It Was Only A Matter of Time…
…before SOMEONE came out with an ad eluding to the BP oil spill. But I have to be honest, I am shocked at the culprit. Or am I?
What I didn’t realize is that this exact commercial ran in 2009 before this accident happened. I also didn’t realize that this was a serious use for Dawn dish detergent. They just conveniently dusted off the spot from the archives in light of recent events.
Here’s my issue with it: I’m not sure what the message is saying exactly. What is the purpose? Are they expressing anger? Are they offering a solution? Unless you live in the gulf, I don’t think we will be putting ducks into our kitchen sinks anytime soon. Or penguins or otters or any other animal for that matter. Maybe they are just letting us know, that they know, that this is going on. Follow?
A colleague of mine at work made a great point : This is sort of how it went down after September 11. It happened just like this. After the attacks no one really said anything. No big corporations came right out with a commercial in the month of September. It was a waiting game to see who would step to the plate first. And then sure enough…there were one, two, ten, twenty commercials showing the spirit of America and paying tribute to the firefighters (and throwing their logo in there too, just incase you’d like to buy their product while you’re at it).
Do corporations see these disasters as disasters? Or huge advertising opportunities?
“So and so wants to thank our troops” “So and so believes in a better tomorrow”. We heard it all for a year after 9/11. And even now and again on the anniversary “So and so will never forget”.
It all seems a little fake and forced to me. I can’t help but think that these money driven corporate empires want nothing more than to put another dollar in their pocket and will exploit anything and anyone to get it. So if they have to shed some tears, show clydesdales kneeling to the NYC skyline, or show some oil covered ducks to get your attention, so be it. Call me a skeptic, but I’m not buying into the genuine messaging. Oh yea, and I’m not going to go buy your products either.
