Water purifier commercial drives soccer fans crazy

Captured image of the commercial from TV

VNEXPRESS

Vietnamese soccer fans are furious that a commercial for Kangaroo water purifier aired some 30 times on VTV 3 during the big final between Barcelona and Manchester United last Sunday.

Not only did it keep popping up, but was also terribly loud – the match started at 1.45 am – and the company sent SMS’s to people at that unearthly hour asking them to see the ad on TV.

If the company hoped to attract attention to its product, it succeeded, but there may be a price to pay – On Facebook, pages like “Group of people who got mad because of Kangaroo water purifier’s commercial”, “Group of people boycotting Kangaroo water purifier” or “Group of people who rather die than buy Kangaroo water purifier” are attracting thousands of fans. 

On Youtube, the commercial has received 643 “dislike’s”.

Quang, a soccer junkie who often stays up late to watch matches, said: “I’ve never seen any commercial like Kangaroo. It makes viewers want to turn off the TV.”

Phuong of Tay Ho District received a text message at midnight saying there would be an interesting Kangaroo commercial. Unable to sleep again and a little curious, she also woke her husband up to watch.

“Just imagine in the middle of the night if you hear a big noise and then see boring images. I felt frustrated and my husband got mad,” she said.

A Kangaroo marketing representative who refused to give his name said SMSs were only sent to 100 relatives and friends of employees so that they could check out this “great idea”. 

The campaign was aired just that one time for maximum impact, he explained. 

But the company clearly failed to foresee it could become public enemy number one as a result. 

Though the representative refused to divulge how much the company paid VTV, he said it was a huge amount and equivalent to a year’s advertising budget for a medium-sized business.

Distorted slogans, parodied videos, and remixes of the ad are already becoming popular on the Internet. 

Some cell-phone ringtone providers have parodied it and made it available for download. 

Many people have rated the Kangaroo commercial as the most disastrous way to approach customers they have ever seen.

Read more at www.tuoitrenews.vn