Well if that wasn’t weird enough, I recently saw this …
Now that is some headline.
It’s a headline that commands your attention.
It’s a headline that demands you delve deeper.
And when I did, I discovered that – similar to TBWA’s current approach to disruption – I left feeling more repulsed than attracted to the cause or the topic. Have a read of this …
I have read this a few times.
And even now – as I read it again – I come away shaking my head in utter dismay and disarray.
Because while I appreciate the authors beliefs are her beliefs [even though I find them unbelievably condescending, patronizing and judgmental] I also think she is fundamentally wrong because I’m pretty sure the main thing young men look for in young women is a pulse.
I’m not saying that’s right but neither is this sort of blinkered bollocks.
But here’s the thing, as blinkered bollocks as this may be … there’s a bunch of people who not only believe this, but live by it. And our industry needs to acknowledge this reality, because while we can judge all we like in our personal opinions, we have to keep an open and curious mind to what’s going on in our professional lives, because real life is a damn sight more complex, twisted and confusing than the nicely curated versions of what’s going that we like to present to the World.
If great communication is about resonance rather than relevance, then knowing the weird is way more important than knowing the convention.
So recently, a shocked friend of mine – who is a Doctor – sent me this …
To be honest, I was equally alarmed when I saw it.
Look at it!
Are you as horrified as me?
You know England is in a terrible state when you see things like this.
No, I’m not talking about the fact a local council has made a poster that positions babies as a threat to gaming time … I’m talking about this:
“Bware Da Baby Trap”
What the fuck were they thinking?
Apart from the fact they are sort-of implying they believe anyone who has sex under the age of 18 must be thicker a Big Brother contestant, is there anything more tragic than a corporation trying to ‘get down with da kidz’.
I get that teen pregnancy is on the rise.
I get that promoting a condom is better than trying to paint sex as ‘the devils act’.
I even understand the requirement to express the issue in a way that young kids can relate to.
But using language like ‘Bware Da Baby Trap’ doesn’t do it, in fact I’d argue it actually shows how little Walsall council truly understand what’s going on in the hearts, minds and lives of their teenage residents.
Mind you, when you have an accent that sounds like you’re intellectually challenged, what do you expect …
UPDATE:
I’ve just realised that maybe ‘Bware Da Baby Trap’ isn’t trying to get down with the kidz, but trying to use the local dialect.
Please tell me that’s not the case.
Oh my god, I think it is.
I don’t know if that’s better or worse … but regardless, I’m kind-of disappointed that they didn’t write the whole poster in that style. Cowards.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Bad Sex Education, Brand Suicide, Childhood, Comment, Context, Corporate Evil, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Culture, Education, Emotion, Empathy, Immaturity, Insight, Marketing Fail, Perspective, Planners, Planning, Point Of View, Prejudice, Relevance, Resonance
Over the years I’ve written about some strange beliefs some strange people have.
For strange people, read overly religious, bigoted individuals.
First there was the gum that claimed to stop you masturbating.
Then there was the soap that made you a virgin again.
Well if that wasn’t weird enough, I recently saw this …
Now that is some headline.
It’s a headline that commands your attention.
It’s a headline that demands you delve deeper.
And when I did, I discovered that – similar to TBWA’s current approach to disruption – I left feeling more repulsed than attracted to the cause or the topic. Have a read of this …
I have read this a few times.
And even now – as I read it again – I come away shaking my head in utter dismay and disarray.
Because while I appreciate the authors beliefs are her beliefs [even though I find them unbelievably condescending, patronizing and judgmental] I also think she is fundamentally wrong because I’m pretty sure the main thing young men look for in young women is a pulse.
I’m not saying that’s right but neither is this sort of blinkered bollocks.
But here’s the thing, as blinkered bollocks as this may be … there’s a bunch of people who not only believe this, but live by it. And our industry needs to acknowledge this reality, because while we can judge all we like in our personal opinions, we have to keep an open and curious mind to what’s going on in our professional lives, because real life is a damn sight more complex, twisted and confusing than the nicely curated versions of what’s going that we like to present to the World.
If great communication is about resonance rather than relevance, then knowing the weird is way more important than knowing the convention.