Dumb Whore?

Seriously, some people really have too much time.

The upheld complaint about the below ad has even made it's way to AdFreak.

When this ad first came out, I applauded it. I think it is a stunning ad for Hallensteins and I was thrilled to see such a mainstream brand use a band as non-mainstream as Sleigh Bells. Freaking fantastic. AdFreak seem to have missed the point of using a Sleigh Bells song and coincidentally also missed the fact that most 'hipsters' don't own TVs anyway. Well, not that they would admit to...

Apparently the complaint was about the lyrics in the song which are: "Deaf chords, dead ends, sling set can't meet their demands, dumb whores, best friends." Now, Infinity Guitars (which is the name of this song) is actually one of my favourite songs on Treats, I have listened to it numerous times and I have never heard the words Dumb Whores specifically. It amazes me that someone listening to the song for the first time, as a snippet, could pick that up. How long did they spend tracking down the song and the lyrics before they got hot under the collar and wrote to the ASA?

The reason this lead to a complaint is that the ad ran in The Princess Diaries 2 (which, incidentally rated 5 TARPs against a Male 18-39 audience - I'm assuming Hallensteins audience here) instead of Motorway Patrol which is usually scheduled in this timeslot.

So, the issue here (as far as I can see) is not that the ad is inappropriate, the issue is that whomever is responsible for TV for this client is paying no attention whatsoever to their clients schedules. TV Buyers should know by now that TVNZ are a pain in the arse and change their programming 2 weeks out. If you're not paying attention to your downloads, then yes, this is likely to happen. The second that the programme title change came through this spot should have been moved.

The other issue here is that the ad would have been classified as G so there wouldn't have been any warning bells for the network when the spot was detailed in a G rated programme. Now, is CAB getting raked over the coals for this? Of course not. The ad isn't actually offensive. Get off you high PC horse, this ad kicks arse.

Advertising or not Advertising?

So I came across this video today: (I would recommend watching the whole thing - bit of a twist in there.)

There are a number of things that I find curious about this video.

First and foremost - IS THIS SOME KIND OF ADVERTISING?

Why do I think this? Well, it was only uploaded on the 17th of February and it has had over 110k views? Also, I get the impression that this was shot in NZ... pretty impressive numbers for something from NZ. Social circles for boosting views can only stretch so far here.

I feel like there is something else behind it. I realise that working in advertising has made me quite cynical and question pretty much everything I see, but come on... what do you guys think?

Trying to find more info on this, I am officially loving You Tube's stats which show where the traffic is coming from:

These numbers all seem to be due to loading the video on Reddit. I don't know much about Reddit. Can anyone load something up and hope for the best?

Could it be that this is just one of those videos which has a little something which makes people want to pass it on?

It's doing my head in. If this is advertising, what could it be advertising? Castlepoint? Castlepoint is delicious, it sells itself. Viral for a new band? They have relatively decent voices. Is there a record label behind this?

Anyone else got an opinion on this? Or know a secret squirrel backstory?

Any or all information gratefully appreciated.