StarHub uses famous Martin Luther King speech for Singapore National Day ad
StarHub has released a new commercial ahead of Singapore’s National Day that mixes excerpts from Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ with images showing people “delighting in the bond of racial and religious harmony”.
Created by Blk J and Freeflow Productions, the 90-second video features a number of scenes showcasing everyday life for different ethnic groups living in Singapore.
Entitled #RegardlessofColour, the monochrome commercial follows StarHub’s recent efforts to promote racial harmony in Singapore with campaigns such as Home by Homes and the Majulah Moms, which saw 51 Singaporean mother sing the national anthem together.
Commenting on the latest video, StarHub’s chief marketing officer Howie Lau said: “The harmony we enjoy today does not come easily. This year, we want to pay tribute to everyone for working tirelessly to build and safeguard our way of life. This video, graded in black and white, is our way of encouraging all to unite as #OneNationTogether, regardless of race, language or religion.”
Blk J DDB chief executive officer Rowena Bhagchandani added: “The National Day video for StarHub is a love project for us. As a homegrown company, we are humbled to be given an opportunity every year to tell stories that define and celebrate the Singapore spirit. We hope Singapore enjoys it as much as we did making it.”
StarHub
Chief marketing officer: Howie Lau
AVP (brand & marketing communications): Oliver Chong
Senior manager: Alex Chan
Blk J DDB
Creative heads: Khalid Osman, Lester Lee.
Creative team: Sid Lim (Senior Art Director), Michael Chin (Writer)
Account head: Rowena Bhagchandani
Account team: Rachel Fang, Fiona Huang
Producer: Amanda Tan
Freeflow Productions
Director: Roslee Yusof
Senior producer: Jill Soong
Producer: Emma Liang
Assistant producers: Shereen Ibrahim, Keane Tan
Director of photography: Bjorndidierm Charpentier
Art director: Chris Koh
Offline editor: Ong Zhilin, Jowell Tan
Assistant editor: Ashvin Segar
Colourist: Royston Van Huizen
Post producer: Cara Suplido Tan
Sound design & Music: Song Zu
Audio usage and licensing: Big Sync Music
they hit the feels with this one. great work!
ReplyLove the tagline and the twist. Blk J got to work. Keep it up!
ReplyNice way to sneak in one of America’s greatest Civil Rights leaders ideas into Singapore. I hope this solves our White domination in this city.
ReplyI think the aim was to juxtapose?
Reply“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation…”
Same Speech: Dr. Martin Luther King
ReplyWho shot this? Credits? Cinematography is lit.
ReplyHi Georgie,
Still chasing StarHub to send them over. Stand by…
Cheers,
ReplyEleanor
I like Rowena, met her more than once and is always a nice person to talk to. But I wonder, is Blk J independent or not? [Edited under Mumbrella’s community policy]
Her title is BLK J DDB CEO Rowena Bhagchandani so clients like me are very curious what’s really the pitch.
“As a homegrown company, we are humbled to be given an opportunity every year to tell stories that define and celebrate the Singapore spirit.”
Homegrown company? Isn’t the top founder Joji from India? And since when is DDB home grown?
A little confused.
ReplyI believe BLK J stands for Bhagchandani,Lester,Khalid and Joji who are all co founders.sounds home grown enough for me,don’t understand the confusion
ReplyWhat does MLK’s speech about civil rights, segregation and racial oppression have to do with Singapore’s independence?
ReplyIt is as relevant as using the words of Mandela or Steve Biko ‘s crusade against Apartheid to celebrate Malaysia’s Merdeka or The Indian Independence.
The words may be inspiring but the context betrays a superficial understanding of Singapore’s political struggle.
‘I have a dream’ is about ending racial injustice.
National Day is about charting an independent Singapore.
Now thousand of Singaporeans will confuse the two.
I had expected better of the agency and client.
(Like)
ReplyYea exactly. #inappropriateappropriation
ReplyWell said! The commercial is rubbish indeed.
ReplyA total mishmash that should be “bishbashed”. Total hogwashed balderdash.
Singapore being made equitable to seem anything close to resembling human rights is an insult.
