The headline of this post is the exact same message that is featured in a number of ads put forth by breathe.sg. I’d like you to first watch both videos, as they’re the focus of the rest of the post.
Keep on reading to find out where these ads came from and why they were made. I’ve broken the post up because it is a long one, and I know how much you guys hate massive stories on the front page.
The last time I posted an ad that featured a heavily modified person there was a healthy debate over the implications from the ad. This time though, the implications are pretty clear. These two people, who have great stories to tell about their modifications and the meanings behind them, should be looked at negatively as they’re on the same level as a binge drinker.
It took a little digging, but I discovered that the breathe.sg campaign began in 2008 as an initiative put forth by the Singapore government’s Heath Promotion Board (HPB). In a press release dated Oct 9th, 2008, the HPB announced the creation of the Breathe campaign.
NHLC 2008: “Breathe”
2 The theme for this year’s campaign is “Breathe”. It seeks to encourage youth to choose (breathe in) life, truth and self-expression and not succumb to (breathe out) insecurity, pessimism, pressure and judgement. “Breathe” will also brand health as exciting, vibrant and an asset youth should treasure to help them achieve their fullest potential and ambitions in life.3 “Breathe” is targeted at youth aged 12 to 23 and will be launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Padang on 7 November 2008.
“Breathe – Game for Life” – Launch Event
4 The campaign’s launch event, “Breathe – Game for Life”, aims to showcase non-conventional, youth-centric activities to encourage the young to cultivate healthy habits for lifelong health. These include Human Bowling, Human Table Soccer and remote control speed racing. Conventional games such as Captain’s Ball will also be given a new twist to demonstrate how these activities can be made more exciting to engage our young in an active lifestyle.5 Strong elements of music – a universal language among youth – will feature prominently at the launch event. In line with this, the event will feature an exhilarating new dance fitness routine, a hip-hop competition with a healthy lifestyle theme and a dance party under the stars. All these will encourage youth to keep active while grooving to their lively beats.
Launch of “Breathe” Portal
6 A new “Breathe” portal (www.breathe.sg) will be launched to engage youth on various health issues and provide them with information on events and activities held in conjunction with NHLC 2008.
In December of that year, todayonline.com wrote an article describing the efforts of the campaign, as well as it’s initial goals. The article has since been removed, but there there is a cached version of it available on a blog located here.
HE GOT drunk at a friend’s house and ended up taking off all his clothes in the bathroom. “The next thing I knew,” said :student Mervyn Lee, 19, “I woke up in my friend’s bed wearing a fresh pair of shorts.” Tales like this may raise a titter, but the dangers of excessive drinking are all too real. That is why the Health Promotion Board (HPB) will embark on its first nationwide campaign against binge drinkingnext year, aimed at 18- to 25-year-olds. Binge drinking — consuming five drinks or more for males, or four drinks or more for females, within two hours — is an “emerging issue in Singapore”, said HPB in a tender document posted on the GeBIZ website.
The HPB intends to create awareness through student-led projects and educational material targeted at tertiary students, among other things.
– Alicia Wong and Sufian Suderman, todayonline.com
Finally, as part of the 2008/2009 annual report, the chairman of the HPB, Lucas Chow, goes on to describe just how positive the campaign is meant to be. The entire report can be found here but it is a large .pdf file, so just be aware of that if you want to give it a read.
The annual National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign (NHLC) took on a youth focus for the first time, with the theme, “Breathe”. It encouraged young people to appreciate health as an asset for them to achieve their fullest potential and ambitions in life through an array of activities and events.
Now with the mandate of the campaign being intended to bring a positive outlook on their health and lifestyle, I find it interesting that their initial ad campaigns were so negative. To be fair, in addition to the ads, the Breathe campaign does sponsor a number of youth oriented events such as a hip-hop dance competition, as well as other youth themed events. But the question still remains, if the purpose of the campaign is “ to choose (breathe in) life, truth and self-expression and not succumb to not succumb to (breathe out) insecurity, pessimism, pressure and judgement”, aren’t these ads completely disingenuous? When I see the people in the videos I see two people who have chosen truth and self-expression, and aren’t showing any form of insecurity at all. The ads themselves even run counter to the notion of preventing pessimism, pressure, and especially judgement. If anything these commercials are huge examples of judgments being passed on young people in order to put them down and discourage them.
While the 2009 programs seem to be targeted towards reducing the number of teen smokers, the binge drinking campaign is still being promoted on the site’s YouTube channel.
Looking back at the ads, the question arises if the individuals in the ads knew exactly what the campaign was about. I find it hard to believe that two people with such high self-esteem would allow themselves to be used as a metaphor for an unhealthy activity. What I also find interesting is that the 2009 campaign against smoking had a fashion show event where you can obtain temporary tattoos that you’re encouraged to show off, as well as receive discounts at stores for wearing the tattoo. So while in 2008 having a lot of tattoos is equivelant to binge drinking, in 2009 suddenly it’s cool to show off a tattoo, even if it is temporary.
