When Orwellian Doublespeak finally makes it to camera advertising
George Orwell’s ‘1984’ is among Dr Mumbo’s favourite books. And so far, its best representation in advertising has been in that famous Apple commercial. And yet, when you get right down to it, doesn’t that ad content itself primarily with the superficial visual trappings of ‘1984’?
Dr M now realises what he had been looking for all these years was an ad that deeply explores and expands on the philosophical underpinnings of 1984; particularly the concept of ‘Doublespeak’ with its lines like “Freedom is Slavery”, “Ignorance is Strength” and “War is Peace”.
That is exactly the sort of copy that Dentsu One’s new ad for Canon India is full of – Doublespeak updated for a new century with lines like: “Ordinary is the new great”, “Balloons are the new birds” and the extremely puzzling “Pink is the new woooahhhh”.
So, when they say ‘Do Great with Canon’, do they mean ‘do ordinary with Canon’? Dr Mumbo is still trying to puzzle that one out.
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