What Were We Thinking?
I saw an ad which sent the absolute wrong message, I think. Imagine a little flash panel, an ad on a newspaper web site. It is an inoffensive yellow colored box with three super-imposed pictures in a line fading in, the following order:
Firecrackers, super-glue, bunny-rabbit
Once the pictures fully fade in, the following line of text fades in below:
Whatever you can imagine, we've seen worse.
Then the pictures fade out, and the next two sets fade in:
Burlap bag, brick, puppy
Duct tape, gas can, cat
I was just thinking this was an ad for a dark humor movie with someone like Billy Bob Thornton, then the second line of text fades in.
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Am I a sick individual, liking dark humor which typically mocks much of the society in which I live and participate? I honestly thought of things like Pulp Fiction which ultimately mocks violence and those who thrive on enjoying vicariously, and Drowning Mona another bit of dark humor portraying senseless violence in an enjoyable inappropriate light manner which gets you indirectly thinking about things, and subtly alters attitudes through gentle mockery.
Or are the folks at the ASPCA clueless? The larger version on their site doesn't seem anywhere near as funny as I remember, but maybe it is because of the layout or because I've thought about it a bit. Still, if I wanted to promote theatre to a demographic not generally cognizant or jazzed by theatre, I wouldn't want to create ads which speak to avid theatre fans. Preaching to the choir doesn't net you many converts. It's a hard line to walk. I suspect they've found the pictures of brutalized or emaciated pets drives away potential supporters. Could it be this ad which seems darkly humorous to start is a brilliant approach to hook people? I'm thinking about the ASPCA a lot more than I would have. Could it be a good campaign they hit upon for reasons they'd consider repugnant. If not, they may have found a great new approach which will overcome the alienation they have suffered lately. I'm curious to see if it works. If so, when it comes time to promote a theatre of my own...
I was to have dinner with some friends tonight, but they have a bad cold in the household. I'm already getting over a couple colds, so I'm probably immune, but the the need to rest from a cold is pretty fresh. I opted to not see a show last night, because I was so tired. Went home, did some work, some homework, and got ten hours of sleep. I actually slept through the whole night, a first for quite a long time.
I still want to get some extra sleep tonight, but I need something social outside of class and work. The first friend I called was interested in dinner. I hope it works out. Now it's time for a break from work, for some rehearsal for homework.
Firecrackers, super-glue, bunny-rabbit
Once the pictures fully fade in, the following line of text fades in below:
Whatever you can imagine, we've seen worse.
Then the pictures fade out, and the next two sets fade in:
Burlap bag, brick, puppy
Duct tape, gas can, cat
I was just thinking this was an ad for a dark humor movie with someone like Billy Bob Thornton, then the second line of text fades in.
Click here to learn how you can help prevent cases like this.
Am I a sick individual, liking dark humor which typically mocks much of the society in which I live and participate? I honestly thought of things like Pulp Fiction which ultimately mocks violence and those who thrive on enjoying vicariously, and Drowning Mona another bit of dark humor portraying senseless violence in an enjoyable inappropriate light manner which gets you indirectly thinking about things, and subtly alters attitudes through gentle mockery.
Or are the folks at the ASPCA clueless? The larger version on their site doesn't seem anywhere near as funny as I remember, but maybe it is because of the layout or because I've thought about it a bit. Still, if I wanted to promote theatre to a demographic not generally cognizant or jazzed by theatre, I wouldn't want to create ads which speak to avid theatre fans. Preaching to the choir doesn't net you many converts. It's a hard line to walk. I suspect they've found the pictures of brutalized or emaciated pets drives away potential supporters. Could it be this ad which seems darkly humorous to start is a brilliant approach to hook people? I'm thinking about the ASPCA a lot more than I would have. Could it be a good campaign they hit upon for reasons they'd consider repugnant. If not, they may have found a great new approach which will overcome the alienation they have suffered lately. I'm curious to see if it works. If so, when it comes time to promote a theatre of my own...
I was to have dinner with some friends tonight, but they have a bad cold in the household. I'm already getting over a couple colds, so I'm probably immune, but the the need to rest from a cold is pretty fresh. I opted to not see a show last night, because I was so tired. Went home, did some work, some homework, and got ten hours of sleep. I actually slept through the whole night, a first for quite a long time.
I still want to get some extra sleep tonight, but I need something social outside of class and work. The first friend I called was interested in dinner. I hope it works out. Now it's time for a break from work, for some rehearsal for homework.
2 Comments:
Maybe a better headline would have been:
"If you think this is funny, you're part of the problem."
That means I'm part of the problem. Ironic. I've reported dogs locked in hot cars twice. Once in Savannah, Georgia, and once in the Seattle area. I've walked the neighborhoods I live in on several occasions when I heard screeching animals to ascertain if there was any abuse. There wasn't, but I was again prepared to make a report. The experience reporting dogs locked in a car with rolled up windows on a sunny day was quite informative. I gave the dispatcher my contact information and they were surprised. I was told most people reporting suspected animal abuse refuse to identify themselves or simply hang up, preferring to remain anonymous.
I'd claim those who can see the humor aren't part of the problem. Rather those who can't are the problem because they are lacking a necessary bit of humanity which allows them to experience meaningful interchange with others. We don't find humor in things which are correct, we laugh at wrongnesses or pain. Robert Heinlein summed it up very nicely in Stranger In A Strange Land when the main character Michael is explaining how he finally came to understand laughter.
"I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much . . .
"But you girls were the nicest part of the show. I grok now, that if they had laughed, you would have been hurt. No, they laughed when a comic tripped over his feet and fell down . . . or something else that is not a goodness."
I can see the humor in the pictures because I perceive an inherent wrongness with the associations.
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