In 2011, TMB Bank of Thailand took on the goal of advertising for humanity rather than for marketing. In a five-minute-long short film, TMB Bank hopes to change the way people think about their lives and their roles in their community. The film is based on the true story on a soccer team that lived on the Southern island of Koh Panyee, Thailand. The small floating village lies in the middle of the sea with not nearly enough soil for a soccer field. The inspirational film documents the lives of young boys who faced adversity and overcame their obstacles to be able to do what they loved; play soccer.
Unlike the thousands of other ads we see on the daily basis, Thai advertisements are using advertising to benefit others besides their own company. Like in Katie's tear-jerkers, TMB Bank's short-film are meant to address the public on a matter of compassion and perseverance rather than marketing a product or a service. The Panyee Football Club's film leaves me with a sense that we live in a world much more humane than the one represented in the ridiculous product advertisements we see each day.
What if TV and motion picture advertisements consisted of more tear-jerkers like these? Although Katie and I would like to believe that marketers could be more sophisticated and heart felt than what they subject viewers to in ads, it is likely that these types of ads will be confined to the Asian countries they originated from. A short web search on asian TV commercials will result in a slew of ads from South/Southeast Asia that have been voted some of the top television commercials by viewers. However, they are nothing like American ads that market a specific product or service.
We can only hope that one day, American television will recognize the benefits of ads like these. That some day kids will learn about being passionate and perseverant from advertisements rather than succumb to the marketing ploys that make up most advertisements.
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