"Don't Say 'Nothing Will Happen to Me,' OK?"

Sometimes you come across an ad campaign that's so fucking brilliant that every time it comes on TV, you roll on the floor laughing, even though you don't understand every word of the copy.

A Turkish brand of condoms called "Okey" is running a broadcast and outdoor campaign called "'Bana bir şey olmaz deme' okey, mi?" This translates to: "Don't say 'Nothing will happen to me,' OK?"

We first noticed this campaign when an ad featuring four guys installing a klima ran a thousand times a night. In it, one guys climbs a ladder, another guy hangs out the window upside down installing the kilma, a the third guy holds the second guy's legs and the fourth "assists." Astute readers know that something very similar happened on our sokak! (Trust me, you don't need to understand Turkish to find these ads funny).

Then, the second ad in the campaign appeared. It showed a guy carrying at least 12 damacan (water bottles) strapped to the back of his scooter. Have you ever ordered  multiple bottles at a time?  Then you know that no matter how many you order, the sucu will deliver them all at once.

The third one -- and my personal favorite -- has 15 dudes holding up a truck while another guy welds its undercarriage. In need of a tea break, they prop it up with 2x4s. Malaasef, we can't find it anywhere online.

Do we really need to explain why these ads are funny? They are funny because every scene happens all the time here! This agency, whoever they are (and there's reason to believe there's a yabancı behind the creative because Turks are typically unwilling to make fun of themselves to this degree), made an entire ad campaign featuring Turknology!  If we were a creative director, we would make an ad of an usta sticking a screwdriver in an electrical socket to determine if it's working. Nothing is funnier than Turknology. 

There are other ads from an earlier campaign -- someone sticking a fork in a toaster, a guy talking on a cell phone during a flight, a guy adjusting a TV antennae during a lighting storm -- but they just don't convey the same sense of abject Turkishness as the ones running now (although, if you're in Turkey, your inability to watch these ads on YouTube meets and exceeds your daily recommended allowance of Turkishness).

We don't know if these ads effectively sell condoms to Turks. We may not be the target demographic, but if we needed condoms, we would totally buy "Okey."

Comments

[Jayne no-longer-in-Germany]

I have an ongoing joke with some of my fellow aid workers who actually have senses of humor (a minority, I know) about doing away with UNDP development indicators and coming up with our own. For instance, I say that when indigenous Goth Girls or Punk Rock Girls are seen in an urban area, your work is done. I think TV commercials showing a culture making fun of itself definitely fall into the category of a development indicator. If an Ottoman version of Jeff Foxworthy shows up and starts saying, "You might be Turkish if...", and isn't killed, it's time to move that country up on the rankings.

[Hans]

Looks like the ads need some post production...
kindest
hans

[Cindy]

I loved this post. I have been here for a month now and have seen those very sights...

[Turkey in Thanksgiving (eaten without being slaughtered)]

Correction: The big bottle is called Damacana (not Damacan)and comes from the Spanish word Damajuana. (Turkish pronunciation Da-ma-jah-na)

BTW, it is a pitty you leave without learning Turkish, it has a lot more subtleties than many other languages, and is more suitable to make irony...

All the best,

A Turk