Beth Granter

Wow. i never looked at it from that angle before. I agree with you, that could be seen by many as upsetting. well done you for highlighting!

yeah! i agree with the statement above. The poor dog was probably really scared and was just looking for a way out.

Hmm I’m not sure who you’re agreeing with Cynthia – I don’t actually think the dog was scared or looking for a way out. Like I said, it probably only did that walk once or twice. I didn’t mean that Intel really were being cruel – just that the looping of the video had the effect of making it look that way.

Beth Granter loves cruelty to crabs.

After reading your lame comments about the ad I checked out your flickr photos where I came across pictures of you torturing a crab. I mean, i know you obviously didn’t really torture the crab but the picture made you look as if you were and it made really upset.

boo hoo

Hi Beth,

That’s a pretty sensational page title. I was part of the team that made those ads and I can assure you the dog had a really enjoyable day. She came with her trainers, an entourage of dog friends to keep her company, with the shoot co-ordinated by a specialist in filming animals. We oganised all the movements to be in line with her natural behavior.

It’s unfortunate that the combination of bars and pacing translated into a negative experience for you. That was unforseen, especially as you read the intention of the ad correctly: the protective dog guards the infected computer that has been contained.

The second ad in that campaign has a more playful treatment:
http://www.marklight.co.uk/int_2.htm#a2

Hi D Orkus,

The image you’re referring to on my Flickr was of somebody else holding a crab, not me – I would have left it alone.

Not sure of your reason for insult though – ‘lame comments’?

Hi Mark,

Thanks – don’t worry, as I said to Cynthia, “I didn’t mean that Intel really were being cruel – just that the looping of the video had the effect of making it look that way”. And, I do start my post with “OK so not really” and finish my post with “of course I know it’s not real and the dog probably only did that walk once or twice”, so in no way was I inferring that Intel are actually cruel.

I still think the repeated pacing LOOKS like animals which have gone insane as a result of being in a small cage though! This post was meant as a critique of the creative implementation, not a critique of Intel the brand.

Either which way you look at this ad – it’s still really lame.

I headed over to Mark’s site to see both ad’s in action, and well… it just looks like a stuck record – just skipping over and over and over.

..surely a better execution of this concept is in order?

Hi everyone, including Mark and D Orkus. I thought it strange that I received two comments in the same day on an old blog post, and since the one from D Orkus was pretty rude, I checked the IP address. Turns out Mark and D Orkus share an IP address, which is associated to a huge ad agency in London. I won’t name them at this point as it doesn’t seem worth upsetting anybody over, but this is a prime example of how letting your employees comment on blog posts from work can be very dangerous to the reputation of the company, if they’re speaking with the kind of sarcastic tone that D Orkus has done. This would look particularly bad if they expect to run social media / online PR projects for clients. Mark’s comment is much more appropriate and a suitable response however.