Motivation of Govt. Advertising Questioned

An article over at MercartorNet takes a look at Government advertising in the States - is it aimed at informing, or controlling?

Mornings on radio in the United States are filled with advertising. From the time we wake up until the time we fall asleep, it seems the advertising never ends. The jingles, catchy and appealing, sometimes want you to adopt a child or to pony up for National Parks. Sometimes they pressure you to wear a seat belt or to use a booster seat (4.9 is the magic age for using a booster seat -- according to the ad brought to us by the Department of Transportation). For its part, the Department of Health and Human Services wants us to adopt a teen. And so on, and so on…

Of course, they are all good ads with clever jingles and cute lines. At least they seem that way the first few times you hear them. And, obviously, listening to such ads is the price we pay for hearing the news or the music, or whatever the radio is offering. What is surprising, though, is the reversal that has taken place in radio sponsorship. Once the domain of private enterprise, it is now increasingly becoming the voice of government. Our own tax money is put to work to convince us of something politicians and bureaucrats think we ought to do...

...Once again, the messages do promote good causes. We all agree that people can eat too much or guzzle too much gas. And it is certainly a good thing to adopt a teen. But, what are the ads really selling? Why should citizens be urged to use more services which make them more dependent on Uber government? What is the real goal? To have us grateful for all the hovering government? Is this an effort to have federal and state governments dispense all goodies to a grateful populace? To me, that type of government has an overreaching, imperial ring, like the rule of the Caesars or Louis XVI or Czarist Russia.

Click here to continue reading.

Imagine the Potential

Those Catholics keep producing these excellent and subtle pro-life adverts. Here is their first one - and below their latest which commemerates 40 years since man first set foot on the moon.

Burying the Truth

One day near the beginning of July, as I drove over an overbridge in Christchurch, I saw the above billboard.  I was naturally concerned for this man and his poor family.  In my mind's eye I thought through the likely situations that Brian might be in right now.  Had he been murdered and his body dumped behind some bushes in some remote area?  Had he been kidnapped for a ransom?... His pooor wife and children.  I was impressed that Brian's family and friends had got together and raised some money to fund a huge billboard trying to locate him.

Imagine my frustration and disgust when, a couple of weeks later, driving over that same bridge, a new billboard had been erected.  It was a similar billboard, but this time it made it clear that it was advertising a TV Series called Burying Brian.  As soon as I arrived home (July 5), I filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority.  I have copied my complaint below.

"I am writing to make a complaint regarding the advertising for the TV One series, "Burying Brian".  A couple of weeks ago as I drove across an overbridge in Christchurch, I was confronted with a billboard - which I now know was advertising the show.

However, the billboard had nothing on it at that stage, to show that it was an advert - and looked exactly like a billboard put up by Brian's family and friends.

I have no problem with the TV show itself, having not seen it.  My problem is with this particular form of advertisment.  It cheapens the genuine "Lost Person" posters that are occasionally used.

The next time (aprox 2 weeks later) that I drove past this billboard, it had been updated, and it was now clear that it was advertising a TV series.

I do hope that you will manage to vett adverts like this in the future, that cheapen or trivialise serious issues - as was the case with the boy who cried wolf."

On Monday (September 15), I received by mail the ASA's decision on the complaint.  I found that antother complaint had been made, and I will copy this below:

"This is an awful way to advertise as it is not a missing person at all and you have to phone the number to find out that it is not" - J. Cambridge

The basis of TVNZ's response was...

"the billboard advertisments commenced with showing a photograph of Shane Cortese, a well-known actor who appears in the television program "Burying Brian".

Hah, he's well-known is he?  Well, reality-check TVNZ, not everyone watches your shows.  They continue driveling on in their pathetic response...

"As Shane Cortese was not in fact missing, it cannot be said tat there was any lack of a sense of social responisibility..."

What the...?  Well, excuse me, but how are we supposed to know that Shane Cortese is not missing?  What has that got to do with it?  The missing man was listed as Brian Welch.  Boy they are thick.  TVNZ continues, stating that they believe they have not caused "serious offence" by the portrayal of the actor as a missing person.

The deliberation from the ASA considered that "...there had been no intention on the part of the Advertiser to mislead the public with regard to the nature of the message."  Oh really? Well why did the billboard contain nothing to assure us that it was in fact just an advert for a TV programme?

