In the case of the Mac/PC ads, since the competitor is both Microsoft, Intel, Compaq, Dell, etc. etc. etc., it may minimize the effect, since the comparison is to a platform.

- A

PS: I don’t drink at all. But I love the Absolut print ads…

Another example of the global audience and ads is the recent Apple switcher campaign that show the nerdy guy as the PC and the casual guy as the Mac. Apple basically recast the actors for the Japanese market but kept the content the same.

Culturally, this is getting mixed results because in Japan, the nerdy character is looked upon more favorably, and also, bragging about a product and trashing the competitor is considered unbecoming.

Anyhow, just some additional observations that in an increasingly global and multicultural world, ads have more challenges but also more outlets for creative opportunities.

I don’t want to defend the ad, necessarily, from that kind of criticism though; it’s a great point, and advertisers would do well to remember that all kinds of people are watching their spots, often from all over the globe. I’m guessing that, as you say, people who live in a country where the riot police really *are* a serious threat to liberty wouldn’t find it funny at all. My guess, however, is that Absolut is aiming at its core demographic; North American party drinkers who don’t really know that there are better vodkas out there (Grey Goose, anyone?) despite Absolut’s fantastic advertising history.

I would have done two things differently. 1) I would have checked the integrity of the first thrown pillow. Its feathers began to spill out before it made contact with the cop’s shield. Though the premature feather seepage did make that first pillow-strike a tad more absurd, it also made the first strike seem a bit impotent. A bigger explosion of soft, white feathers, immediately following the collision with the hard, black shield, would have set things off nicely. 2) Also, I would have made the pillow-weapons twice as big. Bigger, fluffier pillows would have released more feathers at the moments of impact. More dramatic feather explosions, and the extra hint of absurdity their images would have created, would have made the commercial just a tad funnier.

There were still quite a few feathers scattered all over the place after this battle of the pillows. I wonder who got to clean up the mess. After they finished cleaning up, they must have been dead tired. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were no pillows left for them to lay their heads on.

This might show my political bent, but I didn’t like the implication that riots and revolution should be neutered in that manner. The world is in a very dark state right now, and there are definite causes that aren’t being heard, while the masses yawn and wonder what’s next on television. That ad doesn’t work for me.

I suggest this to because that despite marketer’s best attempts to understand the audience, cultural symbols have very wide interpretations across demographics. Choose those metaphors carefully!