MIDDLE EAST
16 OPINION
23 November 2008
LETTERS
Oh! The
humanity
The Humanist Association shows we can also move
in mysterious ways
Of all the places to stick an ad appealing to Anyone who’s ridden one regularly can at-
people to love their fellow man. The Ameri- test to it. In several cities, I’ve seen bus drivers
can Humanist Association shelled out $40,000 howl profanity at passengers and cruise past
for a series of ads (pictured) to be posted this old ladies waiting at a stop in the rain. I’ve seen
week inside and outside city buses, which passengers engage in actual hand-to-hand
suggest to area commuters that being kind to combat over something as trivial as a raised
one another should provide its own rewards. eyebrow. Others spend 20 minutes screaming
“Why believe in a god?” the ads read. “Just be at their boyfriends over their mobile phones,
good for goodness’ sake.” as everyone near them grits
A spokesman for the their teeth and the bus hur-
AHA says the ads aren’t tles along at an inadvisable
meant to deny the exis- rate of speed, veering from
tence of a god, but are side to side, nearly clipping
merely an attempt to cheer cars, belching black smoke
up local nonbelievers who at pedestrians, and render-
apparently get bummed ing cyclists into tidy heaps
out during the holidays. of offal, punctuated with
Plus, says a flak, they’re brightly coloured scraps of
meant “to plant a seed of spandex.
rational thought and criti- In other words, short of
cal thinking and question- actual war, there are few
ing in people’s minds.” In venues where man’s in-
other words: they want
JOE KEOHANE
humanity to man is more
you to be nice to people clearly, painfully evident
because nice is good, not than on buses. I presume
because you’re looking to the AHA used them as a
ingratiate yourself with a higher power in ex- platform for their campaign for simple rea-
change for favours to be rendered after you sons of visibility. Certainly everyone looks at
kick off. buses. Where I am right now, Buenos Aires,
The problem with this campaign from my you do so with great care, because otherwise
Nice one, Mike itself, but let’s hear more about good
angle isn’t so much the philosophical posi- one of them will relieve you of your shoes,
Mike Readman’s ‘Future proofing’ stuff in our region.
tion proffered (which, frankly, seems like your hat, and possibly your head. But next
(“The Big Question”, November 16) Liona Skipperton, Dubai
something of a sucker’s bet), but the medi- time, the humanist message may have a bet-
um. Buses tend to pit man against man in a ter chance of being heard if they advertise in
was introduced to me for the first time
unique, and ever evolving, way. They are in- a serene park, or perhaps a comfortable, not
when I read Media Week last week. It Loving the moisture
struments with a prodigious ability to dehu- terribly crowded café, where one can do what
really sounds like one of those sexy new Thanks for bringing the
manize all who come into contact with them. one came to do without being elbowed re-
modules found in modern management Nivea campaign (“Nine
They are the anti-good. peatedly in the brains.
or marketing courses. Line Walkers”, November
If it is not, it ought to be. 16) to my attention. With
Congratulations Mike, it is a fantastic ‘more moisture’ and ‘more pleasure’
construct and needs broadcasting. suggesting ‘beauty is a good feeling’…
Which business school is going to be the I’m now hooked on Nivea. And on
first to introduce the ‘Future proofing’ Media Week. Keep uncovering wonderfully
module to their MBA programme? I suggestive work for those of us who just
don’t think it will be long in coming. need more!
David Wu, Abu Dhabi Definitely anon, Dubai
We’re ok, Jack! No news is bad news
I noticed earlier today an announcement On 16th November Rupert Murdoch
from Daily Mail General Trust in the UK finished off an address with these
where over $150 million of costs are words: “The newspaper, or a very
about to be cut out of the business. With close electronic cousin, will always
your news story last week, ‘Sharing be around. It may not be thrown on
media’s global dive’ (“World News”, your front doorstep the way it is today.
November 16), you have definitely But the thud it makes as it lands will
reinforced just how fortunate we are continue to echo around society and the
to be working in a relatively buoyant world.” So let’s get on with delivering
marketplace, notwithstanding the the written word, crafted by our scribes
backwash from the tsunami hitting and designed by exceptional talent, out
other parts of the world. More positive to the market. Advertisers will always
and confident stories for us all please. follow where there’s an audience.
We can happily accept that the DMGT Murdoch knows this and so should we.
is heading towards being a shadow of Withheld, Dubai
Send your thought to peter.barton@engworldwide.com
www.mediaweekme.com
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