In a moment you can watch a TV ad that teaches a lot. Not just about advertising, but about culture. And sex.
It’s also about the weirdest way I ever saw someone advertise mints.
Yes, mints.
It’s far stranger than you can possibly imagine.
And – what fun! – it’s all about sex.
But first, here’s a true story. Also about sex.
It really is sordid, and it features me.
You may be shocked. Maybe so shocked you’ll cross me off your recommended reading list.
In 1976 I was asked if I’d like to be creative director of Leo Burnett in Singapore – then the top ad agency there.
I arrived late at night after a 30 hour trip.
My genial host asked if I’d like to go to bed or go for a meal.
If you watch the video at the bottom …
I promise you will discover things you never knew before.
Not just about marketing.
Also about the astonishing prevalence of rap culture
And about sex, glorious sex.
(Did I mention that?)
You could NOT make any of it up.
The TV commercial is not short. But it IS unlike anything you ever saw in your life.
Watch till the end, as I have one or two comments you may find helpful
Here’s what happened on my first extraordinary night in Singapore all those years ago:
Thank you Chris Hardwick for telling me about this.
When’s Britain’s National Night?
Hey Drayton
I didn’t feel comfortable with the rapper style of voice over or accent for the Singapore market… am I missing something?
cheers
Warren
Probably. But then you are not a 23 year old Singaporean.
That made me smile! Engaging.
Move National Night to August 10th in the UK and it will be on my birthday!
And it’s my birthday too… I’m booking a flight to Singapore right now.
Go here http://www.facebook.com/monica.reed.54 to see the girl I took there many years ago. She is very, very tall. And extremely well-developed. And a great show off. Everywhere we went the somewhat smaller Chinese gazed at her in awe. Especially when she danced on the bar at a place called Saxophone.
Great video Drayton,
That Monica is hot and I was quite intrigued
by the video.
But it makes sense, Singapores hip hop culture
Like the Late Gary Halbert Would say:
“You need to be in the need to know business”
@Warren, what is to feel comfortable when you
marketing to someone. Research goes a long way!
Loving the posts Drayton, Clayton Makepeace sent
me here (in directly)
p.s
Do you believe that the best marketers are natural rebels at
heart?
If someone showed me such a thing as marketing, I would of
never got in the trouble that I got into coming up
I do believe that people who are really good at anything have a rebellious streak.
I’m a little late but I thought I could provide some context to this campaign.
Actually, Singapore does not have much of a hip-hop culture. What it does have is an all-time low birth rate–lower than even Japan, at last count. This is despite nearly two decades of propaganda and social engineering on the part of the government. (There are other elements of this “baby-making-as-national-duty” thing that are a little too complicated to explain in a short post.)
The other thing to note is that this is a digital campaign–meaning only the YouTube- and Facebook-visiting crowd will see it–i.e. the young, the educated, -the doubly-pressured-by-government-and-family-to-procreate, and yes, the main demographic for Mentos. It would never have made it to free-to-air, where the mainstream conservative public still gets its entertainment.
BTW, the video seems to be getting quite viral among my Facebook connections, so I’d consider it a success.
Happy National Day from Singapore, heh.