The future is all about “smart” technology—or so we hear.
But even the fanciest gadgets have their limits. In a new music video-style ad for Swedish tech company Semcon, Forsman & Bodenfors uses a string puppet to highlight the problems that can come from relying a little too much on tech.
See, just because it’s connected doesn’t mean it’s intelligent. And the Internet of Things (ugh) can quickly devolve.
Wait, were those singing piles of shit?
Worth noting that the ad didn’t really have much of a comment on any specific products, though, except to say that they’re often not all they promise to be. It also implies that people are maybe a little too reliant on those phones and tablets and smart home cleaning systems.
The reason there’s no object here is that Semcon is a company that helps other businesses across industries (auto, energy, life science, etc.) develop products. Its specialty is focusing on the human user experience rather than the tech itself.
As the press release notes, people find technology to be the most frustrating thing in the whole world, ahead of “noisy neighbors and train delays.” And given that the world will host some 30 billion connected devices by 2020, that could create a whole lot of unsatisfying experiences for consumers that will lead to bad news for businesses.
More importantly, in the words of one Frank Reynolds, poop is funny.
Here’s the making of video, which in this rare case is pretty cool. Check out the production designer’s beard.
CREDITS
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors
Client: Semcon
Creatives: Karin Jacobsson, Gustav Johansson, Stefan Thomson, Magnus Almberg
Agency producer: Lena Sellman
Account director: Susanna Glenndahl Thorslund
Account manager: Helen Johansson
Planner: Klara Knape
PR strategist: Bjarne Darwall
Music supervisor: Jenny Ring
Director: Daniel Warwick
Producer: Rickard Edholm
Production: Camp David
Media/PR agency: Matter