Two days after I attended the painful conference, I was invited to a dinner hosted in a well-known club of Shanghai. For some reasons, a friend invited me to join and taste some scotch. More accurately, the scotch brand was pampering a bunch of people for some allegedly engaging experience with whisky. I’m a wine-champagne person, but the epicurean side of me always goes for new tastes.Curiosity kills the cat, they say..
After a nice chat in the lounge warmed up by some straight up scotch served in martini glasses, we were cordially invited to another lounge where a couple tables were waiting for us. On the tables was something highly disturbing, and I’m not talking about the whisky – although it can surely disturbs some of your senses : I am talking about wireless headphones…
I would have liked to escape, really. Sometimes freedom is more valuable than politeness. But as a loyal friend, I sat down and put the headphones on my ears.
Picture this : you are sitting at a table watching a screen where a logo revolves while a Chinese advertising voice is bribing again and again in your ears about the excellent whisky you are supposedly tasting. Next to the screen, the “brand ambassador” is giving the good example wearing headphones himself and lifting his glass with a very much inspired look on his face.
Very, very natural.
After that deep “immersion with the brand” cession, we were allowed to seat for dinner. Do I have to add that we couldn’t order anything else besides that whisky? oh, and water.
At that point my friend suggested “You should write about that : submissive advertising“. Right on.
I do not know if this kind of branding event really works. Maybe I am not the right target. Maybe you should do that only with people already familiar with your brand/product. I’m talking about the dinner, not the headphones. Never, I say never, do the headphones thing.
That made me think, if advertising is so sadistic sometimes – does that mean we are masochists?
The dinner ended and frankly, we couldn’t wait to go to the bar and order some non-whisky drink.
To be continued …
