« Celebrity weeklies giveth, and taketh away | Main | What’s that? You’re not hungry anymore? »
Ketchup-packet PSAs a bloody good idea
|
|
September 14, 2006 | Permalink |
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c51c053ef00d8342abf1c53ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Ketchup-packet PSAs a bloody good idea :
» Raising Landmine Awareness with Ketchup from Clear Path International: War and Landmine Victim Assistance: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thai-Burma
Ketchup packets dont seem like the most controversial ad medium. But in New Zealand, theres some grousing over this PSA campaign to raise awareness of landmines. To open the packet,... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 14, 2006 7:45:15 PM
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Michael Jackson would have a field day with these packets ... especially if they were filled with mayo.
Posted by: Corey King | Sep 14, 2006 8:16:44 AM
sometimes the truth is disturbing.
Posted by: monica | Sep 14, 2006 10:54:33 AM
Maybe so, Monica, but you have to ask: Should people sitting down to enjoy a meal be confronted with such a stomach-turning image? Is that fair? Is that appropriate?
I agree with CALM's goals. I just question their tactics.
I know that sometimes you must shock people in order to get their attention. But this goes too far.
How many people do you really think will be moved to take action based on this?
Seems more like yet another gimmick designed to win awards rather than influence minds.
Posted by: armin tazarian | Sep 14, 2006 12:25:07 PM
Armin, I think the answer's in the execution (whew, bad word for something like this...). These were put in magazines, not hidden in piles of ketchup (catsup?) packages at fast-food places. The only people tearing into them would be people who knew what they were getting into. Here's the old Houtlust link...
http://blogger.xs4all.nl/marcg/archive/2006/06/30/103170.aspx
Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Sep 14, 2006 3:29:42 PM
Thanks for clearing that up, CJ. Context, in this case, is everything.
Posted by: armin tanzarian | Sep 14, 2006 3:48:07 PM
CJ, if that's the case, it seems a little forced. ketchup has nothing to do with this other than the fact that it was needed to make it look like blood. if ketchup packets were normally inserted into magazines, that would be one thing. but to insert it just for this just isnt working.
Posted by: | Sep 14, 2006 8:52:42 PM
Don't know who the last post was from - but I agree. Ketchup in magazines? For what purpose other than to look like blood. Lame if that is the context.
As for the comments above on gruesome images being forced upon people - it happens every day in media. I don't particularly like it when I'm eating at an airport food spot on/near 9/11 and all the TVs have some sort of news report with images of the towers. I don't really like it when I'm at the gym running on the treadmill and one of the TVs is showing Fear Factor. I don't really like it when I'm at a doctors office with the flu and I open a magazine in the waiting room that has perfume ads in it - which the smells make me want to hurl.
I guess my point is we can't control how ads or graphic media will affect every person in every situation. So you aim for a general. I, personally, wouldn't find that image with that bit of ketchup squirting out of it gruesome - and it wouldn't turn my stomach. Now - say it be half a blown off foot or head on the ketchup packet - which I then tear open and it spurts the red goo - then I'd reconsider my opinion.
Posted by: | Sep 15, 2006 9:36:13 AM
Don't know who the last post was from - but I agree. Ketchup in magazines? For what purpose other than to look like blood. Lame if that is the context.
As for the comments above on gruesome images being forced upon people - it happens every day in media. I don't particularly like it when I'm eating at an airport food spot on/near 9/11 and all the TVs have some sort of news report with images of the towers. I don't really like it when I'm at the gym running on the treadmill and one of the TVs is showing Fear Factor. I don't really like it when I'm at a doctors office with the flu and I open a magazine in the waiting room that has perfume ads in it - which the smells make me want to hurl.
I guess my point is we can't control how ads or graphic media will affect every person in every situation. So you aim for a general. I, personally, wouldn't find that image with that bit of ketchup squirting out of it gruesome - and it wouldn't turn my stomach. Now - say it be half a blown off foot or head on the ketchup packet - which I then tear open and it spurts the red goo - then I'd reconsider my opinion.
Posted by: Deanna | Sep 15, 2006 9:37:47 AM
I'm going to chalk this one up as an effective message, namely because we're debating how they handled such a gruesome subject in a gruesome manner. That means we're all acknowledging the horrible nature of land mine injuries in Asia and discussing a topic that's often forgotten in the West (and apparently New Zealand).
Implied cannibalism aside, it's a pretty potent conversation starter.
Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Sep 15, 2006 9:59:26 AM
Not necessarily, CJ. The debate here is primarily about CALM's tactics, not their message. I think we would all agree that the world would be a much better place without land mines.
The question is, will the ketchup packet raise awareness of the threat that land mines still pose and rouse people to action? Or is it simply a clever stunt designed primarily to win awards?
And to address Deanna's post, yes, "we can't control how ads or graphic media will affect every person in every situation." But you can to a large degree control where and when they appear.
Simulating blood oozing from a blown-off foot is pretty extreme no matter what the context. Had the ketchup packets actually been distributed in fast food restaurants as I had erroneously believed would have been beyond the pale. After all, you can choose not to watch CNN while you eat -- but if you want ketchup with your fries, well, you don't have much choice at all.
Posted by: armin tanzarian | Sep 15, 2006 11:55:19 AM
