Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Bald and the Branded




The New York Time's latest advertising trend piece speaks to the increasing use of people as human billboards. While I'm sure in this economy, selling your body as advertising space to the highest bidder may not be the worst of ideas, it does irk me when the executions are so unimaginative. The New York times example consists of cranial advertising for tourism that reads, " Need a change? head down to New Zealand." People who agreed to shave their heads and get the henna tattoo with this copy were rewarded with a free trip to New Zealand.

When I look at this, however, it seems like the advertisers just plopped some copy on a poor saps noggin. While using the human body itself, is a great stunt( as PETA can attest to) I feel that this type of advertising doesn't have to just be a gimmick. I'm not opposed to the body as media, I just prefer when it's done artistically.
  
 
Copy reads: Not every tradition deserves to be preserved.
It's for GreenPeace in Japan.

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