Lies...all lies!

I generally get a lot of stick from people about wanting to be in the advertising industry. Bombarded from every available outlet people are somewhat jaded by marketing and can't wait to tell me so.

"Advertising doesn't work on me!" they say while they wait for their latest iTunes download to transfer to their brand new iPod hooked up to their oh-so-alternative iMac. Yeah, fight the machine guys. "It's all lies" is another all too common phrase they utter. "Hang on a minute." I say "Adverts aren't allowed to lie, there are strict rules in place to stop this." And with the exception of cosmetic adverts where hair products are advertised by people wearing fake hair and the effects of mascara are shown using false lashes I thought I was right.

For shame. I turned on the TV the other day to be greeted by the new HSBC advert. A happy chinaman fishing with his obedient pet cormorant...wait, didn't I see this on some documentary? I don't remember it being quite so clean and wholesome as it's portrayed here. In fact...




Not that I've got anything against HSBC or their ads - I actually like the "World's Local Bank" campaign. It's just this one left me feeling a bit dirty knowing that the reality is very different from what is portrayed in the ad. How about in the next ad the guy goes to Romania and dances with a cheerful dancing bear or to Mexico and bets on a cock fight where they're dressed as Luchadors?

To be fair this campaign was always going to be difficult. Not through any fault of the client or agency but because it's showing 30 second snippets of other cultures. Take any culture, be it Eastern, Middle-Eastern, Western or even your own and there'll be some aspect you don't agree with or view as barbaric. I'm sure looking at the clip above you might think the guy is cruel but firstly: He's not doing it for fun, he's doing it to make a living, support his family and survive. Secondly: two words - Battery Chickens.

The soapbox is now vacant.