http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN2gpRcFKAQ - Chef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kiz7GhJt0&feature=related - Retail Accident
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUu0lVN6Nhw&feature=related - Construction Accident
They are disgusting. They make you squint and squirm and turn away from the screen. The graphic pictures are more horrifying and disturbing than any violent program on television, let alone any of the other commercials. The commercials for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) get your heart and mind racing, and are some of the most effective ads on Canada tv today.They confront viewers with explicit images of disfigured workers who have suffered workplace accidents. A sous-chef slips, pours a vat of hot oil all over her face and screams. A woman in a retail store tumbles off a ladder straight into a glass table, then with blood oozing from her head explains how both she and her employer could have prevented the fall. After being impaled on steel beams, a factory worker matter-of-factly explains to his co-worker all the steps that could have prevented the cascade of materials that crushed him.
The message is "There really are no accidents," The WSIB campaign also features print and outdoor ads with similar themes. And there's a series of radio ads, one of them featuring screeching tires, screams and a theatrical voiceover about how a speeding delivery driver could have prevented the funerals of a mother and child.
Many people find the ads unsettling, distressing and even offensive. Last week, WSIB chairman Stephen Mahoney revealed that 60 per cent of e-mails received since the latest campaign was launched have been critical. Transit authorities in Mississauga, Windsor and Hamilton have rejected WSIB bus-shelter ads because they are too graphic.
But even if you're one of the people who finds the ads revolting, you can't argue that they don't work. Of course, being memorable isn't the only test of a good ad. And being sensational or provoking an emotional reaction is not a sure route to effectiveness. What's effective about them is that their sensationalism is right on point. They're disturbing because the issue itself is disturbing.
There are some things that are worthy of your attention, and require an ad equally as powerful!
So what did everyone else think of the ads?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I actually think these ads are very effective at getting the message across. Whether it be in a work or home situation, people underestimate the chance of something bad happening to them. I have not seen enough of the ads to know when they are aired, but they should be aired between shows that children will not be watching. I remember the first time I saw this ad I was eating dinner and was shocked because I had never seen an ad like that. I could expect to see something like that in a movie, but generally even on primetime television, the scenes are more tame (in terms of violence.) In conlcusion I think these ads are effective and creative at getting the message across.
Post a Comment