Copying & cartoonish ad
Good people, it is nearly impossible not to notice an overdose of cartoonish adverts on the taxpayer funded TV, MBC.
Ignore Mr Money, Airtel’s award-winning brainchild who has won global acclaim and hearts of children everywhere you go.
Rather, it is the numerous imitations by firms with no original ideas for selling their goods and services who make the cartoon-based ads seem lackluster and rotten.
The tragedy is not only that even makers of soap and spices have joined the fray of copycat animators, but also some time-honoured telephone service providers, including Mr Money’s direct competitors.
Surprising?
No!
Telecommunications in Malawi is a world where firms imitate each other even when it comes to poor service delivery, dropped calls, noisy calls, unconnected calls, overpriced calls and muted calls.
Here, some customers have to dialing over four times to connect with their loved ones. First, a lying voice says the number cannot be reached. Second, it says the subscriber is busy. Third, there is dead silence. Fourth, there is a mad cricket in your ear. Sadly, it is hard-earned airtime that vanishes before communication occurs.
This is why I want service provider to hurry in improving their services not copying cartoonish adverts!
Talking about imitation, Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho argues copying is a sign of admiration.
Hello, there! The author of the bestseller Alchemist, whose latest offering Adultery is another top-notch read, is a proponent of piracy as a public endorsement of one’s offering. A rare artist he is!
But in his reasoning, a literature that cannot reach all types of readers is nothing more than intellectual vanity.
“Copying is an act of love. People copy stuff they like. They don’t copy the stuff they don’t like,” he argues.
I agree there is no greater nod than having your creation and approaches copied by your competitors.
But in plain terms, copycats are mere fans like any other—lovers of good things, neither creators nor competitors of unique and relevant additions to this world of ours.
Hello! Is this good enough?
