Stop This Stupidity

Perfetti is known for its brands like Alpenliebe, Center Fresh, Big Babol, Happydent, Chlormint, Mentos and others. What is interesting is that humour has been used very effectively in promoting these brands over several years. The company has now entered the snack food business with Stop Not Golz. Following their tradition the advertising for Stop NotGolz also takes the humour route. The TV commercial shows a battle scene, soldiers are busy
fighting except for one soldier (for the sake of convenience let me call him the Golz soldier) who is absolutely unconcerned about the battle; his attention is only on a pack of Stop Not Golz.

Though I have always enjoyed watching Perfetti product ads because of the humour and I also rate them very high, this ad of Stop Not Golz is absolutely in bad taste and blatantly disrespectful to the armed forces, all in the name of humour. No the ad is not funny at all although it pretends to be. There is a sequence in the ad which shows another soldier falling dead to an enemy bullet and his limp hand touches the pack of Stop Not Golz which is held by the Golz soldier who nonchalantly brushes the dead soldier’s hand aside, he simply does not care, for him Stop Not Golz is more important; this absolutely sickening. Finally the Stop Not Golz pack itself falls to a bullet and ‘dies’, its ‘soul’ rises; now this is the height of absurdity. What do I call this but bankruptcy of creative ideas?

I wonder how the script for this ad was approved within the agency; the client should have at least rejected it. Both agency and client are insensitive. Apart from showing the soldier in poor light the script is stupid anyway. My advice would be – use homour by all means but please be sensitive. Remember these soldiers who you are making fun of guard the borders with their lives so that you can live safely, comfortably and pursue your careers.