Parody is the humorous part of advertising and Japan’s E-mobile has landed in the soup for bringing its mascot the Japanese macaque monkey to imitate Barack Obama by propagating his slogan for “change” in an E-mobile ad. Racial discrimination has always remained a sensitive issue and many have found this advert insulting to the Democrat Presidential candidate. However, political parodies have always been a part of advertisement that has been controversial at the same time.
American politicians have always been a favourite subject of parody act. While George Bush is the most popular character, others have not been left behind. Even Obama’s Republican rival McCain has been part of it. In 2002, a British commercial was banned for showing a cartoon Bush inserting a DVD into a toaster. The British Advertising Clearance Center said that the ad could only be broadcasted if the makers sought the US President’s permission first. While the debate on advertising freedom goes on, from the advertising point of view a little bit of negative publicity is enough to draw a lot more attention than the non-controversial adverts.
via: Japan Probe
