Do these ads offend you?
Copy: Life is easier if you don't speak up. Sign-off: DebateIt did offend me, at first. Well, it was a mix of an offended feeling and of not seeing any sense in the ad.
As I saw it, the line "life is easier if you don't speak up" does not go with their tag line of "debate". I wondered how was one to have a debate without speaking up?
I found it plain rude and insensitive to ridicule the lives of these great men.
Until Mr. Amit Verma , through whose blog I came across this ad, pointed out to me that the ad was not making fun of but was glorifying them.
And then I saw it.
Through inverse portrayal, the ad actually emphasizes on the sacrifices these great men made. They could have lived the life portrayed but chose not to.
About the meat and beer, I doubt the Dutch team that made this ad were aware of the taboo associated with those. I think they simply wanted to portray these people enjoying a "good" life.
Suddenly, the ad became interesting and bold. It also made me realize that if the intention of the brand is to make you debate, this ad works.
However, I still don't like these ads. Call me irrational if you like :)
(Can't get over the first impression)
Comments
Read the above article. It further broadens our thinking...
cheers!
Sometimes advertisers can be so involved in their own interpretation of how things ought to be viewed that they miss out on the literal impact their creations would have on a cosmopolitan thinking and global audience.
Your point and observation is correct. Most would be initially offended.In fact, most would probably not take the effort you took to analyze the logic and message of the ad.
The message was noble but the means defective.
ps: Remember the Spanish team that posed with their eyes slitted..that was a big booboo'...
I think, that sums it perfectly Lady Prism...
Anyways, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is known to create such controversies. Remember the Prophet Mohammed controversy?
-Nikhil
Interesting that they don't offend you. you have to be wired real different to be unaffected.
nikhil,
you are right. their strategy seems to be to shock you into thinking. maybe they needed to do this to show that their msg goes beyond their depiction of the prophet or of others who are revered
d.h roark,
like i said to meraj i am intrigued by the way you see things. maybe i am being narrow minded...:p I have a long way to go...(you have to click on the pic to see the larger image)
dharmabum,
atleast u agree that it could be offensive. phew! :) as you can see i did give it a lot of delibration. i still beleive that there is something defective in the way they have presented the 'noble message'.
thats just a matter of opinion though...
I found these images hilarious in that they didn't mock, rather, in my opinion, celebrated the versatility of the icons that featured in them!!! I'm sure that great men featured would have taken it in the same spirit & had a laugh at these images in keeping with their message of peace & tolerance. I say let Mandela enjoy the surf, the Dalai Lama his dalliance with skis & the Mahatma his bbq goat cheese without getting our chuds in a twist!
Let us enjoy & not deride the absurdly hilarious in true Rabelaisian style!
nwadzys? were people more tolerant to such things before? i don't know...
hmmm...i am not angry at the ads. But i am not able to easily find them funny either.
Thanks for sharing your point of view...
wrt the ad - i think if one believed that the end always justified the means, then we have a problem, and i think thats where you come from - and i can't help but agree.
When I read the logic, I did tend to agree. But an ad that requires explanation to convey is not serving the purpose - which is communication and not creativity!
Cheers,