When I first saw this Burger King ad at its Holland Village Outlet, the sexual innuendo already struck me, but not my wife who was with me.
After all, what woman would look at the picture of another woman, right
My surprise, that they'd run the ad, disappeared when it was published that the ad was only run in Singapore.
It didn't spare the BK HQ in the US from the barrage of criticisms though.
http://www.examiner.com/x-14984-San-Diego-Fast-Food-Examiner~y2009m7d1-Burger-King-Oral-Sex-Ad
After all, hey, this is Singapore, right? If it's in public, it must have been approved by MDA or MITA or whatever, right?
Didn't the ad on the left featuring the "Caldecott Queen" ran a few years back, eliciting some men to comment how lucky Philip Chion must be?"
It led to complaints of course, but not before the ad achieve its aim - to make an impression.
So I saw this one in today's TODAY, and I am just wondering if it will be next ...
I mean, I appreciate something witty without being crass ... tried it myself sometimes, e.g., some of my posts in CHF's DGI RPG thread.
The common defence by the advertisers or the advertised company is that they got no control over what's in the mind of the viewers.
Bull.
While that is true up to a point, they should not be denying that the innuendo was precisely what they intended in the first place - and that should not distract from whether it was appropriate advertising material.
But admitting mistakes is hard to do.
Even my own co. refused to admit mistake when they ran an ad promoting a Swiss destination but featuring Italian cheese ...
I mean, maybe the management just don't appreciate how seriously the Europeans take their cheese ...
After all, Singaporeans would know how ridiculously it would be for a Cantonese eatery to feature bak-chor-mee as their main ad, right? Uhm, at least, I think it should be ridiculous, right?
Oh, it's definitely the dirty minds of the viewers to blame.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to this ad was, only 7 inches? Why not 8? Haha.
8 inch burger would cost more and I doubt if there's enough Singaporean consumers crazy enough to go for it to make it worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you like the backyards of Malaysia as per the ad? ;)
I have seen better backyards.
ReplyDeleteWell, for sexy ads, I would probably opt for SQ ' Singapore Girl ' --is more ' tempting .
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of " Cadelcott Queen " was more for the promotion of Mediacorp rather than the products itself. Short for a model but ok for the face model.
Perhaps the men would love the impression of the firefly ads.
"A great way to fly" was subjected to very imaginative interpretations back during my GP class in JC.
ReplyDeleteUr, you comparing to the backyards you just saw in France? :D
ReplyDeleteIf all ads including sexual innuendo were to disappear, many sectors would not be seen much (cars strike me as a good example...)
ReplyDeleteI like the malaysian ad best, the two others are way too direct...
In Europe, some of the most sexy ads tend to win prizes, but are just aired once or twice, at ungodly hours... Yet, the internet buzz does the rest of the job, and the brands do very well.
Most famous here is Manix, a brand which sells condoms and similar things. Its ads are seldom seen, but everyone knows them through the web, they win prizes almost all the time, and the brand does very well (over less than a decade, it became the nr one brand in France, on a very disputed market...).
Here's a print ad from them, for a gel...
http://www.unimaru.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/manix-le-port-2002.jpg
LOL, it took me several seconds to "get it" ... or at least I think I did ... *ouch*
ReplyDeleteTo me, there's a difference between being crass and witty.
Really, what I don't like is the denial that the innuendos are intentional when it is rather ... improbable that they were unintentional.
Actually, there is a great visual pun hidden in this picture. The french word for bollard (the mooring irons you see on the port) also means, in slang, the male organ...
ReplyDeleteAnd you'll probably love this one, which is an ad for the same brand, no naked bodies, nothing;...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leroidelacapote.com/images/pub/manix1.jpg
Not the message but the image of the Singapore Girl
ReplyDeleteVery pretty ads
ReplyDeleteIt took me nearly half a minute to spot it ... *sigh*
ReplyDeleteWhat is curious though is that both ads you posted are in English, and these are French ads?
No the first one is in french... But there are few words. Second one is in english, not sure where is was shown. I like the second one, because there are lots of details to see and think of.
ReplyDeleteOh, so it was ... a very good ad then, the language was so ... transparent ...
ReplyDelete