myDesensitiZATION@iSin(gap)ore
December 12, 2008
Stolen from Google Images
First, let me apologize to anybody who might be offended by this post (in true Singapore fashion!). I’m having an amazing time living in Singapore, and I’ve grown quite fond of this little red dot. However, I have to get something off my chest.
One of the first things that a foreigner notices when he or she visiting ol’ Singapura is the cleanliness.
Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, the second thing they notice are all the corny advertisements. Granted, a lot of these are public service announcements and EVERY city has their fair share of corny ads of this ilk. However, there definitely seem to be more than usual.
Exhibit A:
The main requirement for these ads is that they rhyme. While this may be very effective for keeping them in our memory (as is their purpose), this technique yields some of the most corny expressions ever.
But the corniness is not relegated only to the public sector, plenty of private, big business ads make you cringe with equal effectiveness.
Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t so often try to sound hip by trying so hard to appeal to the internet culture. You get so bombarded by “iSomething” and “mySomething” and “something@something” that you want to tear your ihair out.
My completely unprofessional analysis is that, with Singapore, we have a culture that is made up almost completely of Human Resources. We all know how corny HR can be when they try to appeal to employees by sounding hip. Imagine that one a nation-wide scale. EVERYTHING is about PR. Oh, did I mention the fact that you often find yourself drowning in acronyms?
The reason I’m making this post is not to bash Singapore. Again, I love it here and I think it’s a great place in a lot of ways. But I’m returning home to the States for Christmas this year, and I don’t know how I’m going to react to advertisements that do more than make me laugh at them.
Anyways, there’s one particular video that Mediacorp has been playing recently that I will post. However, I cannot seem to find it on the internet, and will update as soon as I do.
Cheers, lah.
