MediaCorp Gaia commercial to be tweaked

MediaCorp acts on divided reactions from viewers
Lin Yanqin, Today Online 11 Jun 08;

SOME gave it the thumbs-up for making the environment a talking point; others found the stark imagery objectionable.

Taking into account such feedback from viewers, MediaCorp will soon unveil a revised version of its controversial “Saving Gaia” television commercial.

Today understands the current version — first screened last week — will be taken off the air, and replaced with one that will take into account both the disagreeable and the well-received elements.

The core message, that the harm being inflicted on planet Earth amounts to destruction inflicted on future generations, will stay.The changes will focus mainly on the visual execution of the commercial.

The original showed a mannequin covered with tar, smoke and haze, and subsequently sawn with a chainsaw before dissolving into a real child’s face. This had been criticised by some viewers for being too violent, with its shock value distracting from the intended message.

But MediaCorp earlier said that fewer than 10 complaints had been received, and the commercial had also been praised by some viewers for drawing attention to the important issue of climate change.

Said a commentator on an environment news website, AsiaIsGreen.com : “I think the advertisement was a good one. It was very thought-provoking, and is sure to capture more attention than other more cliched ones.”

When contacted last night, ad creator Alan Seah from MediaCorp’s creative services department said he felt the gravity of the issue required a commercial that was “hard-hitting”. “I hope it will get people to think about the situation right now and stir them to do something,” he told Today.

Gruesome Gaia TV ad gets canned
Irate viewers write in to say commercial is too graphic for kids
Mak Mun San, Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

AFTER drawing flak for a television advertisement that viewers had described as too gruesome, MediaCorp has decided to replace the commercial.

The Saving Gaia advertisement, which was aired as part of the station's environmental awareness campaign, showed a chainsaw cutting open a boy mannequin, and tar and blood dripping from its head. The image then morphed into a real child's face, looking sad and disturbed. Gaia means Goddess of Earth in Greek.

Since MediaCorp started airing the advertisement on June 5, upset viewers have written in to the papers asking the commercial to be canned. People have also gone into Internet forums to slam the advertisement, calling it 'distasteful', 'scary' and 'shocking'.

Housewife Monica Chow, 45, e-mailed The Straits Times complaining of how her 11-year-old son suffered from nightmares for two nights after watching the 'horrifying scene' on television.

'Children aren't able to tell the difference between a mannequin and a real boy,' she said.

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore, which is the regulatory body of the local advertising industry, said that it has received a few complaints from members of the public about the advertisement.

Earlier this week, MediaCorp indicated that there were no plans to pull the plug on the commercial. Ms Florence Lian, its senior vice-president of marketing and creative services (News, Radio, Print), told Life! that MediaCorp wanted to convey the message that 'the current pollution and destruction we are wreaking on Mother Earth is something we are wreaking on ourselves, and our future generations'.

However, there appeared to be an about-turn and the station has since said that the commercial was taken off the air for tweaking on Tuesday 'after taking into account feedback from viewers'.

It would be replaced with a revised version, but the station did not say when it would be ready.

A not-inconvenient show
Letter from Gerald Ang, Today Online 16 Jun 08;

I REFER to “Provocative ads: Useful or frightful?” (June 13).

Such ads may shock, disgust or promote initiatives to go green. But their “primitive” approach does not show details — for example, the damage we have caused to Mother Earth.

Documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth by (former United States Vice-President) Al Gore spell out clear examples with pictures of deforestation, carbon emission leading to longer droughts, hotter weather, more powerful hurricanes, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and so on.

Screening ads, on the other hand, has nominal impact. Everyone would be better educated on saving Gaia by the screening of An Inconvenient Truth.

MediaCorp should consider airing this, and the Ministry of Education should have it shown to all students.