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

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