Reply“Borrowed interest is the intentional association of an unrelated theme, event or image with a product, service or subject being presented, to attract attention.”
You guys are just jealous. The idea here is like Levi’s okay. It’s a movement.
ReplyI have been a fan of the previous Starhub NDP ad and I was looking forward to this years.
I really wanted to like and show it as a shining example of creative excellence.
Alas I can’t.
@starhub airship
This is not borrowed interest at all.
The omission of the line below proves the fit is not a natural fit:
‘I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.’
Borrowed interest would not require such unkind editing of the source material.
Just who is the slave and slave owner in the context of National Day?
The analogy is disrespectful to the civil rights movement and to Singapore.
And to be clear, colour and race isn’t one and the same in Singapore.
Colour is one expression of racial prejudice.
But racial prejudice isn’t always about colour as divides within people of the same colour exist.
ReplyWHAT THE…
ReplyAgency: You need a writer. Please hire a writer and stop relying on found audio recordings of dead men. Did you children even understand what Dr. King was saying? Did you understand the time and place it happened in American history?
StarHub: Demand more from this agency. They are getting very lazy. I hope this isn’t going on mainstream TV. Singapore always looks like a joke to the outside world. (Gambling ads, ISEA apps looking for awards, and a long list of faux ads like Guinness Beer.)
ReplyFolks who like this obviously don’t know the context and real struggle behind Dr King’s speech. To use it to juxtapose against Singapore’s is cheap. Made worse by the end line. Really, really poor stuff by bright guys.
ReplyBright? Where? Am in the dark.
ReplyFelt awkward, uncomfortable, trite and self conscious throughout because it’s so far removed from the situation that prompted the original speech. The sort of thing you nervously put forward when you have nothing else to show….and when the clueless creative approves it because they too have no idea, your heart does a quiet backflip ….. yessss.
Totally misplaced zeal IMO and quite out of order….if some country took one of LKY’s speeches and put it in an ad, there would be an uproar here.
I particularly hated the smug arrogance of the end line : WHAT THE WORLD DREAMS OF WE ARE BLESSED TO CALL HOME. Smacks of insensitivity and elevating oneself at the others’ expense. To call this a “local’ piece of advertising would be a farce.
I am waiting for this to end up on CNN where Van Jones and his liberal roadies will probably tear Blk J a new one.
Reply“BLESSED TO CALL HOME” (Cringgggge.) Anyone in this team got the balls to commission Nielsen etc. to validate a global survey for “Which country is called home?”
ReplyIt’s a millennial word…that they stole from the super religious jesus crowd…..
Jesus Crowd: May you and your family be blessed.
Rihanna: I feel blessed that my album sold 20 million copies.
The new way of faking that you’re not an arrogant tosspot but a humble caring millennial.
ReplyAKA the ‘humble brag’ 😉
ReplyFirst rule of advertising. Don’t use MLK to sell your shit. It’s undignified.
ReplyMyopic – not understanding the context of MLKs speech and the period it was said in and the political context
Opportunistic – agency trying to spin it for another angle which has no bearing or relation to singapore
Déclassé – the client for thinking this was a good idea
Can the agency and client come up with original ideas and not ride on a world famous speech to claim as being aligned to what National Day is about? It’s embarrassing. The end line is so smug and condescending. Sounds like a line from Homes by Homes doesn’t it?
ReplyThis is the sort of advertising you get when there are no leaders of calibre in an agency. Anyone can throw two unconnected elements together and claim it’s an idea.
But a real leader has the intellect to see what doing something like this really implies….and the consequences it can have.
Howie Lau and his agency need to answer for their role in greenlighting this dubious piece of nonsense that paints the (still ongoing) civil rights struggle as ineffectual and seeks to suggest that singapore has already achieved the nirvana idealised by MLK.
Both of course completely untrue.
ReplyWell said!
ReplySimple yet iconic and impactful,nice twist!
ReplyI don’t work for the agency or the client but I work in advertising in SG and I tired of what we are doing. Using anonymous comments to kill each other so we don’t outdo each other. Dragging clients in to make competing agencies look stupid and weak. Maybe pitch for their business?
