Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Fans, Relevance, Religion, Resonance
I’m back.
And not away for ages. OK, about a week.
But that means we have the next 5 days together, so take a look at this …
That’s pretty full-on isn’t it?
Hell, I’m not religious annnnnnd have an alarming lack of taste, but even I wouldn’t wear that.
But that’s not what is the most shocking to me … it’s the price.
$60.
SIXTY DOLLARS!
For that piece of crap.
As someone who has bought A LOT of shitty stuff over the years – and I include hundreds of t-shirts in that statement – I can honestly say I would never, ever pay that much for that rubbish. Which begs the question, who do they think will?
Add to that, that the rest of the stores merch seems pretty straight-laced and you’re wondering what the hell they’re thinking.
Though I bet if they had a sign that said, ‘all proceeds go to the local church’, someone would buy it. After all, there’s a shit load of people in America who’ll vote for that racist, lying prick because he ‘claims’ to be a bible-thumping Christian and that is all that matters for them to turn a blind eye to his behaviour.
Which reminds me about one of great horrifying documentaries. This …
I remember watching it when it came out in 2006 and just starring in disbelief … because like Trump, the motivation felt far less about doing good and far more about power and control.
One bit that stood out was when they proclaim Harry Potter is the devil … though it inspired me to be a mischievous shit because we were doing a campaign for South Park and at the end of the online films, I got them to ask one question.
‘DO YOU FIND THIS OFFENSIVE?’
If people clicked ‘no’, it took them to Comedy Central, the distributors of the show – where you could watch episodes.
If people clicked ‘yes’, it took them to a fundamental Christian website who tried to ban Bambi for ‘inappropriate imagery’.
As you can tell, it was another time when that seemed a perfectly acceptable idea.
[Talking of Harry Potter. When the first film came out, I wanted to prove to a client how fan culture can be myopic, obsessive and lacking objectivity. To do this, I went on an online Harry blog – populated with young fans – and wrote, “if Harry is so good at magic, how come he doesn’t use a spell to stop being a 4-eyed geek?”Within hours, my comment had hundreds of the most violent, rude and threatening comments you’ve ever read. Real offensive stuff. could ever imagine. Point proved, hahaha ]
… as it’s Monday and I am basically a Saint, cough cough – I want to give you a present which is the ability to watch the whole movie , which I assure you, will be less wasted time than you reading this post.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Comment, Marketing, Prejudice, Religion, Taboo Categories
So today is the beginning of my final full month in America.
That blows my mind.
Without doubt I am sad my time here is coming to an end so soon – its been a great honour to be able to live here and meet so many amazing people – but by the same token, I’m genuinely excited to be moving back to my home country after 24 years away.
That said, part of the disappointment of leaving is I know I got to see and experience so little.
Sure, I’ve been to a bunch of places in my time here, but when you travel mainly for work, you never really get to get a feel for a place.
Yes, I have continued to do what I’ve always done in new cities [the follow up to that link can be read here] but that’s nothing like immersing yourself in the cultural underbelly of a place.
And that’s one of the main reasons I’m disappointed, because while America is a pretty fucked up right now and a lot of the industry here prefers easy over great, it is still an amazing country that I would have loved to have understood and experienced more of.
People, portions and lifestyle aside, there will be some things I’ll always take with me.
The realisation America’s version of a ‘compact car’ is a European 4×4.
The obsession people all have with ranch dressing.
The countries fascination with holidays and how they go all out for them.
The obsessive order people follow to get off planes.
The fact people say and write “Y’all”.
That checks/cheques are still a thing.
No one can talk about race, abortion, wealth, guns, racism. Ever.
That people are not at all comfortable with honesty and truth.
The hierarchy of corporate structures and how they work and are adopted.
The utter brilliance of The Cheesecake Factory.
Oh there are so many things … things I will take with me forever that will make me smile and frown for the rest of my days … but overall America has been very good to me and my family and for that, I will always be grateful.
Sure, the feelings are different to when I left China, but thanks to some of the people, experiences and work I was able to be a part of, I can leave feeling a better person than when I arrived, which – when you think about it – is the best way to leave anywhere.
I just hope some people will feel the same way.
At least the ones who now will always matter to me.
[Though I have a month to try and change that for them, ha]
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Culture, Cunning, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Religion
So I was in San Francisco Airport recently when I saw this …
Putting aside the fact there is a Christian bookshop in an airport, I find their attempt to validate their religion through the use of the word ‘science’ hysterical.
Of course they’re not the only one who do it … ad agencies have a long history of labelling departments with pompous monikers to give it an air of validation. Or importance.
But here’s the thing, adding the word ‘science’ doesn’t make any religion scientific … just like adding the word ‘innovation’ to a media department doesn’t mean their media plan suddenly rivals the output of Silicon Valley.
In fact, a religion using the word ‘science’ is particularly offensive given they have spent decades basically declaring war on any scientist who has dared to disprove the things they believe without question.
Look, I’m all for people following a belief system – and I appreciate there’s times where getting others to embrace what you follow is valuable – but when you use terminology that represents the opposite of what you believe, all you’re doing is creating more walls rather than less.
Of course there may be another reason they did this.
Maybe it has nothing to do with winning others over and is simply to make themselves – and the people who follow them – feel even more important.
And if that’s the case, then they doubly deserve the ridicule they get, because anyone who believes the only way forward is to ignore the views of others has no idea how to truly make a difference in the World.
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I say all this but maybe there is a God because there will be no blog posts for you to suffer on Monday and Tuesday as I’ll be traveling. Now you can really enjoy your weekend, can’t you.
In 1978, Freddie Mercury wrote a song called Mustapha.
It appeared as the first track on their album, Jazz and was launched as a single in 1979.
Here’s the song …
When it was released, no one battered an eyelid.
No one.
Maybe it’s because it was a different time then … or maybe it’s because people knew Freddie’s heritage was not from England … but I was wondering what would happen if Queen released that single today.
Would the right-wing press claim they were supporting terrorism?
Would the Christian community say they were turning their back on their home nations [supposed] religion?
Would Muslim groups accuse them of trying to profit from their belief system?
I honestly don’t know, but judging what happened to the Dixie Chicks when then called out George W Bush, I bet it wouldn’t be something that went un-noticed like it did way back in 1978 … such is the love the media have for hyping-up paranoia regarding anything to do with religion, nationalism and multiculturalism.
And yes, I know what the music critics would say – and yes, I know it would be the same thing they said in 1978 – so you can keep your opinions to yourself, thank you very much.
So recently I was sent a news headline that made me think that the most imaginative and compelling story tellers are not ECD’s, but pastors.
And don’t even get me started on their level of being sick, perverted bastards.
It can only be a matter of time before we hear WPP have signed a strategic alliance with the Catholic Church for creative talent … though whether even Sir Martin can afford their salary [or should I say, their ‘benefits’] is another thing altogether.
