The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

As I mentioned on Monday’s post, I’ve been in Singapore for the last few days and while I was there for work – well, judging the global Effies which I would imagine no one who reads this post regards as work, it was nice to be walk around the old haunts.

Sure, hardly anyone I knew there is still now and yes, there was still that feeling of being a stranger in my home town – even though it’s not my home town and I only lived there for 4 years – but I have a special place in my heart for the city state and it was good to see it again.

But I’m not going to talk about that.

Nor am I going to talk about the standard of entry I judged.

Nope … I’m going to talk about this:

It’s an ad for a laundry near my house.

When I saw the poster, I have to admit it stopped me in my tracks.

That’s a good thing isn’t it?

Hmmmmmmn … I’m not so sure.

You see while I get exactly what the poster is trying to communicate and I appreciate the cheekiness of how they did it … I can’t help but feel it’s a bit shit.

I don’t know if showing an innocent dog having its creases removed by a boiling hot iron really makes me feel good about the company it represents.

Of course I know they didn’t really do that and I also know you could easily argue that no one wants an ’emotional bond’ with their laundrette – they just want someone who will and iron their clothes effectively – but this poster bothers me because implied animal cruelty aside, I can’t help but feel it’s lazy rather than right.

If I worked for TBWA I would say it as a great example of ‘disruption’ … but I don’t and as I’ve said many times, disruption is easy, the real benefit for a brand is when it’s distinctive.

Or as Dan Wieden says, when a brand discovers the power of their own voice.

Maybe it’s because I’m an animal lover, maybe it’s because I’ve become a Dad or maybe it’s because I’ve lost all sense of imagination … but despite the clarity of the message, I don’t like it and I’d love to know if it’s just me or if you also have an issue with it.

And yes, I appreciate no one should think or write this much about a place that irons your bloody shirts.

Sorry.