pissed off at Americans because they apparently think the victims of their national tragedies are more sympathy-worthy than other nations'. This ad is tasteful, in no way lacking respect to what happened on 9/11 and most importantly, very very accurate. It's pure maths, and instead of learning what we should out of it, well... it's much easier to cry wolf and throw stones. For an ad like this to work, it's supposed to be shocking. It's supposed to use people's emotions and things they know and understand and care about at a personal level, so that they will get off their lazy asses and do something about it. I just don't get why some insist to turn a positive message into something negative that even their creators end up denying (apparently, after this ad won an award and the backlash started, either WWF or the agency denied ever approving it). Well, you know what, I think this is a great ad and I really think people need to start thinking a little bit broader than their own backyard.
Yes, it's a strong statement. Yes, it uses a terrible tragedy, but only to illustrate another. Maybe people all around the rest of the world should get pissed off at Americans because they apparently think the victims of their national tragedies are more sympathy-worthy than other nations'. This ad is tasteful, in no way lacking respect to what happened on 9/11 and most importantly, very very accurate. It's pure maths, and instead of learning what we should out of it, well... it's much easier to cry wolf and throw stones. For an ad like this to work, it's supposed to be shocking. It's supposed to use people's emotions and things they know and understand and care about at a personal level, so that they will get off their lazy asses and do something about it. I just don't get why some insist to turn a positive message into something negative that even their creators end up denying (apparently, after this ad won an award and the backlash started, either WWF or the agency denied ever approving it). Well, you know what, I think this is a great ad and I really think people need to start thinking a little bit broader than their own backyard.
posted by silvia g at 4:08 PM
9 Comments:
Wow.
Completely agree.
Bloggs are soooo 2004.
The issue here is that a lot of ads today resort to the shock factor to compensate for their own lack of creativity. The comparison between the body count of a hurricane and that of the 9/11 attacks is by no means shocking as it is stupid. Why didn't they throw in some holocaust numbers there, compared to, let's say, children that died of AIDS? Some OD statistics, maybe, to make it more "shocking"?
As of this ad being "accurate" and "tasteful", you're right. Any comparison between numbers is "accurate" when you use the right "less", "equal" or "more" word in the sentence. And yeah, the art could be described by some as "tasteful". But the concept as a whole is stupid. No creativity whatsoever. Being shocking is EASY. Anybody can do an ad featuring dead foetuses being pissed on by crackheads: "A campaign sponsored by the 'Give up crack and give abortion clinics some slack' foundation". Jeez.
well, you see, creativity is something very subjective, and it gets more complicated if you work in advertising. i promise you that talk can be taken quite far... but the creative level of this ad was not what i was discussing and that wasn't the problem here.
plus, it's kind of simplistic resembling this ad to showing gruesome dead babies, and if you can't see the difference i'm a bit disapointed in you. alas, as i said, the creativity level of the ad is not what i was discussing. let's leave that critique to the critics or for the break by the watercooler. it was the reaction that it somehow soils the memory of the 9/11 events, and not shockingly so, as americans seem to take everything quite personally in anegative way even when it's not the case.
"it was the reaction that it somehow soils the memory of the 9/11 events"
Do you really think that reaction was totally unexpected, and it just came out of the blue? That's the whole thing: the lazy, stupid asses that made the ad expected this reaction in the first place. They even counted on it. Without that reaction, the value of this ad would be zero.
as americans seem to take everything quite personally in anegative way even when it's not the case.
You're taking stereotyping to a whole new level here. Those damn amerikins.
i am totally stereotyping, because there's really good reasons to. don't make me add up a youtube compilation. hell, i've been getting so many stereotypes on romanians since i've left the country that it's time to stereotype back. as for the stupid and lazy part you so generously bestowed on the creatives, well, i can't really discuss that with you because i don't know the people who did this and have no idea whether they're either. and even if they were lazy and thought "let's use a touchy subject to get shock value", at least they didn't do it to sell cigarettes, so what do i care. either way, you don't like it, got it. i do. a few of us do actually.
oh, and p.s.: if they did it without having the consent of their client and for the only purpose of getting awards with it, then they're assholes.
I thought you've had it all figured out by now.
...and then they agreed and lived happily ever after.
Până nu ai parte de o tragedie ca a lor, nu poti sa-i judeci. La urma urmei, singura legătură dintre evenimente e aritmetica. Sincer, cred că aş reacţiona la fel.
Off-topic (un pic). Mă gândesc că nici între WWF şi tsunami nu e vreo legătură, ultimul fiind provocat de un cutremur. Ce zici?
Post a Comment
<< Home