. . . is that it won an award at Cannes.
And let us go one step further: people think of all kinds of ideas, but the author of this ad drew it, and presented it to his boss–who liked it. Their supervisor approved it. And the KIA company decided to go with it, thinking it would sell their cars.
Here is the whole ad:
This is supposed to sell a car?
Via the American Catholic; there is also a precious piece of snark on Twitter:
One last thought to leave you with: The Huffpo reported on this, and included a poll on whether the ad was offensive. Here are the results as of 10:50 a.m EST; I find them interesting.
BTW, there is a second ad that features Sleeping Beauty.
Update: As the story comes out, KIA is backtracking, but I have a question: If this ad was developed in Brazil for a South Korean Company for a French competition and not meant for the American Market, why is it in English?
Update 2: I re-asked this question in Twitter today and within 30 minutes KIA responded directly saying:
@datechguyblog we’ve heard this, but English is a common global language and used in Brazil. Nothing to hide here. Just trying to fix.
If you had any doubts how damaging this story is to the brand, doubt no more. If they have people monitoring tweets on a Sunday the damage must be catastrophic.
Roxeanne de Luca on June 24, 2011 at 5:12 pm said:
It would have been funny if it were a husband and wife, one hot, one cold. If you feel like making the wife hot and the husband uninterested, to flip the stereotype, even better.
But this is just plain creepy.
Rocketman on June 24, 2011 at 5:42 pm said:
I guess the French chalk this up to, cherche la femme.
Me? I think it’s pretty creepy; especially coming on the heels of the whole “Weinergate” thing.
EnochRoot on June 24, 2011 at 9:10 pm said:
Yes. Totally creepy. Especially given the ongoing sexual abuse our children are subjected to by school teachers. Totally insensitive.
jefferson101 on June 24, 2011 at 10:12 pm said:
It’s a sign of the times.
Everyone wonders why there are (seemingly) many more instances of improper relationships between teachers and students nowadays. But if you look at the popular culture, it’s almost expected (or condoned, or accepted? I”m not sure which word I’m looking for here. There’s never a good thesaurus around when I need one.)
What I’m getting at is that while law and custom take a dim view, popular culture seems to thrive on it. Take that for what it’s worth, and you can divine my views of “popular culture” from that with very few sheep entrails examined.
Another sign of the impending Apocalypse? Probably.
Rocketman on June 24, 2011 at 10:39 pm said:
Totally correct; it’s the lack of a guiding, universal truth. To much situational ethics and moral relativism being taught as guiding paradigms in public schools and universities. Bolstered of course, by the apologetic politicl rhetoric that excuses bad behavior and lack of personal responsibility that it’s meant to enable in the first place.
Joerich5 on June 25, 2011 at 12:27 am said:
Adolescents all.
Foxfier on June 25, 2011 at 1:03 am said:
Well, they had to choose something a /little/ shocking– if the teacher had been female and the student male, well, that’s already accepted.
*sarc*
*gags*
jefferson101 on June 25, 2011 at 1:29 am said:
Shocking and offending the bitter clingers in Flyover Country is becoming the National Sport, in some places, and among some groups.
What they need to remember is that when we get tired of being shocked and offended, our idea of righteous indignation comes numbered. If it’s numbered in inches, it has a decimal point in front of it. (Personally, I am fond of decimal points with a 4 as the first number behind them, but YMMV.)
There are symptoms, which one does not need to treat. And there are diseases, which need treatment. This Advertisement is a symptom. One does not need to treat it, but if one can find the disease that is causing it? That one needs some serious treatment.
Amputation of the offending parts is an extreme measure, and I’m not a Doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently. But eventually, if things keep going the way they are, it could come to that point.
Head chopping is a notorious component of most serious social upheavals. We, as Americans, have remained above that sort of thing so far in our history, but I don’t think we will next time. And it’s crowding up on that particular next time, I’m afraid.
All the folks who are worried about strictly Economic doom and gloom are missing a good portion of the picture, I’m thinking. I’m afraid it’s going to get really ugly. Money ain’t the half of it.
Anonymous on June 25, 2011 at 4:23 pm said:
Kia Motors America Statement Regarding Inappropriate Advertising Material From Brazil
Kia Motors America (KMA) has become aware of an offensive piece of advertising material that was created by an ad agency in Brazil that KMA has no business relationship with and has never worked with. This ad was not created in the U.S. by Kia Motors America or any of its marketing partners and does not reflect the opinions or values of KMA or Kia Motors Corporation. The ad is undoubtedly inappropriate, and on behalf of Kia Motors we apologize to those who have been offended by it. We can guarantee this advertisement has never and will never be used in any form in the United States, and our global headquarters in Seoul, South Korea is addressing the issue with the independent Brazilian distributor.
And our parent company Kia Motors Corporation has guaranteed the ads have never and will never run globally.
Darrell on June 27, 2011 at 8:22 am said:
Was anyone from Kia HQ at the The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity awards ceremony in Cannes? Hmm?
Giving MOMA Propaganda (the ad agency, yeah right) the benefit of the doubt…How about interpreting the first panel as what Mr. Larkin sees or thinks, and the second panel as what the student sees or thinks? The second ad, where both parties are shown to be the same age needs
less analysis.