When viral goes wrong in Singapore, it goes global: Anti-Gambling Ad #WorldCup14

Every advertising agency makes advertisements in hopes that it will be well-received and in the Internet age, goes viral. This will prove to the client that the content has a wide audience and its impact is even greater than expected. However, this is a double-edged sword - not all things viral are good.

Case in point, the anti-gambling ad by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NPCG) that is aired constantly during the World Cup 2014 season. In case you have been entirely oblivious, here is the clip. In a nutshell, a bunch of kids are excited about the World Cup except poor Andy as his dad bet all of Andy's savings on Germany. The ad tries to portray that the true sufferers of gambling addiction as the family members.

It is a powerful message and playing the loved ones card usually pays off. Just look at Singapore's anti-smoking ads where second-hand smoke hurts more than just the smoker - it negatively affects babies, children, and others. However, the problem with gambling is that even if the odds are stacked against you, you still have a chance to win.

Germany has been winning consistently throughout this World Cup campaign - at the time writing this post, they are about to play in the Finals against Argentina (in all likelihood, the Die Mannschaft will win their fourth World Title). In this scenario, Andy no longer needs to worry about his Dad's gambling problem as it has paid off. Andy and his family will now have enough cash to never worry about anything again. All in all, the ad backfired on a grand scale.

While the ad is only aired in Singapore, the ridicule is now international. It has been featured around the world and even parodied by an American late night talk show. Singapore is yet again seen as an overly eager parent state who not only bans gum, implements caning - now, it is the country that fails to discourage gambling.

This is not the first viral advertising faux pas faced by Singapore. The previous one was by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) - where a poorly executed promotional video (poor acting, cliche script, and cringeworthy ending) tries to entice Filipino tourists to come to Singapore. There are plenty more where they came from.

In the STB video, when it was first unearthed by netizens, the usual furor ensued. It was lampooned by everyone, the international media picked it up and the joke falls on the national agency. Yet its response is something that the NCPG can learn from.

First, the video in question was taken off. Granted, the videos were only on YouTube and with the Barbara Streisand effect in play, it was soon viral again. But the effort to stem the tide is important.

Second, the spokesperson came to the forefront to speak about the video. He addressed the concerns of the image that was portrayed and earnestly promised to do better.

Third, the most important of all, when the spokesperson was informed of the parodies being made, he applauded their creativity. Instead of antagonising the Internet and its trolls, he embraced them for their efforts. He even said that the agency would take this feedback positively and ahead of future releases perhaps even get the collective Internet to chip in ideas.

The jokes died down. The fun concluded. People moved on.

NCPG should take these lessons to heart. For instance, stop running the ad immediately - it is not effective. While there is no time to make another one now, there could be a follow up video where Andy's dad didn't stop gambling and its consequences. In my humble opinion and 20/20 hindsight, future ads from the agency can do A/B testing - make two different ads to approach the problem from different angles. If one fails, there is always a backup.

As the term suggests, viral ads cannot be controlled. More often than not, ads explode online because of its negativity. In those instances, it will be best to take it head on. Every country has the potential to make mistakes - we are all human after all. The cures for a bad viral ad are the flexibility, humility, and the ability to laugh at oneself.