Ad Watch - Sep07

HOT Whatever

A dying old patriarch agrees to give his ‘n'ver do well son', Whatever. Not the family fortune, mind you. But a can of Whatever. It's brilliant! Entertaining! Even got the average punter to forsake their usual Coke fix to try it.

Would this commercial ever see the light of day if it had to endure a marketing committee and raw concept testing? "Sure it's humorous but is the audience laughing with us or laughing at us?"; "Where's the customary ‘refreshment shot?".

Truth be told, none of those casting an approving vote has any true stake in its effectiveness. Today, any marketing idiot who lost his job would still fall up. But this commercial was approved by a client who had more to lose than any salaried employee as he had put up his own money in the venture. Brave client whom I am sure is laughing to the bank. Almost a perfect score if not for the horrid reprise pack shot.

Rating 4/5

NOT National Day Song

I served my two and half years National Service and I pay my taxes, like everyone else. Heck - I even corrected them when they undercharged me for my last assessment. So as a tax-paying, country-loving patriot, it pains me to endure the cringing travesty which passes off as a national song.

From the lyrics, I gather the singer has walked the streets of Cairo and Bombay (never mind it's called Mumbai), past Thames, climbed the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wall in (wait for it) one hour and crossed the River Kwai and not know "why?".

Putting mixed metaphors, non sequiturs and just plain logic aside - I find it impossible to fathom how this song stands up to the all-time favorites, ‘Stand up for Singapore' or ‘Count on me, Singapore'. I guess after 42 years of nation building, the best way forward is to find the confidence to stop deconstructing Peter Allen's ‘I call Australia home' and buy a decent rhyming dictionary.

Rating 0/5

Mark Fong
Creative Director
Y&R Singapore