| Offbeat |
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| Written by Pierre Maré | ||||
Page 2 of 2 No doubt the ad will win major
international awards. Award judges go for that sort of visceral
stuff.In the midst of dealing with that nauseating concept, I realise that the name of the financial house eludes me. The idea overwhelms everything else. It’s a good thing. I will never invest with people who could release an ad that even entertains the idea of ‘just one book’. Perhaps I will write down the name the next time I see that particular ad. More likely I will get up and leave the room. If my daughter were older I would be tempted to forbid her to watch it. The whole root of the concept, no doubt the thing that recommended it to the financial house, was the ‘either or’ proposition, given limited resources. This concept needs to be revaluated. During one of the intermittent moments of student unrest, while I was a student, the bone of contention was the students’ dining hall. A boycott was threatened due to the quality of the food. The supervisor was a smart woman, who understood student desires. She offered a choice between better food, costing more and obviously in smaller portions, or the status quo. In a moment of pure comedy the students angrily demanded the status quo. Had I, or anyone else, been quicker on the uptake, the demand might have been for better food in the same quantities, possibly with an extra helping of desert and maybe a tastefully arranged starter. But students only use their heads in defined periods of activity and revision, and allow their bellies to rule almost every other decision. The ‘either or’ proposition can lead to reduced, blindly accepting choices. I remember one of those Nineties aphorisms that went, “Be realistic. Demand the impossible!” It was fun. And it can be a manifesto for improved quality of life, if used in a sane way. The ‘either or’ proposition demands a trade-off. But sometimes the mere fact that a trade-off is required implies a greater cost. Had I been confronted with the piles of books from which the man in the advertisement had to make his choice, I would have grabbed as many of the books as I could and made a run for it. |
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