It was exactly the sort of low-cost "viral marketing" stunt beloved of big companies sick of spending millions on mass market advertising campaigns for little obvious return.
SingPost, the Singapore postal service provider, brought in A Group of People, a so-called "guerrilla marketing" agency, to daub "graffiti" on several post boxes around the city-state over the new year period.
Unfortunately for SingPost, it appears that straight-up Singaporeans are not yet ready for such publicity stunts.
The graffiti artist was spotted in the act by a number of Singaporeans who were so horrified that they recorded the unspeakable act and uploaded videos to YouTube. Some even called the Police.
Even though SingPost had apparently informed the Police in advance of its intentions - a wise move in a police state - the boys in blue were none too pleased when people started ringing them up to complain about these "acts of vandalism"
"The whole episode had caused unnecessary public alarm and wasted valuable resources," said a police spokesman, according to the Straits Times.
Presumably after a few friendly words from the Police, the SingPost chief executive Wilson Tan yesterday apologised "for any inconvenience caused to all parties".
All in all, not exactly the best advert for Singapore's creative pull as a "Media Hub".
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Hilarious. Singaporeans like to call the police for anything they find offensive.
ReplyDeleteLike everything else in Singapore, the anti-graffiti laws sound reasonable if a tad strict. Then you remember that graffiti is the fastest, cheapest form of political expression.
ReplyDeleteSingapore is a system that has literally spent 50 years identifying every possible way to secure the Lee family's wealth and power and then creating a bland cover story.