Above are all comments from people who work in advertising and love advertising. Below are people who don’t work in advertising and who hate advertising and these are their comments. Go look on FB. By the way they are from all the world with all races. Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Americans, etc, etc, etc
The Singapore we live in now was once a beautiful dream. And now, I couldn’t be more grateful that this dream has become my beautiful reality. Happy National Day in advance! And Happy belated Racial Harmony Day!
For the fact that a girl can walk home alone in late night; for the due respect in personal and public sphere to each race language and religion; for the neighbourly inter-faith appreciations and interactions I’ve been witnessing to … As someone who considers missions, and studying “Global Christianity and World History”, I know these are the very features of a nation that it’s unique, precious and even, life-saving. I’m blessed to call this, my home. And would have knew this little red dot could make it, quite independently, in few decades.
This video perfectly encapsulates what makes Singapore so special. Thank you, StarHub!
This is how it should be. A brotherhood and sisterhood of men and women. Our country has a lot to learn from Singapore.
Singapore is a small place with a big space in her heart for all nations. Regardless of race and nationality, Singapore is home. The biggest little place in the world.
I’m so blessed with having opportunity of living in Singapore where people unite and can be immersed with multi racial society and culture in peace ! Move forward !
Well said. Unity based on mutual understanding, support and respect Singapore, our land and our love!
I don’t work for the agency or the client but I work in advertising in SG and I tired of what we are doing. Using anonymous comments to kill each other so we don’t outdo each other. Dragging clients into this to make competing agencies look stupid and weak.
Above are all comments from people who work in advertising and love advertising. Below are people who don’t work in advertising and who hate advertising and these are their comments. Go look on FB. By the way they are from all the world with all races. Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Americans, etc, etc, etc
The Singapore we live in now was once a beautiful dream. And now, I couldn’t be more grateful that this dream has become my beautiful reality. Happy National Day in advance! And Happy belated Racial Harmony Day!
For the fact that a girl can walk home alone in late night; for the due respect in personal and public sphere to each race language and religion; for the neighbourly inter-faith appreciations and interactions I’ve been witnessing to … As someone who considers missions, and studying “Global Christianity and World History”, I know these are the very features of a nation that it’s unique, precious and even, life-saving. I’m blessed to call this, my home. And would have knew this little red dot could make it, quite independently, in few decades.
This video perfectly encapsulates what makes Singapore so special. Thank you, StarHub!
This is how it should be. A brotherhood and sisterhood of men and women. Our country has a lot to learn from Singapore.
Singapore is a small place with a big space in her heart for all nations. Regardless of race and nationality, Singapore is home. The biggest little place in the world.
I’m so blessed with having opportunity of living in Singapore where people unite and can be immersed with multi racial society and culture in peace ! Move forward !
Well said. Unity based on mutual understanding, support and respect Singapore, our land and our love!
ReplyIronic that you use the word ‘blessed’ (see above). Your post focuses on the qualities of Singapore which I think no one is disputing. The thread is (mostly) about the appropriateness of using an MLK speech and it’s historical context in this way – you don’t talk about that. Additionally, if you’re going to talk about ‘race’, best not to confuse a race with a nationality. And what has Global Christianity got to do with things?
ReplyIf this spot does anything, it is to deepen the criticism of the maturity of senior creative people in our industry….specially the CCO level.
No well regarded CCO from the US, UK or Europe would even entertain this idea for a second…because they have earned their titles by decades of solid hard work….unlike the singapore way of becoming a CCO.
Fly in (from the subcontinent usually)….into an obscure copywriter role….do tons of scam…..which is basically big picture, small logo ….then get promoted — not for the impact your work has made…but on the tally of pencils or lions….
Never mind that a lion won by Forsman and Bodenfors for volvo is about a million times more precious and hard won than a lion won by a singapore scammer. Since headhunters are clueless about these nuances, we now have a top tier of CCOs who have the title but not the intelligence it should go hand in hand with.
ReplyFlying in from the subcontinent is also “homegrown”. Just need to spend a decade or two in any new land to qualify. Batey, Frenchie, Droga – why did you abandon us?
