Cape Times Uses Tragedy to Sell Papers

Steve Hall

Apr. 27, 2007
1 min read

The ever-cheery Ivan at Ads of the World points us to a campaign for The Cape Times, a South African daily.

Peaceful prints depict the quiet before a given international storm. The slogan quotes the catastrophic date (“Monday 10 September 2001,” for example) and soberly admonishes, “The world can change in a day. Don’t miss your daily edition of in-depth news. Cape Times. Know All About It.”

Check out 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, Soweto uprising and Hiroshima versions.

While leveraging tragedy always draws some heat, we’re on the fence with these. They get the point across nicely but it rings callous to capture moments of quiet intimacy that took place before the world came tumbling down.

Maybe that means the campaign is good. Either way, Lowe Bull is to blame.

Suggested slogan change: “When yo’ shit hits the fan, we’ll be printing the casualty list!”

Steve Hall

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