DDB South Africa has posted a video of their outdoor campaign for the Canon image stabilization Powershot. The agency paid human statues to stand in (what looks like) a mall with a small placard at their feet that touted the brand message. At the end of the video, the agency has stills that read, that consumers interacted with the brand and “got a true taste of the Canon’s image stabilization ability.”
Well, not really guys. If you notice, two dudes come by and take a photo of the statues with their camera phone. Surely, they got a good shot considering that you know – the statues don’t move. If a crappy camera phone could make something standing still look great. The whole point of the campaign is totally lost.
Wouldn’t it have been better to have really funky moving people (tap dancers, boxers, high wire artists) doing their very movement oriented work in front of the consumers? Then, DDB could demonstrate how the Canon stabilizes the image. You know, with test cameras locked to a kiosk or something. Consumers could have taken pictures of their friends in front of the moving act, see how the camera takes a great shot despite movement and have that proof/memory sent to their email address. Maybe the attached photo would come with the Canon logo at the bottom and a discount on say, a memory card for the PowerShot. You know what I’m saying? As is, the campaign seems a little backwards.