Times Of India, Times Life Supplement that came on Sunday, August 1, 2010 carries a half page advertisement of Nestle’s in connection with ‘Breast Feeding Week’. The ad is from McCann and what is shocking is the ad’s caption and sub-head. The entire purpose of the ad is defeated by the wrong caption and sub-head. The headline reads ‘THE NUTRITION CHILDREN GET IN THE EARLY YEARS OF LIFE CAN AFFECT THEIR HEALTH FOREVER’. My question is shouldn’t it say ‘LACK OF NUTRITION’ rather than ‘NUTRITION’? Even assuming that it is followed by CAN AFFECT their life I would have been comfortable with CAN HAVE AN EFFECT ON THEIR HEALTH! Right now the meaning that is coming across is that NUTRITION, which in general sense is a POSITIVE word, can affect the child’s health. Now coming to the next part, even assuming that the general public gets the message as LACK OF NUTRITION, the subhead which says ‘AND IT ALL STARTS WITH MOTHER’S MILK’, gives a meaning that the LACK OF NUTRITION starts with mother’s milk! I really can’t understand how an agency of repute like McCann can do such a blunder. I would like opinion on this ad from all of you who are in the ad field.
I havent seen the ad myself.. do you think the whole purpose is to grab attention to the ad albeit in a way thats not the usual' health warning' which people may glance at without much interest? for example.. to create awareness of ill effects of smoking i remember an ad that said something like.. " Who wants to grow old with their wives/ or see ur children married? or tour the world after retirement?...
ReplyDeleteand the body copy continued in its sarcastic vein...but anyone reading the ad knew what they were saying..
so i guess here, since so many health ads come with warnings..its on those lines.. nutrition affects your health forever (TRUE, healthy habits formed anytime in life keep u in good health)..im guessing the ad guys knew exactly what they were doing..though i agree, the smoking ad was visibly sarcastic, here the issue is health read by a larger audience who may not get the nuance...there, the agency faltered.