Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I REMEMBER watching the Batelco Infinity advertisement in the theatre before the first screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
Its mesmerising graphics made my jaw drop. The best part of the ad was the Bahraini experience the audience was taken through, whilst still conveying a universal message.
A few days back, I was delighted to find that Batelco's ad had been listed as Ted.com's 'Ads worth spreading'. For those of you not familiar with this Ted award, it celebrates intellectually-stimulating and immersive advertisements.
I like the idea of these 'Advertisement Awards' as it takes a different spin on the concept of advertising; making it an art form and making watching a more human experience.
In our age of consumerism, where often trashy lyrics and luxury are celebrated, many of the adverts are no better. We have too many shallow, materialistic 30-second TV clips of heavily made-up models, pitching their endorsements with cheesy one-liners, whilst belittling us the whole time.
In article I had read a few weeks back, the author claimed the role of advertising was crucial to the cycle of consumerism - making us feel inadequate and thus pushing us to buy more things.
But advertisements don't all have to be like that. It is quite obvious that advertisements have permeated our way of life through newspapers, billboards, social networking, radio, TV and even T-shirts.
So instead of using them to indulge in clichŽ and extolment about products, why not make ad-watching an enjoyable experience? Adverts have the power to change the way people think and spread awareness, making sure the word gets across.
Advertisements - whether you like them or not - are a part of our culture and can have an undeniable impact. But maybe they can use their incredible interconnectivity to change things, change people or just merely make people think.
The Ted initiative claims that in 2-3 minutes, there's enough time to really tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection, become unforgettable. Instead of ambush, they offer pleasurable, intelligent engagement.
And, maybe that's just what we need - a break from society's pressures, a time to watch, laugh and think.