If the comments for the videos on YouTube are any indication, I’m not the only one who finds these ads offensive in they way they portray heavily modified people. It’s a shame that they took this approach because they may not receive the results they intended.
So ModBlog readers, what are your thoughts on this campaign? Is there a big enough cultural difference between how we see these ads, and the target audience would, that our perception of it is skewed? Or did the HPB completely miss the mark, and put out a campaign that will infuriate more people than it could help?
Comments
81 responses to ““Some people don’t know when to stop””
Fuck that campaign. (I don’t think that guys tattoos are real)
Has this campaign used other examples too? Have you just picked out these people for their tattoos/piercings? Because in that case it is just one sxample of many. BUT if these are the only two ads shown then thats a completely different story. I dont know the motivation behind it but yes I do think that it sends out the wrong message about modded people.
@3ecca: Those are the only 2 ads in their binge drinking campaign.
That…really bothers me. And they are definitely portraying the wrong idea.
So….apparently, getting modified is just as bad as being an alcoholic? Is it just me, or is that probably one of the worse comparisons, ever? I understand their “gist” of pointing out doing things excessively, but really…that’s such a bad comparison to make that point. Oh well.
It’s too bad. They took a perfectly good message and turned it into a personal insult aimed at two people who happen to be modified.
What a lovely woman, with a mostly positive story! WTF, that doesn’t make any sense.
I also feel that the guy’s tattoos are probably fake, but the message still sucks.
@James & Monoceros: I thought they might be fake as well, but at the beginning of the ad you can see he has saran wrap taped to his back. They pierced the girl’s lip in the first one, so they may have tattooed him as well.
If that’s the case, the question then arises, did they get told to talk about their mods and get a free one without knowing what the ads would be for?
What they’re saying doesn’t gel at all with the message behind the ads. It’s so bizarre. If they wanted to show the harm in excess, having a couple of people talk about how happy they are probably wasn’t the way to go.
i’m not sure about anyone else but i can never watch the videos you post…. they never work for me they’re just still images that don’t do anything.
omg, that is the most offensive thing i have ever seen i think. they are overlooking a huge part of binge drinking and that is people that binge drink are NOT happy. piercings and tattoos do not spawn from depression the way substance abuse does. fuckers.
Is that satanycandle? If not, it looks a lot like her… to me anyways.
this bothers me. i don’t feel the portray the right image when it comes to binge drinking. too many drinks isn’t th same as too many body modifications. this makes me sad.
While I think the link between these things is completely worlds apart. Binge drinking being actual addiction to a substance, and tattoos/piercings to a practice. I still think that obsession shouldn’t be celebrated, it is very self destructive and is a disorder that is a sign of depression. I know that there is a fine line here, but someone with their face entirely covered in tattoos or piercings could just as easily be on a path to topping themselves as on a path of self discovery. These things are never black and white, and this ad, as most awareness ads do, makes it seem that way and further alienates the people who have the problems and miseducates the general public about this issues. Binge drinking can be alcoholism, peer pressure, escapism, depression… many things. Fix your health departments and make it OK to say I have a problem before you scare people into stopping by making them feel like a freak I say.
While I think it was in poor judgment, I think the purpose of the ad is to put an addiction into a visual example.
wow, that is so amazingly offensive.
Also, I’m calling ‘fake’ on that guy’s tattoos. Have a look at the video again and pause it at a number of close-ups and the tattoos just don’t looks right. I’d say someone’s gone to down on him with a magic marker. And while I risk sounding like a judgmental ass, and not to question his motives, but how can you have that many tattoos and have the most meaningful one be a dragon that represents the year you were born? I don’t believe that someone with that much of an interest in getting so much of themselves covered wouldn’t plan at least a couple of large pieces.
you know for how much everyone of you whine and complain about this kind of shit
How many of you actually do something about it?
I mean really their has got to be at-least 1000 of you guys that complain about or portrayal by the media/government etc…
But how many of you actually do something other than sit behind the computer and sulk about it ?
@mike
really? how about being a modified individual that exhibits confidence and treating people well every day of my life? how about educating the people i meet every day that are misinformed, including referring them to this blog and BME in general?
i mean yeah i suppose we could band together and make our own psa’s, but really, what works better than showing the people you come into contact with every day that we are decent, hard working, warm, caring, productive individuals just like themselves? well all know that people react most strongly to something they can relate to, and what is more relevant than an experience in their own personal day in the life?