"The Complaints Board acknowledged that the advertisment alluded to a serious issue, the dissapearance of a person, and said that although this fromat was not used in New Zealand in real instances, it was used in some other countries."

Sigh, they are so short-sighted.  Maybe this method of advertising missing persons has not yet been used in New Zealand.  But what is going to happen when a genuine billboard is erected, asking people to look out for a missing person?  Will they also have to go the the ridiculous length of stating on the billboard: "this is not a marketing stunt, we really mean it."

So, after 3 letters and two copies of the 60-page Advertising Codes of Practice booklet, and about two months later, the predictable and unjust decision comes back from the ASA:

Decision: Complaint Not Upheld

It is just blind ignorance and arrogance on the part of the State-owned, tax-payer funded TVNZ and the ASA.

The Colonel's Secret

I'm actually pretty impressed with KFC's latest marketing campaign.  They are making a big deal of how secret their recipie is.  But I'd only eat their food under duress or if it was free.  I feel so blimmin sorry for the chickens, they don't get much of a life.  And anyway, KFC puts so much batter-stuff on the chicken, gotta be bad for you.  As far as fast-food goes, I'll skip McDonalds and I'll go with Burger King or some fish and chips.  Or Wendy's if I'm up in Auckland ;)

iPhone Arrives in NZ

Walking down Cashel Street tonight after the ACT Dinner, and we spotted some hardcore Mac fans queueing up outside the Vodafone shop. The iPhone will be officially available for sale from 00:00am, Friday 11 July 2008. For months now, trend starters (such as my brother) have imported their own iPhone and jailbroken it. Of course, Trademe, in all it's infinite wisdom, has seen fit to ban the sale of imported iPhones until they are officially put on sale in New Zealand.

Consumers can either fork out $979 for their standard 8GB 3G iPhone, and run it on prepay, or they can sign up for one of the plans which is on offer. These range from $549 up front and $1,920 over two years, right up to $199 up front and $6,000 over two years. For people who need to use their phone a lot, it's not a bad deal. When you've actually seen what an iPhone can do, the digits after the dollar sign won't matter so much to you, as you are simply blown away by the break-through technology that you can hold in your hands.

The iPhone may be taking the world by storm, but big player RIM isn't taking this lying down, with the release of their new Blackberry Thunder just around the corner. Dubbed by some as "the Apple Killer", or A.K., the Thunder looks like it has a lot going for it, with it's expandable memory (MicroSD card slot), camera and hi-res touch-screen, as well as a few physical buttons which some of us actually appreciate.

A girl dressed in purple, and a cool gorilla offered us a bar of chocolate which we happily took. Helped us get into the spirit of the thing. A busker was busily setting up his keyboard, while a mobile-espresso van was getting set up at the side of the road.

Update: Scrubone blogs on the iPhone

Deterioration of Society Accelerating

I'm sick and tired of this new wave of low-quality, low-budget marketing. Advertising these days is increasingly plagued by filthy images and ideas, radio-adverts laden with disgusting innuendos, and overall, a fascination with sin.

Bus-shelter outside Riccarton Mall, Christchurch, New Zealand

There was a day when a sign on a bus-stop like this would prompt outrage from members of the public and officials alike. At the top of the can of Demon energy-drink are the words "demonic energy". Sadly today, advertisments like these are becoming common-place, with corporations lowering themselves to attacking people or belief systems, or promoting evil - all for the purpose of raising their sales.

I have had a can of Demon - was given it for free, and I can assure you, you're not missing out on anything. Stick to V or Lift+ if you're feeling a bit tired or something.

The Bible speaks to this in Romans 1:18-23...

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Click here to read the rest of the chapter, where the writer goes into further detail of the corruptness of mens heart's, and actually outlines for us the sort of depraved things that are becoming more and more prevalent, today, in our society.

Another favourite verse on this subject is Isaiah 5:20, where Isaiah says...

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

And on that note, I will just quickly mention a small thing that those of us who are Christians can do in response to this verse. Let's make a deliberate effort not to say "mean", "sick", or "wicked", when what we actually mean is the opposite. This principle is also found in Matthew 5:37, "let your yes be yes and your no be no".