On TV3's Raya Ad

How has your Raya been fellas? Mine was not that bad, thanks to the ever-so friendly atmosphere and wonderful families here in Sydney. I just came back from an open house in fact, and the food was simply fabulous. Thanks NAOMI!

Anyway my friend Hadi posted this year’s Raya ad by Proton on his blog not long ago, which kind of reminded me of another round of good ads coming to the Malaysian TV scene in conjunction of this round of festive season. I have to say that I am a huge fan of good TV ads, and just like in yesteryears I was looking forward to welcome this year’s ones. Now that the waiting part is done, I guess I am quite satisfied. The one by Proton was particularly brilliant in reminding people of road safety, while Petronas, as always, never fails to touch me gently by the heart albeit I still think the previous year’s ad was better. Anyway I was eavesdropping to a conversation by two friends the other day when their main topic shifted to these Raya ads, and soon after I listened to one of them grumbled about how he could not get to fathom the message tried to be passed by TV3 via its ad. Being nice, I chose not to interrupt. Nevertheless I could not hinder from smiling. On a different setting, my mom shared a similar story when I told her that the ad was shot at Kuala Kangsar- the bridge and the railway station were especially familiar to me. The point is, I believe many others are still puzzled by what actually TV3 wanted to convey, and I could not stop but feel obliged to share my personal view, which even though personal, is still valid in clearing the air and yelling the idea out loud, at least that is what I think.

Now, in case any of you has yet to see the ad, it is pretty much about a lady, played by Adibah Noor, who was on his way to balik kampung on a hot, sunny day of Ramadhan. She was incredibly tired and it was close to breaking fast I guess, and it seemed that everything she saw kind of reminded her, in exaggerating way, of good food. She bought some kuih at the railway station, and while waiting to board, sat next to this young Chinese man who smiled all the way while munching a similar kuih she previously bought. Feeling irritated, she snatched the packet of kuih and rushed her way into the train, only to realize that she had with her an extra packet of that kuih on the train. Yeah, pretty vague, I blame that to TV3. Now, the ad could not stop but reminds me of this poem;

The Cookie Thief

by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I would blacken his eye."

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought... oooh, brother.
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude,
Why he didn't even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
The others were his, and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!

Sounds familiar? I believe that TV3 was trying to implant the idea acquired from this poem to their ad, but in trying not to be looked like plagiarizing, they modified and added up a tad here and there, and the result, as we saw, is a letdown. I personally think that the earlier part of the ad was not necessary, that they should put more focus on the interaction between the lady and that Chinese guy thus putting the idea straight. Anyway I first encountered the above poem from Chicken Soup of the Soul, and from my quick research on Google I came to the knowledge that the idea had been put up everywhere; in fact there is a short movie on YouTube inspired by the poem under a similar title, which I have not had time yet to watch. The poem in itself gives some pretty good lessons and is a pleasure to read anyway, and has been one of my favourite since that first encounter. Back to the original note, I believe that there is nothing wrong with TV3 trying to convey those lessons in their own way, but the way they did it, from what I see, could be improved next time as not to leave their staunch viewers perplexed on the morning of Raya watching the ad while enjoying ketupat and rendang, thus ruining their mood.