Vintage Social Media

Social media ages fast. Myspace (Anyone remember this? Anyone?) is a superb example of a fad gone by, and even Facebook is getting up there in years. We all know "cool" changes fast, and so to encourage social media sites who wish to remain in that oh-so-enviable position, a Brazilian agency, Moma, has been using a series of vintage-looking advertisements promoting different popular sites and products, to publicize their own Maximedia Seminars, a joint company of Moma who work at modernizing and developing the communications industry.

I believe this ad is extremely effective at proving its point. It shows four of the most common methods of communication in today's date: Youtube, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. However the little illustrations and text that show off and describe each type of social media is shown in black and white, with sometimes a bit of red or blue mixed in, usually inside the logo. This already hints at the fact that all these products are dull and of the past, as that is usually what is associated with images in those colors.

The second thing of notice is the dressup, as well as the ethnicity, of the drawn individuals using the products. Almost every single one of them are Caucasian men and women wearing clothing typical of the 1950s and 60s. They are using technology that seems bulky and ancient, much like the pictures one would see of the earliest and most primitive of computers. All of the above techniques hearken back to the type of advertising that was rampant during the middle of the twentieth century. This, combined with the sepia tone of the paper, as well as the text underneath each product (Striking, miraculous social team-up!) serves to make the social media products in question appear as outdated as this method of advertising. And of course, this is precisely the point of Maximedia in order to inspire fear among these companies that they might end up in the graveyard of fads past, along with iPods and acid-washed jeans.

Of course, while to communications companies this may appeal to their need for autonomy, seeing as they need to "stand out" among the people and break through the clutter, to people outside their target audience (or at the very least to me) this ad holds a bit of wit and humor. Although I am aware that this is intended for the corporations in this industry, it just seems hilarious to take modern social media products such as Skype and Youtube, and show it how it would have been promoted over fifty, possibly even sixty years ago.

I also find it interesting as to how there is no mention of Maximedia, or even its sister company Moma, anywhere within this ad. The attention is on the sites and products presented, so as to make it seem as if it were actually advertising these brands rather than the Brazilian companies. This is a bit deceptive, as the ad and the people within it seem a bit unnatural, therefore implying to its target audience of communications companies, that products such as these are going to lose touch with their consumers, if they don't apply for the help of Maximedia Seminars.