Intel inside: confusion outside...!!!

A black kid goes to school and notices that the teachers treat the white kids better than the black kids. So he goes home and paints himself white and shows his dad.
"Hey dad look I'm white!"
His dad kicks his ass, and says "alright go show your mother".
"Hey mom look I'm white!"
His mom beats the shit out of him then says "go show your gradma".
"Hey gradma look I'm white" she beats his ass and sends him to his room.
About an hour later all the family comes to his room and says "have you learned anything from this?"
The kid says "yeah I've learned I have only been white for an hour and I already hate 3 blacks.......

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What is the problem with this ad?

How insensitive is this and how insulting is the depiction of the black community ?

How irritating was it that it created a furore and the company had to withdraw , apologise and unleash a PR war to damage control?

But that was enough to make people deeply disappointed and cry from roof tops....

See a sample....

Even if this ad were created by person(s) with social autism and/or no comprehension of how this ad would be perceived in a former slave nation such as the U.S.A., I still cannot find a single positive attribute to this ad... said one in an angry mail shot to Intel guys who were for sure caught in a whirl of surprise....

It is true that the “Sprinters” aren’t ready to sprint; their heads are down.....they aren’t running anywhere, except perhaps into each other or into the person in the center and the person in the center seems to have no purpose other than to either lord over the “Sprinters” or express satisfaction of the “Sprinters”.... see the smuck in his face... the white bossy smuck!!! BUT does that make an ad insensitive??

That is one side but why an obvious mistake when you could see it...?

How can such a non creative (it is ) ad pass through the first levels of approval and reach the client and gosh, get even their nod and reach the print stage..?

Forget creativity, wasnt it written across the ad ( with some commonsense it could be read) that it had huge potential to explode???

Arent the executives taught to see the ads in 'objectivity' and strip them threadbare to see whether it carried any chance to be misconstrued by the viewer,later on?

This is what Intel had to say about this fiasco in their blog.. a PR attempt to damage control...

Intel's intent of our ad titled "Multiply Computing Performance and Maximize the Power of Your Employees" was to convey the performance capabilities of our processors through the visual metaphor of a sprinter. We have used the visual of sprinters in the past successfully.
Unfortunately, our execution did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be insensitive and insulting. Upon recognizing this, we attempted to pull the ad from all publications but, unfortunately, we failed on one last media placement.

We are sorry and are working hard to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Nancy Bhagat

Vice President, Director of Integrated Marketing

This is not just the INTEL story... remember Benetton and the likes...

Of course when the Marketer spends millions in money and hundreds of personnel in its marketing strategy development, luxury of making mistakes shouldnt exist, couldnt be affordable..... Somebody working on the ad should have had seen the fact that despite the intentions, the piece does have a subliminal and concealed connotation and there could be reinforcing of stereotypes.....

Discussion of racism, which has proven potency of hydrogen bombs, would simply had not been there if atleast one looked Chinese or some thing else...... see here some ads which celebrate culural diversity and multi racism without hurting any one... they may not be the creative best but atleast they give and leave behind some positive feeling to the TG...

So that ostensibly means that people don’t feel offended for no reason and if they do,it is not the advertisers job to create controversies.. After all, there is no room for cavalier dismissals of anyone’s delight or offense at various subjects......

Advertising is not allways about logic or exact interpretation.... it never was and never shall be.... what kind of depiction is displayed is not the bone of contention here.... Instead, the perception and feeling the audience takes away with them in a 3-5 second viewing is central to effectiveness and effectiveness is the core. Here the inexorable reality seems to be the plight of a black man in a bowing position to a white male. If the annals of the business of slavery and the imagery used by the advertising of the past were different, this juxtaposition would have been a non-issue.... just see some ads here , to confirm this aspect...

After taking some time to really read all about the Intel advertising campaign,( if you really care) one will get to see the point Intel was trying to make—although it took some time and eye-squinting for it to sink
in.....

A typical scene goes like this...

(The audience seeing the picture for the first time) “hey—are those black men bowing to a white slave owner?!”

( He looks closer) “No wait, when I look closer I see they’re all runners ready to sprint, but then…why are they all black sprinters? Why not mix up the runners with non-black individuals?”

(looks even closer) “Oh wait..I think it’s the same black guy photoshopped 6 times over an over again. Was that laziness on the part of the producer?”

(Reads public statement by Intel’s VP) “Ahh..I see.... they photoshopped him in an effort to visually represent the multiply computing processes aspect of the ad…I get it ,,,,multiply the runners…”

Any ad that entails and calls for that much research and delving in, on the part of the viewer is an incredibly pitiable and dimly executed advertisement.....

Where did these marketing guys and the ad agency folks go to school??

Tail piece:...

"... the hydrostatic paradox of controversy. Don't you know what that means? Well, I will tell you. You know that, if you had a bent tube, one arm of which was of the size of a pipe-stem, and the other big enough to hold the ocean, water would stand at the same height in one as in the other. Controversy equalizes fools and wise men in the same way. And the fools know it...."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) American author and poet....

The fun gun !!!

My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions.It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by until today I read his obituary.
Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance for CommonSense had served us all so well for so many generations.......
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, CommonSense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago ....lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies(don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin,sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. CommonSense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility;and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers;I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm aVictim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him read and ponder over the weekend. If not, join the majority and do nothing and just goof around !!!!
NB: It is not for the people in advertising, in any case we never had it..!!!
Have a sensible week end folks!!!!

