Yeah, when I read about this at work...I thought there was no way that this ad was okay with me. Now I've seen it and it almost looks cute in the ad...strange...
Obviously not meant for mainstream television, anyway...
Run the explosion in slow speed. It was well done. As the explosion starts you see the car squat down and the driver disapear in a bright flash. Then you see stuff hit the side window and when the explosion is over it is all still stuck there. For the finnishing touch, no one sitting at the cafe seems to even notice except one dinner who casually turns to see what happened.
NO blood and guts, just the bright ornage of the explosion. Perhaps the most offensive part of it is that the "bomber" is stereotypically "palestinian" looking.
NO blood and guts, just the bright ornage of the explosion. Perhaps the most offensive part of it is that the "bomber" is stereotypically "palestinian" looking.
Robt.
Are there any other kind of suicide-bomber?
Yes there are. Just not as common at he moment. You have Russian, Isbekistnian, Irish, US, ect...
Do any of the more 'mature' people here remember the National Lampoon parody of a Volkswagen ad back in 1973? In those years Volkswagen liked to advertise the fact that their 'beetles' were watertight and would float if the doors and windows were closed.
In this ad parody, a picture of a Volkswagen 'beetle' was shown floating on top of some body of water with a fog-shrouded bridge in the background. The caption, in big bold letters, said "If Senator Ted Kennedy Drove A Volkswagen, He'd Be President Today!". A lot of people thought this was a real ad and really raked Volkswagen over the coals about it. Volkswagen sued, but instead of asking for money, they demanded that National Lampoon explain in a full page spread in their magazine that this was not a real ad but a parody. Volkswagen won the case and National Lampoon ran a full page retraction and apology.
Perhaps the most offensive part of it is that the "bomber" is stereotypically "palestinian" looking.
Or more broadly Semitic. But honestly, would it have hit it's mark had they used an Eskimo instead? Sure some people of any race are sometimes responsable for blowing something up from time to time. If this had been 1945 they would have used a Japanesse in a Mitsubishi bomber instead of an Arab in a VW. This is 2005 though, and we see things like this happening on an almost daily basis.
So in my oppinion this mock ad is no more stereotypical then the acts that inspired it.
Well, given that he's wearing a black and white kaffiyeh it is pretty clearly Palestinian, not just 'sorta like'
That is an incredibly funny commercial. Too bad there are so many people who take offense at everything, I would love to see humorous well made commercials like this on US television.
Is this an actual commercial put out by Volkswagen!?
If so, I must ask who was the marketing-genius that approved such a terrible campaign. Why would any company want to be even remotely associated with war, terror, and death.
The beetle was designed for the nazis (no jokes). There's even a picture of Adolf at the plants inaugaration. But that was so long ago... Still, the comment above makes me laugh (in an ironic not so funny way...)
Well, given that he's wearing a black and white kaffiyeh it is pretty clearly Palestinian, not just 'sorta like'
Jodanians, Egyptians, and Arabs, also wear kaffiyehs,
and he wasn't wearing it as a head dress at all. He had a checkered garment around his neck.
Yemeni and Iraqi men also sometimes wear checkered kaffiyeh. It's a middle eastern thing, not just Palistiniam.
Yup kaffiyeh is a middle eastern thing, and the black and white specifically is a Palestinian thing, or more recently, strongly identified with Yasser Arafat. Jordanian would be red and white for instance. Symbols are what they are and are usually picked for fairly specific reasons. Any decent ad director (spoof or not) wouldn't put something like that in 'accidentally'
The beetle was designed for the nazis (no jokes). There's even a picture of Adolf at the plants inaugaration. But that was so long ago...
Yes, this is true. Of course, whether right or wrong, because of the 50+ year gap since the end of WWII, that bit of Volkswagen history is almost forgotten.
Because of the high-production value of the clip it seemed conceivable that Volkswagen could've commissioned it; and, that anyone at any mainstream corporation would've allowed something like that, would've simply surprised me. Of course, it clearly was produced by an indy-house or something, perhaps without permission from the car maker; nonetheless, I still think that it's a bad idea -- from a branding perspective.
Yes, the clip achieves its sensationalistic goal, and it certainly is memorable; however, I don't think that the association between a consumer product and death/war is a smart thing -- even more so when the killing and dying is still occurring.
Perhaps the most offensive part of it is that the "bomber" is stereotypically "palestinian" looking.
I don't think a Swiss suicide bomber would have quite the same effect.
I guess it's a matter of perspective -- given the Swiss' long-held tradition of neutrality, a Swiss suicide-bomber might've seemed absurd and, therefore, funny (too a very niche audience, admittedly).
Yup kaffiyeh is a middle eastern thing, and the black and white specifically is a Palestinian thing, or more recently, strongly identified with Yasser Arafat. Jordanian would be red and white for instance. Symbols are what they are and are usually picked for fairly specific reasons. Any decent ad director (spoof or not) wouldn't put something like that in 'accidentally'
Yup kaffiyeh is a middle eastern thing, and the black and white specifically is a Palestinian thing, or more recently, strongly identified with Yasser Arafat. Jordanian would be red and white for instance. Symbols are what they are and are usually picked for fairly specific reasons. Any decent ad director (spoof or not) wouldn't put something like that in 'accidentally'
Iraqis:
Clearly the clip's producers' intentions were not merely to single out one nationality; but, rather, to invoke a particular stereotype. I think that we can reasonably assume that the intended stereotype was that of Middle Eastern man -- regardless of nationality/citizenship.
Maybe this advertisement is a trial balloon that the ad agency wants to see how well it's received. I didn't get a chance to view it as I'm on dialup and it was taking too long to download, but I think I remember seeing a link at the bottom of the web page to tell them what you thought of it, or was that for you opinion of the host?
Yup kaffiyeh is a middle eastern thing, and the black and white specifically is a Palestinian thing, or more recently, strongly identified with Yasser Arafat. Jordanian would be red and white for instance. Symbols are what they are and are usually picked for fairly specific reasons. Any decent ad director (spoof or not) wouldn't put something like that in 'accidentally'
Iraqis:
Clearly the clip's producers' intentions were not merely to single out one nationality; but, rather, to invoke a particular stereotype. I think that we can reasonably assume that the intended stereotype was that of Middle Eastern man -- regardless of nationality/citizenship.
I'll buy that. But it never would have hit home if they had not done the middle eastern thing.
I'm of Italian heritage and I own guns but that doesn't mean I'm gonna walk in to a resturant and shoot someone dead in their plate of spaghetti just to live up to someone's stereotype of Italians with guns. Every one knows that not all Italians are gangsters and not all Irish are drunks and not all Native Americans wear feathers and not all Arabs are terrorists. Stereotypes will exist and I see nothing wrong with dealing with them once in a while with an ounce of humor.
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I guess it's a matter of perspective -- given the Swiss' long-held tradition of neutrality, a Swiss suicide-bomber might've seemed absurd and, therefore, funny (too a very niche audience, admittedly).
How does one depict a Swiss suicide-bomber? Would he be eating cheese with holes in it perhaps:)
