Ads ask what kind of funeral you would like

Usually, the ads we get from Holland are sexy and fun. Not so this creepy campaign for funeral company Monuta from ad shop THEY, in which real folks ("volks"?) discuss what their "perfect funerals" would be like. With all due respect: Lighten up and focus on the here and now, my Dutch friends! Judging by these two clips, you're relatively young, in apparently good health and live in a quasi-socialist utopia that will foot every conceivable medical bill to keep you alive and enjoying that sordid Amsterdam nightlife for years to come! For my perfect funeral, I already know who I want as my pallbearers: those ball-bearing factory chicks from the last THEY campaign we featured here on AdFreak. If they can't bring a guy back from the dead, nobody can.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Death, Europe, Gianatasio, Monuta, THEY

Funeral planning can be a lively experience

Adding to the Internet's recent embrace of the morbid, the new funeral-planning site MyWonderfulLife invites users to "Plan your funeral, your way." The end of one's life is perhaps not the most opportune time for self-empowerment, but better late than never, I guess. The site's services include, obviously, planning funeral details. Hmm, do I want to be buried or cremated? I was hoping to do both, just to be on the safe side. It's not like I can try one and change my mind if it doesn't work out. Should I donate my organs to medical science? What if I give them my eyes and can't see who I'm talking to in the afterlife? Is that Winston Churchill or Kurt Cobain? I won't have a clue! The site also lets you compose messages to loved ones. ("Hey Tim, it's Dave. I'm dead. You doing anything Saturday?") There's even an area for bequeathing one's prized possessions. I'm leaving my Roget's Thesaurus to Brian Morrissey, so he too can pepper his stories with jazzy words like "bequeath." My Cabbage Patch collection goes to the Guggenheim! The inscription on my headstone? I think Dorothy Parker said it best: "You might as well live."

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on October 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Death, Gianatasio

I see dead people ... all over the Internet

A social network for the dead? Why do we need one of those when we've got Friendster? Actually, two such venues are going live (pun intended) online: Tributes.com, from Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor, and Footnote.com. Both offerings, particularly Footnote, go beyond simple obituaries/memorials by serving as repositories for images and information about those who've passed on. There's already some controversy over the notion of "monetizing the dead." (Footnote is subscription based; Tributes will sell its services to funeral homes.) But there's something truly "immortal" about an interactive and interconnected databank representing—even recreating—people's lives for later generations to learn from, study and share. It's an ancient idea—seeking guidance from one's ancestors, speaking to the dead. Perhaps we're reached the point where technology allows them to answer.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on September 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Death, Gianatasio, Social networks

A cemetery people are dying to get into

This campaign from Red Tettemer attempts to explain that there are “better ways” to get into Philadelphia’s historic Laurel Hill Cemetery than jamming forks in electrical outlets or hurling toasters into pools. Yet the agency does just that, according to its press release, “in hotspots around Philadelphia including hotels and restaurants.” Say you’re at one of those “hotspots,” and you’ve had a few too many, and you decide to emulate the ads with some nearby silverware? Or maybe your kids respond to the campaign by dunking a plugged-in appliance in Aunt Ida’s bubble-bath? Besides, if one of Philadelphia’s “hottest” tourist attractions is a cemetery, I think I’ll visit Pittsburgh.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on September 20, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Death, Gianatasio, Red Tettemer, Tourism