Tempo is a Hong Kong tissue paper brand which is famous in its creativity in advertising. It can always find a special point of its tissue paper and link it with a total different thing which turns out to be very match. In 2011, Tempo released a popular television advertisement selling the tenacity of its tissue paper.

    In the commercial, a fat guy is involved into different bad issues and result in hitting by others. But the boy looks like he does not feel anything and show no changes on his facial expression. Even though he is standing inside an arena and hit by a professional pugilist, he still stands still and has no reaction. The advertisement uses this plot to implicate that the boy has a very high tenacity. He is tough and strong. At the end the boy uses Tempo to wipe the sweat. This resembles Tempo to the boy, which is also tough and strong, having a high tenacity.

    The reason why this advertisement is very poplar is related to the image changes of the fat guy. Normally, people have an ideology of fat boys that they are dull, only know to eat and play computer games and do useless or bad things. Just like in the advertisement, all people misunderstand the fat boy and think that all bad things are done by him. However, there is a reverse at the end and change all the audiences’ taught. This makes a strong impact on the tough image of the guy and so when this links to the product; it could give a deep going remembrance.

    Furthermore, the advertisement makes itself more memorable by using comedic format. Every time the fat guy slapped by others is due to some stupid reasons and make people laugh. But these reasons are the things that most easily remembered by audiences. So that audiences will remember the advertisement and talk about it with their friends. This result in enhancing the propagation of Tempo and making the advertisement become more and more popular.


[Source: Youtube-Tempo 2011 Commercial]

Nobody in the world likes disaster. However, one kind of disaster happened in summer is welcomed in Hong Kong. That is, typhoon. Hong Kong people loved strong typhoon because they will have day off when typhoon signal is 8 or above. When the super typhoon Usagi came and killed at least 25 people in Guang Dong in this September, some people blamed it didn’t come closer to Hong Kong so they could get a whole day off instead of half. This brings out a worth consider question: why people do not consoled when a disaster does not come but complain about it? Is it so important to enjoy an extra holiday with the cost of many people dying?


[Source: akzone forum]

    Among these days, the hottest issue should be the competition of preschool places in Northern District in Hong Kong. Long queues of anxious parents were lined up outside every kindergarten, hoping to get their children into the best preschool to receive the best education. People blamed that this happened because of the bad policy of the government.

    To show this argument, Apple Daily presented a news photo showing the long queue of parents together with Eddie Ng Hak-kim, the secretary of Education Bureau. The two sides of the photo show a big contrast. On the right hand side, parents lined up under bright sunlight in a little park. Their faces were worried and exhausted.  However, Eddie Ng on the left hand side is in indoor which is supposed to have cool air conditioning. He is wearing suit that should be very hot if he goes outside.

    One of the main points is Ng’s facial expression. In this photo, the set up makes Ng seems like is just looking to the helpless parents and do nothing. His smile becomes a sinister smile that makes him look like a villain. This gives a feeling of him stand by with folded arms, does not eager to solve the problem.

    Apple daily tried to express its own viewpoint through this photo, make Eddie Ng to be the responsible person and let the public to focus on blaming him. In fact, Ng may not be the one who cause all this queues lining up outside the school. But it is about the responsibility of the whole government.
[Source: Apple Daily]

    One of the hottest issues in the first half year of 2013 is believed to be the announcement of North Korea’s intentions to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States. During that time, I was studying in South Korea and worried. My friends sent me this political comic to reassure me, which I found it quite interesting and true.

    The comic is titled “Little Man Syndrome”. Originally it is a disease name, now it is used as a humorous that “short men” are excessively competitive as a way of compensating their lack of stature. This implies that North Korea is the “little man” who acts aggressively, wanting to get the attention from the world. While the United States is the big man who just see the whole thing as a joke and not care.

    In the comic, North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong-un is a little man holding his missile to attack the United States represented by a pair of leg with the words “U.S.” written on the boot. The missile hit the boot and broke down. However, it does not cause any damage to U.S. Kim Jong-un is just like a little kid playing with his beloved toy and trying to get the adults’ attention. In real world, a toy would never cause any real damage.

    One of the eye-catching points is at the last frame. When the missile is broken and the leg is not hurt, the little man opened his arms having an expression like saying “so what?” This reflects the attitude of North Korea. It does not need to be responsible for its words and action. Every time after it causes a big trouble, it just steps back like a kid and let the adult to deal with the problem.

    Overestimating its own capability, North Korea will be treat as the “little man” who cannot do any “big” thing successfully forever.

[Source: jollyjack and Daily of the Day]

    Instead of Matt Madden’s 99 comics, I have chosen the guest artist Jazmin Velasco’s comic to be the most attractive and interesting one. The comic is continuously using the same plot and the dialogue as the template one. Only a minor change is added to it.

    Some details are added to the comic by the guest artist. In the first frame, a can of coke is placed near the laptop. After the man walked away in the third frame, the can is squelched. So we can assume the man finished his drink and wants to get a new one from the refrigerator. But after disturbed by the woman asking about the time, the man squat in front of the fridge for a long time, still cannot remember what he wants.

    The thing I admire the most is the repeating of scene from frame 6 to 8. Although repetition of the frames seems useless, actually they have extended the time for reader to get to the last frame. This gives a strong feeling of the blankness inside the man’s brain. Just like the man is search every corner of his brain trying find out what he wants to do. Resonance is caused by these frames. Readers could recall their own experiences in losing their short term memory.

    I am really appreciated about the details added by the guest artist, which makes the comic more coherent. After reading the comic once, readers could trace back to the beginning and have a more detail observation to find out the hidden message, and get a more clear view of the story.


[Source: Exercise in Style]