Deathbed chainsaw ad irks New Zealanders
This comical spot from DDB Auckland for Stihl chainsaws is harshing some people's buzz down in New Zealand. In the ad, which is pretty tame, a son misrepresents his father's final whispered dying wish in a plot to snag the prized Stihl machine. To some, that's simply no laughing matter. "I was really horrified," says Adrian Cooper of Media Matters in NZ, a group devoted to protecting kids from the horrors of television. "I thought, this is not good enough. It's simply not good enough, and it's not the New Zealand I know. ... I think that any mature, responsible, thinking adults looking at that would find it offensive." DDB creative director Toby Talbot shrugs off the controversy. "It's a shame, it's a pity some people feel that way," he says. "I think, generally speaking, a lot of people see it for what it is—it is actually quite a light-hearted ad."
—Posted by Tim Nudd
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AdFreak is your daily blog of the best and worst of creativity in advertising, media, marketing and design. Follow us as we celebrate (and skewer) the latest, greatest, quirkiest and freakiest commercials, promos, trailers, posters, billboards, logos and package designs around. Edited by Adweek's Tim Nudd. Updated every weekday, with a weekly recap on Saturdays.


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