These threebies don't really make sense to begin with (A vs. B works a lot better), but it's increasingly clear that HSBC's ad people have completely lost track of their original idea—and that's just embarrassing (hateful though the original, lost idea may have been). So, like, the "Different values" here that "make the world a richer place" are: (a) bald heads are a fashion choice, (b) bald heads are patriotic, and (c) bald heads are for people undergoing chemotherapy?* (Or people in concentration camps?) Do those really count as different values?
Or is the idea that since soldiers and cancer patients often have bald heads, it's frivolous and insulting for a person to shave her head for æsthetic reasons...in which case really what you've got is a twofer posing as a threebie? (Think of three pictures of Barack Obama, labeled "Hope," "Bullshit," and "Marxist.") I've got to say I doubt it: clearly HSBC doesn't want to ruffle any feathers. My guess is they realized that even presenting both sides of a disagreement gets people mad—for example, the old-style ad pitting pharmaceuticals against homeopathic herbs must have infuriated folks on both sides of that particular argument because both subscribers to modern medicine and, you know, hippies and witch doctors or whatever** were bound to be like, "What, you're telling me this is a matter of opinion??" (Think of a Jesus vs. Darwin ad labeled "Truth," "Bullshit," "Bullshit," "Truth.")
At this point HSBC should give up, drop the different-values bullshit, and say, "HSBC: Whatever You Believe, We Just Hope You Like Us."
* This doesn't even take into account the parallelism problem.
** Wonder what Short Round thinks about this one, huh? Am I right? Guys? –ed.
4 comments:
They do make sense. These three people have different values and you shouldn't judge them by their bald head. One is bald because they value expression. One person is bald because they value freedom or whatever it is a soldier joins up to defend. The third figure values life because they appear to have survived chemo (or a concentration camp if you want to go that way).
The sentiment makes sense even if the ad is completely wrong for a bank. But whatever...
You make a good point, rockchick—the values being advertised aren't about what we think of the bald heads but about what the bald-headed people themselves think about them or mean by them—but I still have two objections:
(1) The first two make sense, as you lay them out, but the third is a stretch: does surviving cancer really show that you "value life"? I mean, does someone who never gets a terminal illness not value life? How about someone who does get a terminal illness but doesn't survive: does that mean life just wasn't important enough to her? Undergoing chemotherapy does not a coherent value make.
(2) Acknowledging that the three do represent different values, my point is that they aren't different enough to mean anything. If the point of the ad is that three people can arrive at three identical positions for three different reasons, it seems to me to undermine the original "message" of the campaign (it's OK to have opposing viewpoints) by inadvertantly unmasking the real point of the ads (it doesn't really matter what you think as long as you make us your bank).
hi there . . .
these are indeed very interesting points you all raise. this is my first time seeing the ad (a friend sent it to me, as i'm an ovarian cancer survivor and founder of bald is beautiful).
my initial feeling about the ad was "hey . . . that's cool" -- simply because i never see people like me in ads (it's all about long, flowing locks of hair as part of the essential what-makes-us-women-and-defines-our-beauty list). my disappointment (and what i'm working to change) is that we are faceless, anonymous, and still in some way objectified or "hidden". i'd love to see smiling, confident, radiant bald gals with or without the cancer or military association! dig?
as for "values" - i think their focus is on why a women would choose not to COVER her bald head. it's more obvious in the first two, and the third one represents the concept of a courageous woman who wears her bald head as a badge of courage as she fights for her life. even if that woman ultimately succumbs to cancer, it is a literal (and metaphorical) visual representation of her courage to stand tall and not hide in shame as many women do (those who may wear wigs to cover up, to make others feel better, to feel complete since society tells us in so many ways that we are NOT complete without hair, boobs, being size 0, etc etc).
the other, more subtle mental response i had on first viewing is that there is not necessarily a difference (just in words) between soldier and survivor! they are both BOTH of those things! hmmmmm . . .
thanks for the stimulating discussion and for your observations. ciao 4 now.
peace.
-sb
www.baldisbeautiful.org
Thanks so much, Sharon, for sharing your thoughts. As much as I dislike HSBC's overall ad campaign (and as reluctant as I am, therefore, to agree with anything that suggests the ads might have something of value to offer), I've got to say you make an excellent point: I hadn't thought so much about the not-covering-up aspect of it, the pride—and, yeah, that is a value, and the more of it we see in the media, the better.
The best I can do to twist this around to an attack on HSBC (I'm committed to doing so, see) is that the seriousness and value of the image per se maybe makes the ads even more shameless and manipulative—because what does the very real experience of a cancer survivor in a complicated and oppressively image-focused society have to do with our choice of a bank?
Thanks again. Bald is beautiful.
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