“They have to change
that billboard advert because it is bad!” “Some people can do some things in
Ghana oo? What were they thinking; that we are in Europe or America?”
I got curious about which advert these two women were
talking about so I got closer to get more insight into what the conversation
was about. Then I heard one say, “That Fiesta
condom advert is not good at all.”
In fact, the first time I saw one of their billboard ads on
the Spintex Road, I was kind of confused as to what the message was about. So when I heard the ladies talking about
another one in Kumasi, it quickly got me into an Anas Aremeyaw Anas mode.
Now, you may want to know exactly what is wrong with this
billboard ad. For the benefit of those who have not seen it yet, I will describe
the one at Kumasi to you. It is a 1200mm x 1800mm portrait size billboard, with
a pretty, long legged young woman in a black dress with this teasing look, who
has raised the dress up, exposing her smooth seductive thighs in an inviting
pose. The copy, also written in colourful text reads, “my place? your place or over
there? Let’s play.”
The bill board is simple and the message is straight to the
point. They used colours representing the various flavours of the condoms in writing
the text, which gives the message a very playful and exciting touch. The lady
in the advert was also on point with her seductive look and pose.
If you ask me what is wrong with this ad? I would say
absolutely nothing. It is cool, chic and sends the central message of the
product very well. It is quite hypocritical for people to condemn such a
wonderful advert that sells a product, promoting safe sex in our society. However,
condom, in itself, is a product that many people frown upon. This can be
attributed to the very religious nature of Ghanaians and the deep respect we
have for our cultural values. So to think of placing such an alluring billboard
advert in Kumasi, which has very deep rooted cultural values was such a blunder
in the first place. This advert will probably sell well in Europe or America,
or slightly in Accra, due to their cosmopolitan nature.
The thing is most advertisers, when thinking about their
message or images in their adverts, do not take certain important factors into
consideration. One of such things is the culture and values of the society.
You may want to believe that the big companies will know
better when it comes to this but that is not the case. In introducing one of
their many products into the Japanese market, Procter and Gamble showed a TV
commercial of a woman bathing, her husband entering the room, and touching her.
This ad was successful in Europe but failed miserably in Japan because they saw
it as an offensive display of inappropriate behaviour. Sometimes, marketers
make the mistake of thinking that because an ad works in one region, it will
definitely go down well in another.
It will not do any harm to research properly and come up
with appropriate data that is backed by facts, instead of going with your gut
feeling.
In my view, I think the advert developers of Fiesta’s “Let’s
Play” advert should have been a little more discreet, considering the fact that
putting that kind of ad in a central market exposes it to all kinds of
demography.
Yes, Ghanaians have evolved from the 90s when it was a “cultural
crime” to put on a mini skirt or sagging pants. However, there are certain
things that society still frowns on despite all the cultural liberation and the
so-called modernization.
This bill board ad was a beautiful concept except nobody
gave a thought to the cultural implications. Now that the advert has been pulled
down, I hope the concept developers and marketers will go back to the drawing board
and do their home work well.
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