Ads gone bad: Poland gets controversial

Brilliant piece in this week's Stylist magazine -- apparently advertisers in Poland have had a tricky month. Imagine you were responsible for creating a hospital's breast cancer awareness poster. What sort of angle might you go for? What kind of message would you want to portray? No matter how tequila slammers or stupidity pills you'd consumed, I'm fairly certain this slogan wouldn't have made your top 5:

"I check the breasts of my workers"

Feminist groups in Poland are demanding it be changed, whilst the team responsible for creating it defend the ad by arguing that the controversy is designed to draw attention to the important issue. "It may be provocative, but that is what we wanted", says Wieslaw Kaczmarek, head of the cancer prevention programme (quoted by the New Poland Express website).

But it seems Poland's creatives are on a bit of a roll. Allow me to present Extremely Inappropriate Ad number two. A pro-abortion campaign has ripped off the famous MasterCard ads to advise Polish women that they can get a free abortion in the UK. 

"Plane ticket to England at special offer: 300 zloty. Accommodation: 240 zloty. Abortion in a public clinic: 0 zloty. 

"Relief after a procedure carried out in decent conditions? Priceless."

Abortion is illegal in Poland, unless the woman's health is at risk, the pregnancy is the result of a rape, or the fetes is seriously malformed. The result is that many women are forced to pay for back-street abortions at home, which the ad clearly is aiming to prevent, by highlighting the "bargain" of travelling to the UK for a free abortion as a member of the EU. 

This extremely serious situation aligned with a "spoof" style ad seems distinctly appropriate (Equating a credit card transaction with an abortion?!) however Stylist also reveals the content isn't even strictly accurate: "The UK's department of Health...claims this is a misleading ad, as non-emergency procedures are not available to non-British citizens". 

Distasteful and factually inaccurate?  Pretty sure they won't be winning any awards for that one, then. 

Cathay Pacific - more than just an airline, by the looks!

Waiting at a jam-packed Moorgate station the other day, I become transfixed by this bizarre advert on the tube.

This is apparently an advert for Cathay Pacific airlines. Call me crazy, but nothing in the images make me think of airlines. Or holidays. Or travel, or surely ANYTHING I should be thinking when I look at an ad for an airline?!

There's some text on the other side - Great Service. Great People. Great Fares. But to be honest I'm kind of ignoring that and instead spend a good 2 minutes considering why an airline would promote its service by picturing a member of staff in a blonde wig. I double check - alas, not a single mention of a free wig with every flight.


I just don't get it! Am I supposed to think that these Cathay Pacific girls would be fun on a night out? The childish looking girl in the pic on the far left looks like she would be better suited to a Disney ad, and the wig is just making me think of Lost In Translation (surely Bill Murray is not renowned for his flight-selling skills). Equally not sure how to interpret the other lady, who looks pretty much the same in or out of her uniform.

Left with no real clues, except a vague notion that perhaps the idea is that the staff are great as are the people that live in the destinations, my brain starts warping and I'm thinking that if I was a bloke I might be hoping the "Great service" would be a little more than a hot meal and a packet of peanuts (I am blaming this notion on the wig, finger pout and low-cut top, not my own sick mind... i don't think...).

Any interpretations welcome - I'm lost on this one!