Kuala Lumpur – In pursuit of promoting its ‘ASTRO ON THE GO’ mobile app, Astro has been screening a series of bold and striking advertisements with youngsters breaking and burning Television sets with the aim of sending the message across to switch to the newly launched mobile app.
However, these ads have received widespread criticisms and negative response especially from parents. Their sentiments have been also echoed in social media.
“TV has been associated with our families for decades. It has become part of our family and culture irrespective of race or religion. Our young children still watch TV extensively and they are not given mobile phones or tablets to watch their preferred programs through ‘Astro on the GO’. They still have to watch TV. I can see they are puzzled, amused and even frightened to watch their beloved TV sets being broken and burned in a very violent manner. It definitely causes negative vibrations and I think it is not good for Children’s mindset” said one father of six year old son.
He continued: “My six year old son loves to play with my mobile device but at the same time he is incapable of understanding what is a mobile app and why TV viewers need to switch to such mobile apps, foregoing their own TVs. His connecting medium to his favorite TV program is still the old ‘TV’ set. He is asking me why it has to be broken.”
Such distracting TV advertisements are the norm among advertising companies to penetrate the clustered TV advertisement markets to attract the attention of viewers when a new product is launched. Definitely these “break and burn TVs” have caused a stir and the marketing executives may find the relevance but what about the children?
Do we need to show such violent and negative behavior of people in order to promote a mobile app, especially when our society is already saddled with many violent crimes involving children?
Can’t there be any other striking or pleasing way to turn the attention of the viewers in order to promote ASTRO’s mobile app?
Such questions have been posed in social media platforms.
“ASTRO is aware of the backlash”
The following was one of the comments posted in facebook as a response to the adverts that show breaking and burning the Television sets.
Surprisingly ASTRO responded to the comment by saying the idea “was to encourage viewers to watch astro without TV”. ASTRO also said they are reviewing the advertisement.
-R.Mutharasan
