The public pool vs the condo pool – the haves and the have nots?
Dr Mumbo prides himself in being inclusive in his work, even if others don’t. So take a look at this ad for an MCL Land housing development in Singapore, which has sparked a Facebook row over allegations of ‘elitism’.
But why? At first glance, the scene just looks like the usual cliched image of a beautiful couple by a swimming pool. On closer inspection, you realise one side of the pool is empty as it belongs to the expensive private condo.
Meanwhile, the other side is full of people because it’s a public pool. The latter seems like more fun to Dr Mumbo, but that’s just personal taste.
The ad is obviously designed to tap into the ‘aspirational mindset’. However, the cynics among you will suggest it mocks the hoi polloi and celebrates the one per cent club.
In fact, Spin Communications managing director Jose Raymond is not at all happy.
Snobbery of the highest order, he says.
But hey, at least you will get the pool to yourself should you take up the offer. After all, that’s probably for the best for all parties concerned.
Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Afterall, it is just a condo. It is not like if you stay in it, you are in the top 1%. =)
ReplyCouldn’t have said it better myself. It is embarrassing to see a developer sell this elitism as a selling point to appeal to customers. What kind of customers buy into this wannabe product – maybe they should change the name to “Soiled Acres” now?
Replyyou’re reading too much into it….there are many sad people whose only pastime is to trawl Facebook looking to pick a fight and mouth off on something just to make themselves look morally superior.
At the end of the day the premise of the ad is correct…..it is just poorly executed…because the client picked some low budget creative.
ReplyI think Jose is right, it’s ads like these that incite a wider class gap and disparages public housing. Not a smart thing to do in Singapore when the government is promoting harmony among all classes. By low budget creative, you mean this work is done by Foundation Communications. I don’t think Jose’s point of view was morally superior at all. He was speaking as Singaporean who understands the political and societal landscape. Can’t blame the man for having a point of view.
ReplySeems to me that it’s ok for elitism to exist, as long as no attention is drawn to it by way of an advert? Such hypocrisy.
Why not abolish First Class airport lounges, stretch limos, country clubs so we can all live more harmoniously? There are many other ways of promoting harmony…one is by starting to have a conversation about the crazy levels of immigration that have riled up the locals.
ReplyThe ad is distasteful. While I can understand the message is to promote ‘aspirational mindset’ the tone used is condescending
ReplyI think we can all agree this ad is garbage from a creativity standpoint.
But what is truly grotesque is the liberal luvvies trying to milk some sort of higher social consciousness cred out of this one. Get a life, guys and girls!
The selling point is right, the execution is pedestrian.
ReplyBefore we attribute this ad vomit to Foundation Communications, it’s only fair to find out who actually ‘created’ this.
ReplyOh please, we have better tastes. The client eventually made the call on this one.
ReplyHave your say