So a few days ago, one of my colleagues – Winson – was looking through a year old copy of Monocle magazine.
Inside was a pull-out from Louis Vuitton for their luggage range.
On one side was a map of the World and on the other was an A-Z of cities.
Here is an example of what they said:
You get the idea.
Anyway, everything was fine until he saw this:
Yes, they really are saying Singapore is part of Malaysia.
Now while it is true that the city state was once part of Malaysian governance, the two countries split acrimoniously many years ago and it has left deep divisions between them.
Pride. Prejudice. Jealousy. Arrogance. Pettiness. You name it, the people have felt it, thought it, expressed it.
What makes it even worse is the the man responsible for that split – and the architect of the country that it became – died earlier this year, which is Singapore’s 50th year of independence.
Now to be fair to Louis Vuitton, not only is this ad a year old, but it could all be part of a campaign showing their heritage.
Maybe the map isn’t supposed to represent the modern age, but how the World was when they first started.
But – and it’s a big but – they don’t say this in any of the work, which is why the photo below – of my planning colleague Ros – sums up how all the Singaporean’s in the office reacted when I showed them the ad.
So folks at Louis Vuitton, now you have the answer why sales of your overpriced, label-ridden bags have suddenly stopped in Singapore.
Happy to help.