"How is this ad benefitting T&T? The National Gas Company has been airing an advertisement...if happiness were a sound, what would it be? I find it difficult to relate happiness and sound with gas, unless of course it is with flatulence. What is interesting however, are the letters "pp" which stand out with the coalition of an arc highlighted in red. Can the chairman of the National Gas Company articulate the benefits of this advertisement to the company and its value to the taxpayer?"
–Imaam Igbal Hydal
I don't know who Imaam Igbal Hydal is, but surely that letter writer has asked a pertinent question, and is right on target in the analogy on happiness and gas. The only unfortunate thing about Hydal's letter, and, of course, this article, is that the advertisement is given exposure it doesn't deserve. Thankfully, there's something called natural justice, and the campaign will forever be associated with flatulence.
So I decided to log on to ifhappiness.com to gauge the extent the NGC is spending public money on subliminal advertising that could be misconstrued as subliminal political advertising ostensibly designed to convey a corporate identity by focusing people on happiness. Of course, the company must see its campaign as a good thing to encourage a society fed up with waste and corruption and that is becoming increasingly angry, to focus on what makes them happy. Eh...
In the business of advertising, it is easy to decipher brainwashing strategies–the essence of subliminal advertising. Subliminal stimuli act on the subconscious. It is below people's sensory thresholds for conscious perception so that they are not aware of the possible impact of images on their brains.
The underscoring of the letters "pp" with an arc is not just cute creativity. It is meant to transmit a specific message to the subconscious. The designers of the ad attempted to link the words pp with the positive emotion of happiness. Perceptually, the arc used the way it is in the advertisement is symbolical of the familiar smiley button. The letters pp are associated with the words people and partnership.
Are we to believe the arc is innocent playfulness on these letters? Is this politically neutral branding? Is it just a campaign to encourage people to think about what makes them happy? Is this a necessary service to the country? It is profligate spending at its worst. It is the epitome of visual masking. Could there be innocence in spending public monies on deceitful political party branding?
The advertising cunning deepens when the word happiness, the symbolical arc, and the word "sound" are connected. These are subliminal primes, which in advertising strategy are powerful mental stimuli.
But let's turn to happy sounds and colours. One advertisement depicts a happy girl holding a red umbrella in the rain with the headline, as mentioned above, "If happiness were a sound what would it be?" It carries the sub-head, "share the sound that defines happiness for you."
While I fully empathise with the sentiments of Hydal on gas and happiness, a happy sound will be the laughter of people spared the wastage of national assets by custodians of their trust. To some of us, it is the sound of laughter of children schooled in clean, education-friendly buildings. To others, it is sounds of the natural environment unfettered by leaking gas lines, oil spills and highways. For others, it is just the sound of peace and many other simple things.
Another ad asks: "If happiness had a colour...what would be its hues? It is the same as honesty and integrity. The campaign is extensive and expensive adding the production cost and cost of the Web site, which is full of images of happy people.
The viewer is introduced to the site with these words: "There is no pursuit by man that is greater than that of happiness yet it is so elusive. Part of the reason is that most of us never stop to consider what brings us authentic joy. Through this unique, national campaign, if happiness, we probe the question of how happiness is personally defined in very specific ways. May this thought-provoking series bring you happily closer to the truth and to others on the journey! Enjoy."
Perhaps, it brings us closer to the truth that politics trumps everything, that personal gain for a few are achieved at the expense of the majority. It brings home the reality that people do not get appointed to the boardroom of state companies for their wisdom and judgment, especially in the wake of falling oil and gas prices. The truth is, the Government spends hundreds of millions of dollars in free education then citizens are taken for fools by their agents.
Certainly, happiness is defined by different people in different ways and as the saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison. But rather than die from unhappiness, let's assume there's honourable intent in this campaign and be happy with the sweet scent of flatulence.