NEW CAMPAIGNS: Using humour to make Hong Kong people think about privacy, dignity

The Hong Kong government is increasingly using emotion, nostalgia and humour in its ads, because people have become more sophisticated compared with just a few years ago. The Tracker Fund advertising by DDB and Triangle Pacific's Mandatory Provident Fund campaign underline the change in creative and strategic direction. Both these campaigns have a nostalgic feel to them and attempt to goad the public into action through emotional appeals. The latest government campaign to break focuses on promoting greater awareness of the need for Hong Kong people to protect their privacy. The television, radio and MTR campaign for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data uses humour to get across the message that "when there is no privacy, there is no dignity". A 30-second commercial, created by PMP Advertising, features a man being stripped down to his underwear in the middle of Central during rush hour, symbolically representing the fact that the victim's dignity is robbed because of the misuse of his personal data, according to PMP director/creative director, David Wong. "The message to people is that if they believe their personal data is being misused, they should lodge a complaint with the government," he told MEDIA. Mr Wong also said creative strategy differed from past government ads because of an increasingly sophisticated public. "Before, government ads just tell people, 'You must do this' or 'You mustn't do that', but people these days don't want to be told what to do. "In order to get its message across, the government, therefore, has to employ things like nostalgia or humour to make people sit up and think," he said. The campaign comes at a time when name lists containing personal data are being extracted for marketing campaigns without the knowledge or approval of those listed. PMP chief executive John Cohen said that unscrupulous marketers could easily obtain people's personal personal information from the Lands and Marriage registries and the Transport Department. The worst violators of people's privacy are real estate firms, car dealers and marriage services companies, he added.

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