I've been thinking about the sunflower with an Asian accent in the Bankwest television adverts.
Giving Sunflower an Asian accent is really clever, functioning not only attract new Australian migrants to Bankwest, but also to bridge differences between everyone.
Now in Australia, there is an unspoken divide between people who have stayed there for generations, and every new wave of migrants. Australia, unlike America, fails to proudly recognise themself as a country of migrants, of diverse heritages. State Governments may talk about 'multiculturalism' but they prefer to use 'tolerance' to deal with differences, rather than encouraging understanding of common human traits and cross cultural learning.
Hence there still exists a group of people who look down on new migrants, believing in a migrant pecking order, ignorant as they are that foreign investments account for a major part of Australia's economic growth.
Bankwest's Sunflower appeals to international students/new migrants--an extremely large community in Australia who are happy to serve their new country, via their skills, if not taxes. It is probably the only character in Australian TV which these group of people can relate to. I know I can.
Sunflower talks about being open, as a normal person, to make friends. This hints at being open to different people as a local business, and being open to make new friends in a foreign land.
And we all know that being receptive and open to interacting with other cultures gives you an edge. Obama is popular with the rest of the world for a reason.
In this era where global superpowers are inter-reliant, it is not only cool, but also beneficial to recognise flexibility in between cultures!
For further interest, here's a clip that shows how Sunflower puppet is maneuvered:
3 comments:
I like how I've been quoted =D
seriously? you're welcome, i suppose... thanks for the guest appearance :D
I find it amusing how you're able to notice all these subtleties, like the Japanese boy in Up as well! Although, I must say that if there's a choice between two characters, one being Asian and another Caucasian, I would most likely support the Asian :p (Note: Jay Chou in the Green Hornet - He's way cooler than Seth Rogen :p)
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