Moronic TV Ads by TM

Have you guys seen the new advertisements by TM on the telly these few days? There’s at least two in the series, the earlier one shows Maya Karin (I think it’s her) in a cabaret/Broadway kind of video singing about broadband/communication/telephony or something like that. The second ad features an even more annoying spectacled guy (with suspenders) serenading this dispatch guy.

Well, even if you haven’t seen them, work with me here. You just have to take my word for it: it’s bloody annoying and ludicrous.

Let me just ask the almighty powers that be and their brilliant marketing/advertising executives these following questions:

• What is the whole point or message of these ads? That you guys like low-budget American broadway productions? Or you just like showgirls? Or seeing Maya Karin in a bathtub?
  
• The second ad says something about broadband and “it’s no longer the stone age”. Is that the whole thrust of your marketing campaign? Comparing it to the “stone age”?! Look, a torch light is fantastic compared to the stone age. A mechanical pencil would be a miracle if you gave it to the stone age caveman. I know I’m not a business major with an MBA, but there is a fundamental flaw somewhere in this marketing plan.
  
• Against the backdrop of the recent problems with TM landlines and ‘Screamyx’ (sic), is this really the best time to be putting out these kind of ads?

The cabaret/broadway/showgirls theme is really annoying. Most people I know feel the same way too. I think they were going for the ‘camp’ factor, but hello TM, you’re not selling chocolate candies or toilet bowl cleaners.

This may be asking too much from the brilliant TM marketing execs, but they may want to watch another set of ads making rounds on our telly – the Volvo ‘Life On Board' ads featuring couples in mid-conversation. There’s at least 3 different ones, but my favourite one is where a Chinese bloke is explaining a Mandarin term to a Russian model while in an S80. I’m not a big fan of Volvo cars, but imho that’s one of the best TV ads I’ve ever seen in my life.

This is proof you don’t need a million ringgit budget to produce good, insightful ads that sends your intended message and increases public perception about your company. Or may I just don’t ‘get’ dancing showgirls singing something about ‘broadband’.


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