Why this Kolaveri Di? wails the singer. You tell me. Here's what I can tell you. Bottle one Tamil pop music video. Add polyglot Tanglish lyrics (that's Tamil + English) in eyedropper doses. Stir in some auto tune on steroids. Add handclaps, tambourine and addictive Indo-folk music rhythms. Chuck in a bunch of subtitles that add nothing by way of meaning. Shake bottle vigourously. Release. 10 days and 11 million plus YouTube views later, open champagne and buy Ferrari. As with anything truly viral it has become memetic - inspiring spoofs, lip-dubs and Japanese dancercise videos. 

Watch the video on our FB page!




Am disappointed and repulsed by this campaign from Grey Hungary for Chevrolet that seems to come from a bygone era. 

I am disappointed because the creative team completely shortchanged a valid brief.
I am repulsed because it is based on ignorance - like all things filled with prejudice.

In terms of execution, the ads coyly hint that made-in-China parts will never replace "high quality Chevrolet genuine parts." 


The hint is delivered through a typographic treatment that slickly replaces Roman script letter forms with Chinese characters that resemble them. While effective, this device is hardly original - it has been used by every non-Chinese art director since the first Chinese take-out menu was ever designed - but I digress. 

So, what is the agency attempting to say with these ads? 
It's a question that provokes a cascade of questions. 

Where does the agency think parts for a Made-in-China Chevrolet car come from? Michigan? 

Or are they saying that it's good enough to manufacture a whole car in China but not the parts? (For context, I should state here that Chevrolet claims an annual manufacturing capacity of above 300,000 cars in China and 380,000 in India. They also manufacture parts aplenty.)

Or is the agency saying that Chevrolet keeps a lower standard for the parts and cars they manufacture in India and China - but that a lower standard is just fine as long as those cars are not sold to Europeans? 

For additional irony, consider this: Chevrolet is an American brand with global manufacturing facilities including one in Hungary where this ad was made. 

I think this is a scam ad campaign that wasn't worth the effort and which may prove to be a very embarrassing mistake for Grey Hungary and GM. 

I count many Chinese art directors and writers as friends - they are outstanding creative people. 

And I can say this for sure: if this ad had been made in China, by them, it would never have been this bad.

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About the ideawallah

Gavin Barrett is Owner/Founding Partner + Chief Creative Officer, of award-winning Toronto multicultural advertising agency Barrett and Welsh. In pursuit of big ideas he has: nibbled on pigs' ears (not on a live pig at the time); gone elephant-back in the Thai jungle (no elephants were hurt); gambled in a Macau casino (was utterly destroyed). His ads: have run in 35 countries, helped elect prime ministers, attracted the ire of the lawyers for Dolly the clone sheep, drawn an angry crowd in Lagos, have been studied in business texts in Canada and India and received derisive mention in a John Irving novel. His poems: can be found in Penguin’s anthology of 14 contemporary Indian poets, Reasons for Belonging.

He cannot: sing.

Barrett and Welsh

Barrett and Welsh
We're not in the ad business. We're in the moving business. We move product. Perceptions. Behaviour. Market share. But most of all, we move people. We are the only mainstream-multicultural agency in Canada, capable of handling mainstream or multicultural advertising needs with equal ease, in global and North American markets. We have provided multicultural advertising services to clients in every category including Bell Canada, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, CBC, Centennial College, City of Brampton, Diageo, Niagara Region, Procter & Gamble, Rogers, Shaw Cable, Sobeys, TD Bank, Unilever, VivaNext, Walmart and York Region Transit.

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Non-stop to New Delhi

Non-stop to New Delhi
An ad for United Airlines created by Gavin Barrett to advertise the launch of a new non-stop United Airlines Hong Kong-New Delhi flight. From the Barrett and Welsh archives.

DISHUM! THE BARRETT AND WELSH GEARSTORE

DISHUM! THE BARRETT AND WELSH GEARSTORE
Cool swag from an ad shop which does multicultural work with real impact. Like this In a Mumbai Minute clock.

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