This year, one ad in particular was memorable for me as an encapsulation of the way the rest of the world views US self-assuredness and overconfidence. The ad is for navigation equipment made by a Swedish company called Silva. The spot, called "The Captain" (viewable here in Quicktime or Windows Media format), is set "somewhere in the Irish Sea," as a caption informs us at the outset, on a US navy vessel. You should really try to watch this at the link above, as the production values are quite high, but here I think I'll let the dialogue speak for itself:
The ad only received a Bronze Lion award (details are listed near the bottom of page 4 of this list of winners ), which only suggests to me that either the European jury didn't find it to be avant-garde or original enough in style, or they didn't want to antagonize their US colleagues.Radioman: ...Again, this is the USS Montana requesting that you immediately divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision, over?
Voice over radio (with an Irish accent): Please divert your course fifteen degrees to the south to avoid collision.
Captain [taking over from radioman]: This is Captain Hancock. You will divert your course. Over?
Voice over radio: Negative, Captain. I'm not moving anything. Change your course. Over.
Captain [angrily]: Son, this is the USS Montana, the second-largest vessel in the North Atlantic Fleet. You WILL change course 15 degrees north, or I will be forced to take measures to ensure the safety of this ship. Over!
Voice over radio: This is a lighthouse, mate. It's your call. [cut to shot of lighthouse] Hello? Captain? I think he's gone. Fair enough.
On the surface, of course, the ad is simply revealing the need for high-quality navigation systems, like, presumably, the ones which Silva purveys. But it's hard not to notice the dig at the way the US conducts its foreign policy that lies not too far beneath the surface.
11 comments:
Well, it is not original enough, indeed, because it's an old joke. Not sure if it was the reasoning behind jury's decision.
I work as an ad CD (and was at Cannes in '04) and I have to agree with Polyonymous: while the production values are good, the joke is very old.
Fair enough, although maybe I don't hang out with enough advertising professionals or Navy veterans to have heard this joke before, since it was new to me; in any event, I thought that what made it fresh more so than the ostensibly humorous situation was the new discord between the US and Europe on Iraq policy and other issues, and the way in which the situation shown in the ad illustrates American stubbornness.
You are a moron (and so are the ones that made it), lets look at it on the surface, lets say that the ships instruments did not tell them it was a light house. Nautical law (international law) which was made in the EU (you guys) says that the larger ship gets the right of way. In the text of the commercial, he says "... the second largest ship in the North Atlantic fleet..." and he probably has some idea where the largest one is, there for if there was another ship, that ship by international laws must give way, your laws you made over there.
Hey, "anonymouse." I'm not sure what you mean by "your laws you made over there" - I am an American just like you obviously are, I just happen to live "over here" (and, although I know this distinction will be hard for you to perceive, I live in Europe but not in the EU). And the relevance of your little anecdote about international law to the point of my post is not clear at all.
But I have to give you some credit - it is very courageous of you to insult someone's intelligence from behind the shield of anonymity. By the way, before you come here and throw around insults, you might think about learning some basic spelling and punctuation first.
God bless America.
Yes, it's not original, but I still laugh every time.
A quick google search reveals that this misunderstanding has happened to the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, USS CORAL SEA, USS INTREPID, USS LINCOLN, USS MISSOURI and USS MONTANA. Either they are all hopeless navigators and all the second-largest vessel in the North Atlantic Fleet (?!) or someone made up the story.
It is a valid dig at the attitude of the US military, and the British empire 200 years ago, and every other world power through the ages. So I cannot complain about the US Navy - I just cannot help laughing. Sorry.
Note to anonymouse:-
I'm not sure you read your International Collision Regulations correctly. Mostly because they state that if you hit something, IT'S YOUR FAULT (even if you are American). But they also state that there is a heirarchy; stuff that is constrained in it's ability to manoeuvre (ie stuff that's nailed to the bottom, anchored etc) doesn't have to move for anyone whereas stuff under power (ie aircraft carriers in open water) moves for everyone. OK they don't mention Americans specifically.
I am an Australian skipper and have heard this story several times but it still gives me a chuckle. Anonymous' comments about the Int'l Collision Reg's are correct. The link you posted to view the ad doesn't seem to work. I would very much like to have a look (and laugh) at this one but how do I do it ??
Gerry, here's an updated link. Of course this ad is now available on YouTube, along with a million and one other video diversions. Thanks for commenting.
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