guilt advertising !!!

Guilt or our inabilty to do some thing for the needy has been used cleverly, in advertising..particulary when charity is the product.... here this one from saatchi&saatchi makes an impact ......

A punch on the spendthrifts....

give me my daily bread !!!

Advertising Agency: Tropa, Curitiba, Brazil
Creative Director: Juarez Zaleski Jr, George Stein
Producers: Jeferson Thauny, Zaza
Additional credits: Juarez Salvador Jr
Released : June 2007

HCL ...touching my antipathy !!!

HCL is in a repositioning spree… and FCB ulka (yes the one who earler did the talking numbers campaign)is the advertising partner in its attempt to” connect with the public”…….

Now that you have seen the ad…….here are some doubts…..

You work for a $4B company (according to the Ad), they are sending you in a helicopter to go “overseas for a “life sciences project”…

* Why does the helicopter wait for you in the middle of wilderness ?

* Why does the company expect you to beseech a ride? Can they not send you a cab?

* Can you fly overseas in a Helicopter? (from India at least)

* When he has an internet connection is getting a taxi so difficult for the “intelligent “HCL guy?

* The i-banker guy is driving a SUV which in this story is a sign of prosperity from stocks and shares and yet he reacts like a kid when the gifted and sharp hero tells him about the stock crash?

"As a technology company, we had a tendency to be nerdy and it reflected in our past ad campaigns. But we wanted our ads to connect with the public." This is what the present ad, labelled the `Touch Technology' campaign, attempts to do”, said HCL Corporate Vice-President - Strategy, Mr Saurav Adhikari.

Good thought sir, late but good, but I guess you still have a tendency, the hero at the end simply turns out to be a nerd, a geeky egoist who will take the brand to nowhere better…..You come back to square one…..

Its there everywhere and in every channel and the more I see it, the more I feel bad about HCL, about whom I didn’t know anything. I have started to feel that it obviously is a group of self appreciating morons……

Is that what you are spending your millions for?

To buy the viewers antipathy?

Branding Countries! Branding Ourselves!

During the last decade, we have seen major initiatives by nation states to advertise themselves. In order to distinguish themselves, and to project a halo of attraction globally, they advertise themselves as a paradise with several features like- vivid culture, friendly people, safer nation, panacea for all illnesses ( am referring to health tourism), growing economy and like.

Here we see, Claudia Schiffer, adorned in German flag, a feast for our eyes, projecting Germany as a place for safer investments. Some of these advertisements have appeared in magazines like The Economist and Fortune . It says Germany- A Land of Ideas!

La, la Brazil- the Vengaboys song is quite a memorable one. This commercial for brazil tourism speaks of the Carnivals, the culture, its samba dance wersions, the freedom and joy that this latin American country proudly posseses. Some of us do know that Lula's land had become a major attraction due its bio-fuel ventures.

Malaysia- Truly Asia- This small piece of landscape, a nation which projects itself as a place - where we would find a mixture of all Asian cultures is one of the cheaper tourist destinations.

Thailand- the small Asian nation, also called the 'Land of White Elephants' is one of those countries in Asia with a rverberating culture, ethnic dance forms and a land of hospitality. A land where we find pagodas, chaityas and stupas is mainly known for its hospitality!

And India, a place where I live, is a land of different cultures, staying tolerant with each other, existing and growing- a culture which normally finds ways for evolution!. Here, we project our nation for its sustaining vivid culture, growing economy for investments and a place where you would get rejuvenated. A different experience altogether giving a spiritual consciousness too.