I REALLY liked the interviews they had. I was a bit surprised at the end of the first one, even though I was expecting something. But those comparisons are so off base, it’s ridiculous. I mean, obviously, there can be risks associated with body modification, especially if they’re not being done by someone who has no clue what they’re doing or in unsanitary environments, but as a general rule they’re not dangerous in the way binge drinking is. This is just ridiculous.
@upandatthem: “And while I risk sounding like a judgmental ass, and not to question his motives, but how can you have that many tattoos and have the most meaningful one be a dragon that represents the year you were born?” <—————– Haha, I was kind of thinking that too.
These ads are done by a government that doesn’t care about being PC with the modified community. Most people would probably look at those ads and agree (that they have TOO MANY tattoos/piercings). I think that’s totally shitty, but I also think that’s where they are coming from.
It just gives me more incentive to keep talking to people about body modification in a positive light.
The only thing I can see that links back to the message in the videos is that tattoo dude looks drunk, he’s like “I know I have a dragon tattoo around here somewhere.”
I think this needs to be put in a cultural context perhaps? Looks like this entire campaign is angled towards a much more conservative country then where (possibly most of us) are viewing it are from. I mean, in that news story the example of dangerous effects of binge drinking is “I woke up in my friend’s bed wearing a fresh pair of shorts.” I read that and was like “sweet deal, a nap and new short!” not ‘omg he got changed in someone else house, and into their clothes, how rude and horrible. then he slept in their bed, what a terrible person!”
I know this is supposed to be about the offensivemess of the ads, but…
1. His tattoos look very disjoint, strange use of negetive space.
2. On her – double eyelid piercings? Rare you see one, let alone two.
1 kazillion stupid tats VS 4 drinks. Does not compare.
I think they’re fine . . definitely nothing compared to the Aids ad.
I love how the girl said that she would feel naked and weird if she woke up and her piercings were all gone. That’s something that a lot of non-modified people don’t really get, the bond that we make with our modifications. Piercings have a way of just coming and going as far as the mainstream media is concerned . . For some people, it isn’t as easy as just taking out an ear-ring, lip-ring, etc . . I would be deeply upset if I had to get my ears sewn or even just let them shrink back down to a much smaller size . . They’re a part of me.
I am so upset over this. I have no other words.
regardless of the intentions of the add, it is still a HORRIBLE example, and I am very offended.
How can anyone think this is okay?
ugh
This is really offensive.
Especially when the people are saying positive things about their mods and that it completes them and makes them feel good about themselves.
I want to punch whoever put this crap together.
If the had done a shoe collector, or a person obsessed with cow figurines, or someone with 100 cats, would it make a difference? If they had done a series of these ads, including at least one tattooed or pierced person, and the rest were something like I listed, would that make it less offensive? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact that they chose to ONLY make two ads, and those ads ONLY featured modified people is kind of offensive, I do agree.
Confusing to say the least. The girl obviously is “addicted” to getting pierced, but how that compares to binge drinking is beyond my understanding. The young man with the tattoos is just weird. I’m not saying that having multiple tattoos is weird, but most tattoos that I’ve seen on people have more of a pattern or theme to them and not lots of miscellaneous items. Like said above, it’s like someone colored on him. Poor choice of subjects for what they’re doing. A better choice might be toshow what binge drinking does to a person, but that’s just me.
I think i might be a binge drinker
if i knew that guy in real life i would definitely have staged a tattoo intervention before the problem had gotten this out of hand. i mean come on, that’s too many stars man. there’s a point when too much flash is literally like being a compulsive drinker and dying from 4 drinks. and the dragon tattoo, wtf? this guy needs help, that much is clear.
The ad campaign is from Singapore, an extremely conservative country with an authoritarian government and some of the strictest laws you could imagine. Homosexuality as well as oral and anal sex are illegal. Drug traffickers are regularly executed, and there’s corporal punishment for minor offences, such as vandalism, spraying graffiti, infractions or drug use, for which people are caned on their naked arses. For many other ‘transgressions’, there are hefty fines, for example if you spit on the street, you get fined $500.
Tattoos and piercings are still extremely unusual in Singapore, and especially tattooing is still associated with the Triads, or Chinese Mafia (about 75% of Singaporeans are ethnically Chinese), and don’t sit well in general with a society in which expressions of individualism are frowned upon. There is, however, an emerging tattoo scene, and even a tattoo convention, and many local tattoo artists are on a level with some of the best worldwide.
It’s only logical that piercings and tattoos are portrayed negatively in an ad campaign that is directed at young people. Probably many of these would think ‘OMG look at those freaks, I don’t wanna be like them’, and associate body modifications with alcohol and/or substance abuse, which would be the desired result of that campaign, killing two birds with one stone.
So I think you people shouldn’t be offended or take it to heart too much, it’s a product of a very different culture, and seeing that in your own countries, modified people still get negative press and reactions in public, there’s still a lot to do there as well.
speaking as a british person binge drinking is both fun and productive!
long live unhealthy consumption of alcohol!
