I found these advertisements, to my great surprise, in a bus shelter at Dundas and Spadina last week.They read:
"My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks Obay! From the makers of WhyBecauseISaidSo."
and
"When Amy started thinking for herself, we had to nip it in the bud with Obay."
I simply could not believe my eyes. These were not culture jammed, they were paid for ads, under the plexiglass that have been up for at least a week now. They're well designed as well. Though isn't Obay actually spelled Obey? If anyone knows who is behind this then please speak up!
6 comments:
I googled "obay" and found this webpage: http://www.obay.info/ (which is fake! They do provide a link to MW's definition of "Commodophile" - but apparently the artist who created that website has denied any association to the Obay(tm) ads)
I also found this blog post on it, which may help to shed some light: http://torontoist.com/2008/02/the_ones_that_m.php
Evidentally, it's a teaser campaign to something else. And it may have been done by a student! But it has been spotted in NYC and Montreal, so who knows where s/he's from?
I found this too:
"....Calling 1-888-YOU-OBAY. There's nothing worse than a child who won't do what they're told. You raise them, feed them, cloth them, sit through their violin recitals; and how do they pay you back?? They go ahead and think for themselves!
It's not right and it's not what you had in mind... Thankfully there's OBay! A new remedy from the makers of "why?BecauseIsaidso!" And "NotUnderMyRoof!"
Is your child ignoring your subtle suggestions? Are they not getting the hint when you tell them what to do!? It's time for OBay; Are they making important life decisions without listening to your valuable irriputable input!? Hello OBay! OBay works where other parental controls, like shouting, don't. Just one dose and you'll see a difference... Your truculant teenagers will be transformed into dosile pussycats, open to your thoughts, your ideas and most importantly the future you've mapped out for them.
So order your supply of OBay today... Because YOUR Wish is YOUR command!"
I called it! And you could leave a message...hahah.
I just the second one on king street while walking home! i was going to ask you about them today, i was equally shocked and confused. i thought theres no way it can be real.... but what if this is some sort of new advertising trick ...to be self- depricating?! the slight chance that this was a legit counter culture set up dawned on me, but the idea excited me so much that i tried to hold it at bay. I've never seen anything like this before, its very inspiring! I'm glad you captured them Alison!
*just saw the second one.... oops
i saw one of these on Friday and was very curious about who did them and the back story.I published a Madvertisement for This Magazine several years ago that had a very similiar product name - "obey spray" - it was for parents to use on their rebellious kids......so yes very similar to this mock ad (so similar that I'm wondering if we just had the same idea or if they have riffed off of my original). The "Obey Spray" illustration was even part of a larger series all published in the same magazine where I made all kinds of fake drugs (ex: Empowermints) and illnesses (Excessive Patriotism Disorder).
if you go to www.intrinsik.net, click on the eye and look under "culture collage" you'll see a link to Obey Spray and Empowermints.
What I wonder is who and how were these ads financed....and is it just a teaser campaign for a real drug or some other kind of product....ie: is it pretending to be subversive just for the sake of attracting an audience.....
i'll be curious to see what's next.
Carly Stasko
Jonathan Goldsbie wrote something about this in the Torontoist.
http://torontoist.com/2008/02/the_ones_that_m.php
Based on the message on the phone line and the suggestiong that it might be associated with Colleges Ontario....
I bet the next ad in the series will have to do with making your own choices about post secondary education...ie: study what you want not what your parents tell you.
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