Powershop offers ‘same power, different attitude’ with new print work via DoubleFish, Wellington
New Zealand online electricity upstart Powershop has been a thorn in the side of larger power companies since its launch two years ago.
Its willingness to act as consumer champion and hold the big boys to account has become the inspiration for its new brand campaign that launches next week.
Powershop has teamed up with Wellington ad mavericks Ken Double and John Fisher of Wellington agency DoubleFish for the campaign, which features several of the world’s most evil dictators in the unlikeliest of situations.
Same Power, Different Attitude puts North Korea’s Kim Jong Il in charge of a community sausage sizzle, while Saddam Hussein hits the street to collect for a refugee aid charity. Watch out for Colonel Gaddafi performing his own random act of kindness soon.
“It’s pure satire that ridicules some of the most despised individuals who have ever held the reins of power,” says Powershop CEO Ari Sargent.
“Showing how out of place they look in everyday, charitable situations highlights their abuse of power and comments on how different the world would be if they’d used it for good instead of evil.”
“It reflects our belief that anyone in a position of power, whether a politician or energy company, should use that power responsibly,” says Sargent.
The campaign uses hand-painted posters that will hit billboards, bus shelters and online sites from Monday.
Credits: Writer Ken Double, art director John Fisher, illustrator Evan Purdie, art/retouching Andy Salisbury & Jason Bownen.
12 Comments
Effing tasteless. Who next, Hiltler? I draw the line between humour and mass murderers.
Well, I reckon it’s funny as hell.
And what makes Saddam more of a murderer than G.W.Bush?
lol-larious!!!
Bloody New Zealanders. And their bloody brave clients.
Awesome.
nothing new, not sure where but i’ve seen this concept before for another small electrical provider…
…not sure where but seen this concept before for another small electrical provider, and yes, it included adolf
Not sure.
The ads that showed Hitler, Stalin etc. being inferior mass murderers to the cigarettes in their hands were brilliant. There was a link between the subject and the message.The grim tone suited both.
This is really just a play on words – fun and visually attractive – but a word play nonetheless. There is no real a-ha moment that would light up the consumer for the brand, in my view.
11.07 you’re a sad cnut
I would think it is all the murder victims: the over one million dead in the Iraq – Iran war for a start. And his use of gas against civilian targets. Or the murderous police state he built and kept in a state of fear with brutal violence for 25 years. But that’s just me.
btw, I think GWB is an asshole, but to draw a moral equivalency between him and Saddam Hussein shows either deep ignorance or an ideologically blinkered view of the world.
oh please carry on. tell us more.
Mad Magazine, only not as good.
Brave but it will not make me move power providers