I’m almost 100% thats IAM: SatanyCandle, or at least older video of her, since she doesn’t have that many piercings anymore…. I would recognize her beautiful dreads anywhere…. Hope they got her consent when making this video….
I’m tired of people using body modification for bad intention bodymod is not a crime!!!!! people are so fucking ignorent!!!!!!!!!
last time we had a debate about this (the anti-hiv advert featuring a heavily modded guy) it took me quite a while to decide where i stood on it (and i still dont think i’m 100% sure) but with this, i made my mind up by the end of the first video, by the end of the second i literally felt sick with anger. as a teetotaller, i’m all for adverts to show people that excessive drinking is a problem, but this use of body mods to represent a dangerous and health destroying activity is genuinely disgusting. one thing i’d be interested to know is whether the people featured in the ad (as monster was saying, the piercings girl may be a site user?) were aware of how the footage of them would be used during filming? i dont see how anyone with (as those people clearly show) such a positive attitude towards their mods would allow themselves to be used as such a negative symbol for this.
I really hate that these stupid corporate assholes are always portraying modified people as having no self esteem or as bad people making bad decisions! It’s so prejudice and hurtful! I can’t believe they would try to associate people heavily tattooed and pierced with binge drinking!
I agree with you guys about the guys tats being fake, they totally look like temporary tats! Also I’m wondering along with most of if the girl knew what the ad was really about- I highly doubt she would’ve done this ad if she knew how negatively she would be portrayed!
This shit makes me so pissed off! I wish I could do something to open people’s eyes about how the modified community is full of beautiful strong artistic people and not insecure fucked up souls!
you know I think I wanna become a drinker now…those adverts have highly influenced me…I wanna be like the falling over stick guy! *laughs*
Omg that shit is awful. That girl is on IAM and Id really like to ask her if she knew how negatively she would be portrayed. How could anyone compare binge drinking to getting modified? It’s a lot harder to die from getting pierced or tattooed then from drinking. People dont have unprotected sex and make bad life choices because they got pierced or tattooed!!!!
I’m totally getting “it’s ok to stare” tattooed on me now.
I have lots of tattoos and piercings and in precisely 30 mins I will start binge drinking.
Guess I’m fucked 🙁
It’s kind of painful to watch those videos. They take something that is highly personal and special and make it a base representation of bad choices. The implications that modified people are out of control is disrespectful to say the least. All of the modifications I have make me feel more like the person I am on the inside. How does that compare to drinking yourself stupid? We as a community have been degraded and made to be fools by this campaign.
@mike I just sent them an email and I plan to contact the phone number provided in their contact information. This kind of misrepresntation is ridiculaous.
Jens- That is the most reasonable, educated response I’ve read on a modblog thread as of late. Good for you! *not sarcasm
Why, Jens, I should be not offended by that kind of bloody fucked bullshit??? Only because it’s a narrowminded culture of politically right winged and ulktra-conservative assholes, they may say everything, no matter how offensive it is? Anyhow, it’s not way different from the same kind of cunt-rubbish in our “western” (EU, USA, etc.) civilisation. Who is the bad guy in 99% of all movies? The one wearing piercings or tattoos. Who is the bad (or stupid, un-educated, drug-using etc.) guy in advertisements? The one wearing body-mods. Most times we are portrayed as bad…. No excuse that anyway also here conservative idiots are doing that. Being narrowmindig fucked up is no excuse.
These ads are plain stupid bad-ass idioties, and I have not the slightest respect or even tolerance for fuck-headed cunts producing that shit. The world would be a better place without that kind of stupid people. Maybe build a fence around Singapore and export all ultraconservative right-winged fuckheads there.
@kayteakay Thats what im talking about everyone seems to wants to be respected and not treated like a freak or what have you,
but not many people seem to do anything about it other than bitch about how offended they are. Well thats cool and all to be offended why not do something about it ?
If you feel the world should respect and not portray you poorly or as a sick freak fight for it!
@GillyJeans
Really?…….. ok im gonna make a compression that if offends you im sorry but look at the Civil rights movement for god-sakes…. do you really think it was won over by african americans just being nice people and educating people on their heritage? ummm Fuck no
it came about by activism plain and simple they made a stand for their race to be treated equally and didn’t take no for an answer…..
so yes being a good kind person that trys to prove the sterotypes wrong is good but it inst gonna do much if anything
comparison*
again another example of how society is ever so more lost in what they want to believe as “strange” and “weird” since they dont know and relating it to mental and physical issues people have….
i guess next will be something along the lines of us and metal illness or mental retardation. the sad and pathetic thing…. i feel the best way we can be portrayed is by a narcassistic “guido” on a tv show that really has no real value other than drama and promiscuity. do us well Pauly D