There’s been a lot of rhetoric about piracy ever since the internet came to fruition, and a lot of it can get very hyperbolic.
But this 90’s era commercial probably takes the cake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLBY4qzUMNw
It starts off with an evil man in a cave putting a hot metal stick in a fire. Ominous music plays in the background as the narrator says: “Pirates are out to get you. Don’t let them brand you with their mark. Piracy funds organized crime, and will destroy our film and video industry. Piracy costs jobs, and will destroy our music and publishing industry. Piracy funds terrorism, and will destroy our development, and your future enjoyment.”
This absolutely insane rhetoric is accompanied by a man thrusting a heated rod into a pile of DVDs and somehow causing cheesy mushroom cloud explosions. With each pan to his face you see flames in his eyes ignited.
I’m going to ignore the blatantly stupid imagery in this video as it only serves to try and scare little kids into thinking pirates are some cavemen that destroy our entertainment and just focus on the words that are being said.
“Pirates are out to get you”
This statement is just dumb considering what pirates actually do – they download things for free that companies sell, but even the act of pirating isn’t that bad as it helps to circulate the product and acts as advertising. For example, the Game of Thrones producers have said that they don’t mind people pirating. Either way, this is a blanket statement that uses no evidence and just doesn’t make sense.
“Don’t let them brand you with their mark.”
This is literally a scare tactic that makes pirates sound like Nazis putting out stars on every other consumer. Literally what.
“Piracy funds organized crime, and will destroy our film and video industry.” ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
This is where the ad gets even dumber, if that was possible. There is no evidence that piracy funds organized crime, and its dumb to think that piracy can even fund anything at all. Also, even in courts companies aren’t able to quantify what kind of damages piracy causes, if it causes any damage at all. Again, a statement without anything backing it up.
“Piracy costs jobs, and will destroy our music and publishing industry.” Pretty much the same as before, another statement without any evidence to point to it. Piracy has been well and alive for decades now, without any destruction of any of these industries. Nobody can really tell if piracy is actually that big of a deal.
“Piracy funds terrorism”
Yeah ok.
So I did pick the most ridiculous ad possible in order to rail on it (and laugh at it), but the base issue I have with this ad and many others condemning piracy is that they completely oversimplify the issue and don’t talk about the nuances of the topic. Also it’s just absolute shit.
Firstly, your post had me laughing with all of your little snide remarks about the video. You point out various issues with the advertisement’s appearance, style, and overall content, which is interesting to note. With the quote that you included in the opening paragraph, I can see that the goal of the ad was to incite fear into the audience. Most of the claims, to me, are not only off-based, but every extreme. This was a great ad choice and your analysis highlighted all of the relevant issues.
Hi Ricken, I would first like to say that I completely agree with your analysis with the ad. Although, piracy is a crime and should be taken seriously, I believe it was completely absurd to make this commercial. The whole portrayal of pirates is almost laughable and is out of place in an ad that they are trying to address the seriousness of piracy. Great analysis!