BSNL.. where ignorance is a bliss !!!

The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has happened !!!!

It is basic stuff and no great thing I am going to reveal here in today's sermon.....

You can't persuade your audience if you don't know much about them..... Knowing your TG helps you to shape your message in a way that's most likely to gain their acceptance. That's all the more important when your goal is to persuade, and not simply to inform, your audience.....
So what.. you say?? we all know this ...you say??? ... well read on...

Persuasive communication aims to convince people to take some form of action says the text books...after all, you must get your TG to change their attitudes and belief or you must reinforce the attitudes and beliefs they already hold. That means you must have a thorough knowledge of your audience before you prepare your communication.rite? They should feel like...yup.... wow... they r talkin to me....

The series of BSNL advertising that have been going round the air, for quitesome time,made me think...
What do they mean? Do they know what they want to sell, say and sit at home relaxed after that? A celebrity can make half your job done, but in this case, the atrocious waste of that resource, is so appaling and awful that one shudders to think that the industry isnt aware of the basics...?
The guys at the agencies that made them should go back to their schools, at the earliest....


Of course the pretty Zinta gal had been there , an unmatch though, jumping ,dancing and singing, holding phones with funny BSNL sub brands glaring out of them vying for attention in the previous ads (?), now here celebrating stupidity,refusing to marry a guy who dont have a BSNL at home ( That is the latest in the series of " Be Indian Buy Indian" tamasha) and alas.. telling the Indian folks dat BSNL is the best (oh yeh...?)It is an abysmal ad.. like all of the predecessors and if one goes by the anticedents, it isnt going to get any better.....
Any number of factors can affect how your TG will react. These can include their experience, education, job or professional background, age, gender, ethnic background, cultural differences, and more..... more and more... competition for eg...
How long can BSNL ASSUME that they are superior and worse they are the only player???
How long can they keep self admiring about the reach and network ( forget the GSM to CDMA transition and the delay that is so typically public sector like and the capacity crunch that adds to the pandemonium) and stop being innovative and inspired?
How long can Grey world wide and EURO RSCG keeps their eyes shut to the reality that the PUBLIC SECTOR scene is changing and hence discern the need to be sensible and creative ?
And that they now are and will have to compete with the private players????


You'll need to address your listeners at the level of their existing knowledge and that is just basic stuff boss... in this game of marketing communication, the right quantity and quality is the game and the rule of the game... Yes the rules havent changed dude but the game has changed..
See the above market pie for instance.. see the complexity, the number of eaters, and the way the cake is divided... see the way its growing and growing.. see for Gods sake, how its getting murkier and murkier.. and see how your brands (BSNL broad band, BSNL landline,BSNL internet,BSNL mobile,BSNL MPLS-VPN,PCO,Shoppe, TRIPLAY ,VSAT, Connecting india.. oooophhhhh) sounds stale, slow and slouching..... see the CDI and the BDI ...jargons they are, just in case simple talk dont make eyes open......
Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear said Gandhi the Mahatma, but who cares... eh..?
It is plain... sit and watch all the ads that are on air in the category and then see also yours...
Still if you think urs is some thing WATCHABLE then go on....
After all the truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.......
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Tail piece: What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy??
I don’t know and I don’t care

OOH>>>>>>dats great !!!

who said space is a constraint in OOH?

whoever has said shall either swallow it or think again?

Officially ratified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest advertisement ever seen, the world's biggest billboard grabbed the attention of football fans flying into Vienna Airport for the closing stages of Euro 2008.

Covering an area of more than 50 football pitches, online betting company Betfair spent the last four months growing different kinds of plants and proclaimed...'NO.1 FOR FOOTBALL AND STILL GROWING....

Plants were choosen carefully and the process was laborious.. the list here for the garden enthusiasts and the video for the others..("No.1" & "GROWING" is made of rape seeds(8kg)+ mustard seeds(10kg),"FOOTBALL" made of Grass seeds(40kg),"AND" with French marigolds (more than 53,000 plants,"STILL"with Poppies (10kg seed)"FOR" made of EarthBorder & Camomile (70kg seed) and the background made of Wheat (9 tonnes of seeds)....the'Betfair' logo of Cotton )....



Amazing effort to spell out the message 'NO.1 FOR FOOTBALL AND STILL GROWING!' aint it???

With dimensions of 1380m by 316m and total area of 436 000m2, local farmers and horticulturists worked on the field since February 2008. It can be seen on the final approach to Vienna International Airport. The advertisement's official record title is 'The World's Largest Advertising Hoarding'.
The billboard area is equivalent of 50 football pitches and you could fit approximately 4 847 222 footballs in it, or Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadion (venue for the final) 8.9 times. The length is the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower laid end-to-end 4.2 times or…1.7 times of Burj Dubai and he time frame went like this...

8 February 2008: Measuring of the field
28 February: Sowing of camomile and wheat
Early March: Measuring of the letters with a total of 650 measuring points, duration: two days. Afterwards ploughing of the slogan
25 March: Sowing of the grass
7 April: Sowing of rape/mustard/clover
15 May: Planting French marigold
1 June: Creation of Betfair logo with lime and cotton geomembrane

Now that is meticulous planning and a hell lot of effort there.... see it to beleive it.......and to reach out to a TG of 1 million viewers and the publicity that they have got its all worth the effort...... It has of course taken over the Dubai banner ad of Ad-air which measured 20,000 square meters but the big question is...

Will this stuff be able to replace the advertising as we know it...? the main stream tradition??