These are supposedly for Motorola, by Revolution, Brazil. I'm not even sure what to believe anymore, after all the ad spoof idiocy that's been going on lately.
If these are "real" (as in, approved by client for publication) they are a really bad idea for the brand. If not, they are still tacky and weird.
When I was a kid, Mr. Sub was the go-to submarine sandwich chain in Canada. But when Subway arrived in the late '80s, it very quickly pushed the domestic sandwich shop to a marginal position. Mr. Sub ended up playing by Subway's rules, with fresher bread and more toppings, but it's hard to compete when there's a Subway on practically every block.
Now, they've taken a page from Tim Horton's playbook. With the recent resurgence in (dryly ironic) Canadian patriotism, they're hitching their brand to their Canadian identity:
The one above is the better of the two, because it's how we see ourselves.
The one below shows how we think Americans see us.
This campaign caught the attention of my friends at Adland, where author kidsleepy quipped, "This spot makes fun of Canadians and the Canadian stereotype that they are all polite and orderly. Because they are Canadian."
Damn right, eh? Americans (and other nationalities) are often puzzled by our self-deprecating national pride.
One of my favourite Canadianisms is what I call the "Canadian standoff". It's when two or more Canadians approach a doorway at the same time, and end up delayed because each one insists that they other one goes first.
That's who we are. It's not that we aren't proud of our culture; we really are. But we also think that to take oneself too seriously is tacky. So we express our patriotism by showing the world that we are confident enough to make fun of ourselves.
Don't panic — it's an ad. The models are obviously adults. But is using a titillating image a good idea, even if it's saying "we're against that sort of thing"? It's as if the all-male creative team at Jung von Matt were a little too into this one. As a result, in my opinion, they just end up contributing to the problem of adults fetishizing teen sexuality.
The other two ads in the campaign are also shocking, but for different reasons:
These ads are not designed to sell parenting magazines. They are designed to get attention for the creatives and their agency. Mission... accomplished. You creeps.
The billboard promotes a Mount Saint Vincent University campaign for its Women’s Wall of Honour project, a tribute that will be erected outside the new Margaret Norrie McCain Centre for Teaching, Learning and Research when it opens in December 2014.
For a donation of $1,200, honourees’ names will be included in the Wall of Honour and their stories will be shared on an associated website.
The men are all donors to the campaign. Which is great. And the campaign itself is a good one. But the paternalism of the billboard, even if unintentional, is baffling.
