This advertisement sent out a clear message across all movie theaters and television channels at the start of the world cup. People felt genuine sympathy for the boy because his entire family’s savings depended on whether Germany wins the world cup or not.
Overnight, this advertisement went completely viral and trended across all Singaporean social media platforms. A whole flood of memes and hilarious tweets about #BRAvsGER exploded at 6 am. this morning when Germany scored 7-1 against Brazil, I cannot take this an Neymar and Brazil did Nazi this coming.
Singaporean netizens have also gotten creative and the photoshop masters got to work, editing the advertisement because naturally the boy would be full of joy and elated that his dad made a ‘smart’ decision by betting everything on Germany! Especially so if Germany wins the World cup in the upcoming finals.
Well, damn, with a little bit of empathy I can tell that the advertising director in charge is seriously praying that either Argentina or Holland takes the World Cup, because, you know, their job is on the line. When you have ministers like Teo Ser Luck talking about your advertisement, it IS a big deal.
Mothership.sg has also pointed out that the advertisement was flashed during semi-final halftime on TV Channel Okto when Germany was already trashing Brazil 5-0. Talk about wrong place at the wrong time. What kind of message does that tell kids watching soccer?
It’s ironic how the advertisement also bet on the fact that Germany might win. Was the creative director thinking Germany didn’t stand much of a chance to win the world cup, so he chose Germany to be featured in this advertisement? It might have made more sense to choose a country that was not so strong in the first place (USA, anybody?)
IF GERMANY ACTUALLY WINS
Somebody is going to have to answer to the anti-gambling authorities for this. I also fear for somebody’s job security. Penning down “Got fired from previous job, because I predicted Germany winning the World Cup” on your resume can be seriously amusing though.
Netizens will laugh and reinforce the fact that soccer betting can be such a wonderful thing afterall, because the boy, Andy, would triple up his savings and his family will have a happy-ever-after.
Consolation prize: The advertisement has got its unexpected share of views thanks to everyone sharing it and making it viral.
IF GERMANY LOSES THE FINALS
Well damn, someone from NCPG is gonna jump up from their seat and say “I told you so! ha! Now Andy’s family is in complete ruins! Gambling screws your life up!”
This would be a complete party pooper, because everyone on facebook is gonna share “Too bad, Andy, so close” or something.
However some people might also suffer from ‘Selective Distortion’ – psychology term, which means they can point out that since Andy was so close to tripling his savings, maybe if he won his family would be successful? If another ‘Andy’ bet his savings on the winner (Holland/Argentina, anybody), he would be living a rich life now.
Alright, in defence of encouraging problem gamblers not to incessantly continue gambling away their family’s savings on soccer betting, let’s have a moment to think about all the other families all there who lost thousands of hard-earned money from betting on strong contenders like Spain, Portugal, England, Brazil etc. Afterall, the chances of predicting the winning World Cup team right from the beginning is less than 10%. Andy’s father has better chances if he bet the family’s savings on a Heads or Tails coin game.
I believe spending $10 or $20 for a casual, entertaining bet on World Cup can actually be quite fun while watching the match so you’d have something to roar or cheer about, but betting an entire family’s savings? That’s not smart.
Jackie Loh The Influencer Media Writer