So a couple of weeks ago I hosted an advertising conference for the American Chamber of Commerce [don’t ask]
Anyway, all was going well till I had to comment on the most disgustingly inappropriate ad I think I have ever seen – a campaign in South Africa for Flora margarine – where they sponsored a live television broadcast of a heart transplant under the guise of ‘celebrating healthy eating’.
[By the way, it won at Cannes which shows just how screwed up our industry really is – especially as their submission didn’t mention a single thing about sales or an improvement in overall health & wellbeing of the population! Mind you, what do you expect from an agency called LOWE BULL, I kid you not!!!]
So I went off on one …
While frothing at the mouth, I ranted about how I wished everyone associated with this abomination was dead …
The man who had the operation?
DEAD
The family of the man who let him get into such a state he needed an operation?
DEAD
The client who approved the concept?
DEAD
The holding company who let one of their brands do this concept?
DEAD
The creatives who came up with the idea?
DEAD
The client service and planners who didn’t highlight the idea was crap and the submission even worse?
DEAD
The agency who proudly submitted this concept?
DEAD
The population of South Africa for not rioting over such a disgraceful piece of shit?
DEAD
In other words I hated it … however if the audience were still unsure of my thoughts, I decided to end it with the words …
“Where’s Lee Harvey Oswald when you need him”
… which given the audience, probably wasn’t the best thing to do.
To be fair, they didn’t say anything … but I heard a collective sharp intake of breath … so to the entire American population of HK, I apologise but you should blame LOWE BULL because they’re the idiots that started it.