This has to be seen to be believed. I guess it’s all about “keif”… Please note that Faris Yakob, who is with McCann Erricson NYC, told me on Twitter that the ad was not created in the New York office.
Whoever came up with this ad is a genius. I don’t remember a commercial that managed to touch the raw middles east nerve and offend both the right and left wingers. The right wingers are offended because the commercial is making light of the unfortunate barrier that was done (successfully) to prevent the murderous terror. The left wingers think the wall is an insult and the ad symbolically institutionalizes the partition. The holy grail of advertising is viraly achieved – the ad started people talking about it and p. off everybody!
You want to make a commercial with impact; the subliminal jingle would not do. You need to evoke a visceral response and the wall is the monument at the fault line of the existential tension. It’s not longer an object performing a function but a sculpture, an iconic symbol. The ad to be successful needs to touch a paradox. The obvious contradiction here is that this is a wireless carrier and unlike a physical object it transcends walls and separation.
Reuters story – Israel phone firm’s West Bank wall gag fails to amuse.