Filed under: Comment
Is it just me or does this ad feel a bit bad taste to you?
I know when you put all the elements of the ad together …
1. Christopher Reeve.
2. Paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
3. The Great Wall of China. [Which they label the subway … as if people wouldn’t understand the ‘idea’ unless they made it everyday relevant. Idiots]
4. Incredible amounts of steps.
5. Impossible for a wheelchair to navigate.
6. “When you know how hard it is, giving is easy”.
… it makes sense, but it still feels a wrong, especially for the Christopher Reeve charity.
I know it could be argued that this makes it even more relevant to the Christopher Reeve charity but seriously, does this make anyone else feel a bit uncomfortable?
And no Andy, you can’t claim they ripped off your sick joke idea.
Actually, when I come to think of it, you probably can.
At least yours was purposefully supposed to take the piss.
A bit like Christopher Reeve’s colostomy bag.
Oh god, I’m so going to hell.
42 Comments so far
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Oh dear.
Comment by Pete June 28, 2012 @ 6:46 amThat’s for the ad and your final comment in the post.
Comment by Pete June 28, 2012 @ 6:48 amYes, well they started it. Or maybe Andy did. Either way, I am just a pawn in their game of evil.
Comment by Rob June 28, 2012 @ 8:05 amDid someone say porn?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 8:09 amYou will forever now associate porn with Rob. At least it will stop your youporn habit.
Comment by DH June 28, 2012 @ 8:10 amive just thrown up in my fucking mouth.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 8:10 amReeve must still be superman because he managed to make you funny in a post.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 6:53 amnice work.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:29 amMy sides. Oh my sides.
Comment by Rob June 28, 2012 @ 8:05 amFunny in a way, that doesn’t include me laughing at how fucking bad your posts usually are.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 6:55 amIs it a bird?
Comment by DH June 28, 2012 @ 6:56 amIs it a plane?
No, it’s a (fill in blank)
Another Hollywood career down the drain?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 7:00 amAnother advertising career down the drain?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 7:00 ama man stuck at the top of the fucking stairs.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:29 amWhy is superman in China and why does he want to take the subway?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 6:58 amWell I didn’t know there was a subway station at the Great Wall, had I known I wouldn’t have taken that minibus when I went.
Comment by Willem June 28, 2012 @ 6:21 pmAt least it’s all downhill when he wants to go from the subway to home.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 7:02 amIt’s not entirely downhill.
Comment by Pete June 28, 2012 @ 7:30 amwho the fuck do you think you are, you pedantic doddsy fucking wannabe.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:41 am“When you understand how hard it is, giving is easy”
Someone needs to tell that to all Billy’s dates.
Comment by DH June 28, 2012 @ 7:05 ambecause when they understand how hard he is, running away and calling the sex pest squad is easy.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:33 amI’m beating them off with a shitty stick so fuck you.
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 7:53 amcourse you are billy. course you fucking are.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:54 amKeep your pervy fetishes to yourself Billy
Comment by northern June 28, 2012 @ 6:10 pmWrong.
Comment by Bazza June 28, 2012 @ 7:08 amI know you are but what do you think of the ad?
Comment by Billy Whizz June 28, 2012 @ 7:10 amdont insult kenny fucking everett like that campbell.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:28 amwho the fuck do i sue for plagiarism? you dont even see that sort of fucking idea stealing shit at cannes.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:35 ambut at least theyre stealing from the best.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:35 ameven if they cant art direct for shit, understand subtlety or good fucking taste. then it never did motley crüe any fucking harm did it.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:40 amHow can an offensive, insensitive piece of Andy evil actually be less offensive and less insensitive than a piece of communication on behalf of a charity set up by the very man Andy was mocking? I don’t know, but I agree with you Robert, it is. I would love to know who approved this and why.
Comment by George June 28, 2012 @ 7:51 ambecause im a fucking genius.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 7:56 amIt’s wrong isn’t it? I’m not going mad. The moment I saw it, I just felt weirded out – and this is from a man that feels no shame walking out in public in Birkenstocks.
Comment by Rob June 28, 2012 @ 8:07 amwho. the. fuck. cares.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 8:11 amJust following the planner’s directions.
Comment by Ciaran McCabe June 28, 2012 @ 8:40 amdirections? from planners? youre fucking funny ciaran.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 8:43 amWhat does the foundation do? Remove the World’s stairs or something else? I do not mean to mock, it’s a serious subject but I agree, this execution feels strange, especially using the Great Wall as a metaphor for the challenges faced by people with physical disabilities. Important point badly executed.
Comment by Lee Hill June 28, 2012 @ 8:42 ammaybe theyre raising money to make the great wall a giant fucking travelator.
Comment by andy@cynic June 28, 2012 @ 8:44 amOh my
Comment by northern June 28, 2012 @ 6:10 pmVery few people outside of advertising or the clent will look at the ad long enough to get it – the message isn’t obvious (as in one second obvious) and that’s where the strangeness reaction comes from.
I don’t think it’s effective but, as for it being in bad taste, well I don’t see it. I’m assuming that all the commenters are lucky enough to be in possession of their faculties – physical ones that is and are being a little twee about this.
Andy’s gag about a man stuck at the top of the stairs seems to me to be the essential truth of the matter, the reality that most able-bodied individuals don’t think about most of the time. If someone lacking full physical abilities is offended by the ad then I’ll change my opinion, but for now I don’t see any mockery here and doesn’t that have to be present for somehting to be in bad taste?
Comment by John June 28, 2012 @ 6:43 pmIt’s a crap execution though isn’t it. They would have been better off sponsoring ‘stairs’ at various urban locations as that would not only be better at conveying the message in a relevant way, it would be more meaningful than shoving the word “subway” on a photo of the Great Wall of China in a print ad.
Comment by Rob June 28, 2012 @ 11:41 pmAgreed.
Comment by John June 29, 2012 @ 5:29 am