I was walking to work the other day and I passed a bus shelter with this ad which really caught my attention. Despite the freezing cold winds and blowing snow, I stopped to take a second look. Could this be a real drug? What the hell! Uncertain, I continued along my route. Then I saw a second version only a few blocks away. Humm. Well, it made me laugh out loud, and after a coffee, I realized that this couldn't be a pharmaceutical ad: 1) because we don't advertise pharamceuticals in Canada (may cause anal leakage, dizzyness, dry mouth, watering mouth, etc.) and 2) because it is just too harsh.
Back at my computer, I googled this thing, and I couldn't find anything, except somebody else's post on
Yahoo Questions. And for the first time in my life, I replied to one of those Yahoo Questions. (Guess which one is me.) There are several other replies now, but nobody knows what it is all about. It must be a progressive ad campaign, yet I have only seen four of these ads so far.
Are you getting paid to promote this?
ReplyDeleteThat would be pathetic. But then again, someone needs to make money on the web, I suppose.
This kind of tired viral marketing crap has already been skewered by the Simpsons, years ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krusty_Gets_Kancelled
Who is Gabbo?
Believe it or not, I write this crap for free!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I was suspicious of the postings about Obay on Yahoo Answers as well, wondering if the company behind the campaign had posted the question. Not a lot of buzz has been generated from this yet, so I suspect that it was just normal people like me, who do not get paid to blog.
Here's the domain registration for the domain http://www.whybecauseisaidso.ca
ReplyDeletehttp://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=http%3A%2F%2Fwhybecauseisaidso&tld=ca
It's long distance for me to call that number (the one listed as Admin Contact) .. but anyone else want to call it and see what they find?
This is assuming that whybecauseisaidso.ca has anything to do with the campaign in the first place.
I just saw one on the bus here in Ottawa. If I'd known that there wouldn't be a website explaining more, I'd have followed your example and taken a picture.
ReplyDeleteI am a graphic designer in sudbury and when i saw this ad campaign, I thought it was a great idea. This is the type of strategic + creative thinking we need morein the world. Take Banksy for example. Look at his art and what it promotes. This is kinda the same idea. It gets us to think and to do some research on the topic.
ReplyDeleteWho ever the design team is. GOOD JOB.
An interesting ad campaign, but brilliant, i think not. This has been done before several times and there is nothing creative about using proven methods. But one cannot help but wonder, what the hell is the deal. The ads cost money to produce, and there is no viable product that can come from a ad that forces youth to submit via drugs. Perhaps there is something creative here after all.
ReplyDeleteIt worked before and they added a sweet twist on it. It sounds to me you don't completely understand what exactly is going on. It is to raise awarness. About what? I'll leave that up to you:)
ReplyDeleteTo figure out.
ReplyDelete