ReplyJust because 49 commenters on FB like a brownie made from faeces
dent make it yummy. You should know that FB commenters could be anyone….they could be paid or they could be bots…no one really knows.
wonder how some of the qualified people who wanted to contest the presidential election but couldn’t feel about “regardlessofcolour”…..hehe
ReplyAnd you could be from an agency pursuing StarHub?
ReplyWhy should Bock be from an agency (S-I-C) “pursuing” StarHub? Passed your TOEFL? StarHub isn’t SingTel, SIA or DBS. Brand image aside, accounts that are retained by local agencies for protracted periods demand almost all of the agency’s account (mis)management and creative resources to slave over the production of such pedestrian work. Retention is assured by slaving over the relationship, not enriching it.
ReplyBig entry with nice reveal. IMHO heaps better than anything I have seen this year. Congratulations.
ReplyCongratulations to the surgeons who restored your eyesight.
ReplyCredit when credit is due. Not feeling the fuss and hate you lot are breeding. Love love love love this piece.
From a friendly competitor
ReplyBravo. It’s the crashing appreciative standards of losers like you that keep Singapore’s ad scene from returning to the glorious eighties.
ReplyIf you look at the shareholder composition of star hub it might be easier to understand how tvcs like this one are born. Advertising is usually the art of persuading people to believe something they aren’t aware of.
Take racial harmony for instance. Singapore is still a place where you can go to rent an apartment and see signs like ‘No Indian’, ‘No PRC’. This is well documented. We are currently in the midst of a run-up to a presidential election that has been reserved for one race…..and the very criteria that define that race are being re-written before our eyes.
If regardlessofcolour were a reality would there be any reason to do this? There are other events that support this reasoning too but they are too sensitive to mention here.
For ordinary folks there is a need to be aware of what is going on. The scarcity and content of comments online lead me to think that people are not exacty lapping up this tvc hook line and sinker.
ReplyDDB and now BLK J’s best National Day effort is when they turned their logo Red years ago. It felt genuine and resonated with all Singaporeans (while dissing SingTel in a classy way).
Since then, there seems to be an opportunistic feel about their NDP work. It seems like they ask themselves which segment of Singaporeans can we exploit for National Day feels. The less privileged – tadah Home by Homes. New citizens – yay, Majullah Mums. But this, this is a new low.
Like someone highlighted, would any self-respecting sovereign nation use someone else’s words to celebrate what makes them the people that they are? Don’t you have words or folk songs or nursery rhymes or poems of your own?
Singapore is NOT a fair or equal society, racisim is rife and as Singaporeans we know it and choose to either accept or challenge it, while being totally guilty of it ourselves (‘Casual racisim’ is a trending term in Singapore now btw). Not once has DDB/BLK J/StarHub have dealt with what it means to be a true blue Singaporeans and almost always succumb to what would make them look good with the ruling party and maybe awards.
And to me, as well shot as the TVC is the images are cliches.
Y&R did a US Army commercials that showed how American families put out ‘Welcome Home’ signs for returning soldiers of the Iraqi War set to the Star Spangled Banner.
Imagine if they had done that with Home by Homes.
The saddest thing here is somehow, I don’t see StarHub/DDB/BLK J learning from this or getting off their high horse.
ReplyAs an African-American creative who have live in Singapore for more than a decade, I understand the ballsy objective in showing the “racial utopia that Singapore has”…
but I can’t help but feel offended.
On August 28 1963 – My grandparents and parents were present when Martin Luther King read I HAVE A DREAM. It was a momentous moment for us Black Americans – it was about us and our fight for our human rights. As selfish as this may sound, I HAVE A DREAM belong to us.
For those of you who do not understand why it meant so much to us, please read the full version of the meaningful speech from this link:
https://danedegenhardt.wordpress.com/tag/i-have-a-dream/
For the creatives of BLK J to use snippets of the whole speech to make it work for Singapore context, is disrespectful for me and my heritage.
As much as I want to overlook the amazing art direction and style, I simply cannot love this.
ReplyB. Johnson…..send the link to al sharpton…he will sort these kids out.
