‘The party's over’ glowers the billboard in sight of the entrance to Limerick Jail. It's eye catching luminosity may be the last public
announcement, members of this months rotating prison populace read for a
while. The ad informs cons and straights alike that mixing cocaine with
drink will result in an increased chance of a heart attack. Really! it
seems that any coke fueled party in town or city is now a major health
risk. Finally some news on this!
Sophistication is not a consideration here, the effectiveness of this campaign is minimal and not just on the prison's site. You
may be excused for mistaking the block of colour with its small type as
a reminder to check your cholesterol, such is its functional medical
style. Design issues aside, the posters are an understated official
response to the jazzed up recreational habits that testify to years of
Tiger cub spending power. No longer the stereotyped preserve of
Gangsters or the entertainment industry, the contemporary face of cocaine
could be billboarded as a young Gaa county player, the woman who cleans
the lifts in the morning or a painter decorator who does community work
at the weekend. No new news there of course.
Limerick also cheekily
contributes its official stamp in visualising the scourge , with the
cities Statue of Richard Harris now sporting white tippexed marks around
his nose, courtesy of some Joe Duffy informed young scamp?
The
recent storm in a tea cup over the politician who did or did not admit using coke, wearily ticked the final profile box before this campaign.
Why highlight cocaine business now? The levels of associated violence
probably. It appears that easing in on health angle was a simple catch
all that would not raise issues of policing for example. A colour and
text billboard display is only part the strategy on this brief I
presume, but at present it is in danger of being considered for as long,
as smokers consider the health warning on packs.
Some serious work
on this ad brief could have been attempted. Perhaps billboards with a
images of the above representatives ( GAA guy , cleaner etc) with a
localised tag line or something equally direct. This would be a design
attempt that at least respects the need to visualise the subject
maturely, unless this is as far as this project goes.
As it
stands the Street sited public information on cocaine does nothing more
than allow the Government the opportunity to deny inactivity in the
designed guise of wall mounted toothpaste packaging.
Because this is
new territory for our guardians the billboards design oversimplify the
subject matter. The signing off on a basic design solution has
resulted in a bland selection of colour block themed print
infomercials intending to appeal to all, but appealing to nobody.
The
intended impact from the governments intention from this project should
at this rate should be on par with the classic ‘Phone wreckers are
idiots’ anti-vandalism campaign of the 80s. (that one used TV ads and
starred Bob Geldof fronting the mean streets in what would now be
described as a micro ‘dramedy’).
If the problem is as serious as the amount of the drug seized by customs suggests
then then even a billboard campaign ,which is often a token attempt at
visualising ‘issues’ by the government, should reconsider its discrete
approach. The Government admission that users are not exclusively
criminals or exotic entertainers is not enough of an acknowledgment
. Perhaps the strident tone of the recent ‘why should I let your
behaviour ruin my night’ poster ads prompted a restrained social ad roll
out this time.
Across from the billboard site beside the prison is written the homely Father Ted quote spotted above.
Imagine,
‘Cocaine! down with that sort of thing’ on an official poster, no ambiguous tone there, a classic contemporary Irish phrase and inclusive
to all.
Paul Tarpey
.
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