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Friday, May 30, 2008

The Dumb, the Dumberer and the Dumbest: Another Social Ad

Ukraine’s huge outflow of skilled blue-collar workers has created a significant shortage in the local labor market. In Kyiv’s crisis-free construction industry, for example, workers earn more than college professors and doctors.

While the trend has driven up wages, to argue that a blue-collar job can provide a decent living standard would be a hard sell. Especially when you sell like this:



Recruiter: I’ve been waiting for you for so long. I’ve been looking for you. I’ve almost lost hope. What a delight it is to have found you!
Job applicant: And how much will you pay me?

Recruiter:
For these golden hands of yours [camera zooms in on man’s wedding ring], I would…

Job applicant: So?

Job applicant:
That’s good!


Recruiter:
It’s just base pay. Then you have bonuses, a full benefits package. You a turner of the fifth degree! A worker’s hands cost a bundle!

Job applicant: That’s what I’ve been telling my son. He’s just like me: He’s going to be a turner!

Voiceover: A blue-collar occupation means:

Stabilnist today,

Confidence tomorrow,
Success forever!

Ministry of Labor, State Employment Service.

Welcome to Ukraine’s dumbest social ads! Instead of disclosing some financials — to compare them against costs of living — we have a commercial that plays on sexually suggestive and ethically questionable fantasies.

When you have stabilnist (stability) today, which escalates into confidence tomorrow and success forever, you have a credibility gap right there. In the mind of a critical thinker, these chronologically redundant and exalted rungs will send Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tumbling down like a house of cards.

Well, perhaps the Ministry of Labor's idea of the target audience did not include critically thinking turners. Taxpayers' money does not cost a bundle, right?

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