HEAD-TURNING advertisements for shows on Fox's cable channels are back - and getting Singaporeans talking.
Said blogger James Soh on news-and-commentary site LivingInSingaporeToday. com: "Clever! I hope it doesn't backfire."
However, a housewife who wants to be known only as Ms Chui, 29, was not amused. "The ads are teetering on the edge of clever and distasteful," she told my paper.
Hot on the heels of the Dexter TV-show ads inspired by the Mas Selamat posters, Fox's FX channel launched another unconventional marketing campaign last month.
This time, the ads - across TV, print, radio and cinema screens - take the form of bogus "public notices" and broadcast "public statements" from a fictitious Department of Appropriate Behaviour.
They warn the public not to watch FX's new acclaimed trio of provocative and risque dramas, namely Californication, The Riches and Mad Men.
In one print ad, the pseudo department even states that FX and its shows are "detrimental to the moral fabric of Singaporean society and must be avoided".
Some netizens were even fooled into believing that the "public notices" were from an actual local authority.
Mr Basil Chua, territory director with Fox International Channels Asia, said he had received positive feedback from the public and media industry that the creative campaign took many by surprise.
"It reflects the new FX brand - provocative, edgy and bold," he said. "Also, we wanted a campaign that stands out from the media clutter."
Fox International Channels Asia had commissioned home-grown firm The Secret Little Agency - who did the Dexter posters in June - to help it relaunch FX and its shows.
Mr Nicholas Ye, creative partner with The Secret Little Agency, said the agency took the cue from media censorship and regulation in Asia in developing its concept.
"There is a fine line between sneaky and smart. And we know not to cross it with both the public and the regulatory bodies that make the rules," he said.
In the meantime, the tongue-in-cheek ad campaign continues to pique the interest of online communities.
A Stomp contributor, scorpidio, said: "The ads caught my attention and made me catch the first episodes of Californication and The Riches."