ReplyIt’s shot really well.
But it’s undoubtedly pretty lazy. Been done a lot. To source but a few…
http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ad-day-nba-celebrates-its-history-audio-dr-kings-i-have-dream-speech-162380/
And it’s open to critique because its assertions don’t hold up. But that is advertising folks.
ReplyTwo glaring issues that make this a typically lazy local effort instead of the epic stuff that the team smugly believes it may have created because of a talented DOP and post production team.
1. Irrelevant speech. Colour is a non-issue in Singapore, and even if it were, there are many inspirational speeches by Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
2. Is this film confirming/documenting or promoting/encouraging the issue of harmony? Those are different strategic briefs – something Howie should have realized, being a CMO. Which one of those two is the specific brief for this film is largely unclear because there is no depth in the harmony being portrayed, just random interracial interaction. If the film was confirming (as opposed to promoting) our envious degree of harmony, it should have incorporated true local stories or (since this is a montage) motifs/faces who represent those true local stories… solid historic documentation of this local harmony. There should have been some hard work invested to unearth indisputable facts that convincingly prove to us and the world that we’ve got racial harmony all covered.
ReplyWell noticed, Superficial. That point about depth is huge. Strategic depth inspires creative fireworks in content, not mere execution. It’s that very sensitivity of depth that makes Thai ad films world class, while lazy [edited under Mumbrella Asia’s community policy] creative heads figure they’ll get away with it, by relying on post production. Neither can the client CMO be absolved, yeah.
ReplySo, is this borrowed interest only because it incorporates the speech? Or because it copies other (much more iconic) TV commercials that also incorporated the speech, in more impactful and award baiting ways. No need to jog your memory. Just Google “which tv commercials martin luther king speech”. Don’t get too excited when you see StarHub at the top of the hustings. It’s Google Singapore after all, plus some paid SEO stuff. Such a disgrace, ripping off an already overused creative element for an event as momentous as our National Day.
ReplyIMO, they could have used a speech by a Singaporean….maybe a LKY speech would have been slightly cliche, but I am sure there have been other great speeches by past SG Presidents and MPs?
ReplyThis creative team has been reusing the same one idea for the last few years. It’s always a montage set to a popular song… now speech.
ReplyWHAT THE WORLD DREAMS OF WE ARE BLESSED TO CALL HOME? Coming off the back of the context of MLK’s FULL speech AND in a modern time of the formation of Black Lives Matter just reeks of insensitivity and shortsightedness on the client’s and agency’s part. Did they not study history?
ReplyI cannot in my conscience say anything good about this ad, it made me really uncomfortable watching this, because using one man’s and his peoples’ struggle to uplift your own perceived privilege is shameful.
One week on….1100 likes, 550 shares….this could mean three things:
1. No more citizens left in singapore….all driven out by foreigners who’ve taken their jobs.
2. No one knows or cares who MLK is….or understands the hifalutin’ stuff because it’s not singlish.
3. It’s a crap spot that only the agency loves.
ReplyOne of the most iconic AMERICAN speeches ever written and Starhub/BlkJ hijacks it for SINGAPORE’s National day… even the way it’s delivered in a slow southern US accent to infer it’s the voice of MLK.
This is about the most unoriginal piece of borrowed-interest I have ever seen.
ReplyPersonally I don’t feel it’s right to invoke nationalistic feelings using the speech of a foreign political figure no matter how iconic it is.
ReplyThe commercial is rubbish indeed.
ReplyThe cinematography was definitely the highlight for this piece.
Apart from that, I stand on the same side as the guys questioning; Why use a speech from MLK, that isn’t in the same context and most importantly, not local?
Won’t historical politicians like LKY, WKW or OTC have meaningful speeches as well, that will be way more relatable to how Singapore has grown?
As a Singaporean, I honestly can’t relate to the video at all the moment i heard MLK speaking. [with all due respect]
ReplyIt is a well-meaning commercial and rather evocative—that speech will always give me tingles. However it is a little insensitive to use slavery discourse to celebrate your own progress. More so when it comes from a telco.
ReplyHave your say