CRITIQUE

WE INTERRUPT THIS POST TO BRING YOU ADS

They say nothing tells an interesting story about a country's economic growth and intelligence like the commercials on television and advertisements on magazines. Commercials, by their very nature are created to target a specific market with money to spend. No wonder the buzzword these days is on-line advertising which is projected to tremble in the next two years. No wonder Google has this Adsense thing going on the sides. Why? Because someone told media planners, buyers and advertising executives that anyone who can flick a mouse and double click Internet Explorer probably has money to spend because the superhighway of information is not free access.

Speaking of commercials, one can not help but realise that adverts on television are slowly drifting from our reality. It seems they are trying hard to emulate their on-line versions which are so out of touch they can only be viewed through intrusive pop-ups. We are left wondering who are the copyrighters thinking about when they conceptualise some of the flops on our television screens. One is tempted to believe that most creatives are on some substance trip. Here are a few examples of good and bad ones;

Do you remember the old Sunlight bath soap ad where a black woman was singing in a bathtub only to be interrupted by her toddler daughter who laughs naughtily, drawing the same reaction from her mother? First time seen it was telling an interesting story, more so since it was flighted on CCV (now SABC1) Do you still remember the white version of it whereby a white woman in the same bathbub was this time interrupted by her blushing husband? Complaints compounded the ad since critics said that it simply smirked of racism and stereotyping of especially black people. "It actually says black women are single parents while whites are all married, why can't we have a white kid interrupting the mother and a black man interrupting the woman if that was not the message told?", they asked. Yeah, people and their issues.

That was in 1994/5. However down the years such has been addressed with good crisp adverts that seem to reflect the mood in the country. Castle Lager has always managed to regularly churn out excellent camaraderie ads that, even though they might be racial diversity wish-wash, still manage to maintain a level of intelligence. The moral of all of them; beer is something you drink at the end of a hard working day, not a beverage you start the day with. Carling Black Label has now followed suit. Castle Lager had a fascinating one about a falling Chapman's Peak and a group of men whose company had the tender to stop it from falling. Tender, young multi-racial directors, Castle Lager - you had the perfect mix right there.

The one that currently works out brilliantly is the Grand-Pa ad with the taxi driver. The sod surely looks like the arrogant drivers we meet everyday skipping lanes without indicating and the message works well there. However a critic picked a shortfall and said that the chap says he's always on the road and does not have time to stop, however when he takes the Grand-Pa his combi is not moving. I guess taxi operators boosted Grand-Pa's bottom line since the ad spoke to them. It is the same thing they did with doctors and Panado. It wasn't about patient prescription but self-prescription.

Whoever told the Maq washing powder marketers that innuendo sells has misled them. Who in their right mind will find humour in a bunch of people in a taxi driving along a typical township where a woman is doing washing with Maq, and who all have a set of sunglasses to shield them from the brightness of Maq? Whoever conceived the ad needs a shrink, the message is lost.

Another stereotyping ad is the Chinese/ Korean or Japanese in Mellow Wood brandy. What are they trying to say about Oriental culture and brandy? Why a slit-eyed old man and not a Yankee, South Afrikan or Brit? And this whole thing about the Oriental folks always being into karate sucks. There obviously is more to a Jap than a sushi bar and martial arts.

Remember the Audi "beating the bends", which actually was innuendo for "beating the Benz"? That was intelligent and provocative, something last seen with the Mercedes Benz that capsized at Chapman's Peak but remained intact because of its reinforced roof. That was before airbags hey? Soon Armstrong shocks was out using the same Chapman's Peak's rock falls to insinuate that any car with their shock absorbers would have made it past the bends without capsizing and relying on its reiforced roof.

Thumbs down to the Frisco ad whereby the mother keeps on sending a young boy to ask for coffee from the neighbours. Someone needs to understand that black people will ask for sugar, tea bags, salt and mealie meal but not coffee. Coffee is a luxury, which suggests the copyrighters did not do much research about loxion living. It is the same thing with the boy who carries Sunlight liquid in a teaspoon from neighbours, not funny. Darkies don't borrow each other dishwashing liquid stupids!

Same booing goes to the AVBOB ad where young children come to a funeral for a free bite. Where in hell's name could African children be encouraged to feast at such an event? For the copywriters' information African children are not even allowed to look or stare at the motorcade led by a hearse, they look aside. Research is important to make sure that even if we take our ads overseas, they tell an accurate story about us.

FOR MORE ADS GO TO www.absolutelyandy.com