A truly horrible corporate video
3July 30, 2008 by Colin
Mercedes Benz may produce marvelous vehicles, but their internal corporate videos are really quite horrible.
Someone, somewhere, said “This is EXACTLY what I was looking for!”
Canuckflack
… Colin McKay has some thoughts about design, data, management, government and oddities … written in Canada!
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Blood Stains from the slaine Monks of Lindisfarne in the Viking attack of 793AD. Folios 191v and 192r of the Lindisfarne Gospels - written and illuminated by the Anglo-Saxon Bishop Eadfrith in 698AD.
Liber generationis Jesu Christi
“Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples.”
Alcuin, Letter to Ethelred, King of Northumbria
Images: British Library
I had a Brooks Brothers 15 1/2 - 35 shirt and we used its front pocket to determine when the Pilot design was “pocket sized” - Joel Jewitt, discussing the invention of the Palm Pilot
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130408043926-7298-early-employees-joel-jewitt-palm
Before I discovered the Internet
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Yuck — if the U2/guitar rippoff isn’t bad enough, talking about “Japs” is unforgivable. I had to rewind and watch that part of the video a second time, to make sure I had heard it correctly.
But even if the video had been good, would it have had the desired effect with the target audience (the company’s employees?) In my career I’ve seen stuff like that backfire, by showing the disconnect between the “vision” of upper level management, and the view of employees; the company ends up holding a magnifying glass up to its own hypocrisy.
Wow. Yea, the Japs thing is pretty unbelievable. I also really like the shots towards the end of the group of people (inspired employees?) huddled around the mic singing the “One Goal!” refrain in harmony – ‘cept the soundtrack doesn’t change, it’s still that one dude singing.
As much as the video is terrible (and wow is it terrible), I have to wonder about the band. Who are they? Is this what they dreamed of doing when they bought their first real six strings at the five and dime?
I assume it went something like this:
“We need a catchy tune for that new employee video, any ideas?”
“Well, my brother-in-law plays in a band…”
I was about to stop it at around the 2 minute mark when the German John Cougar Mellencamp broke out with “At Volvo they worry… the japs they just cry…”. I also had to replay it to make sure I had heard/seen correctly.
Then I had to watch the rest of it just to see if there’d be more xenophobia. There wasn’t – just the U2 rip-off outro – I was surprised the band didn’t move to a rooftop.
I worked for Gateway computers during their ill-fated entry into the Canadian market and they kept making us watch a corporate video showing Ted Waitt (the CEO and founder of the company) hanging around in denim with The Who playing in the background. Similar to John’s post, it just magnified the fact that this guy was not part of “my generation”.