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Slate magazine has unusual articles. This one, http://www.slate.com/id/2203103, discusses a new video ad by HSBC bank. Watch the video before reading the article. Then you tell me. Is this one of the most unusual bank ads you’ve ever seen? What do you think it means?
It is really quite simple. As advertisers often stride for, it is a short story intended to stir an emotional sentiment in viewers – in the hope of associating the (brand) name with a positive feeling.
The “tree huggers”, ecological activists peacefully protesting by climbing and chaining themselves to the trees they are trying to save, want to prevent the logging down of some old-growth forest somewhere. The cops are called in to remove the hinderance and jail the protesters for disturbing the peace or some other phony misdemeanor. One of the tree huggers happens to be the wife of one of the loggers, who will need to to post bond to free her and take her back home that night.
Cue the bank’s message that people may view things differently depending on their POV, act according to their own personal beliefs, needs or duties and yet learn to reconcile their differences in the end (assumed). Then this bank wants us to believe that their staff will listen to our POV, learn from our experience and – presumably – will be impartial towards any particular POV, as long as we go to them in times of need.
That’s my take on it. You may not be part of the intended target audience and this is perhaps why you are having a hard time with the point of the ad but I can assure you, it rang home here; I actually had to fight a tear before the end of my second viewing.
November 10th, 2008 | #