strange symphonies

The Magnificent Shiny Disc Hero

September 12th, 2007 by aizatto

For those of you who don’t watch Astro, there has been an advertisement for Astro’s new “Astro on Demand” where the Magnificent Shiny Disc Hero, an ah beng pirated disc seller tries to peddle some dvds but gets rejected as their customers say “We’ve already seen it!”.

If you haven’t seen it, you can watch our hero on Youtube.

I really enjoy the commercial. It humorous, effective, ands provides a very important point.

First of all, this proves that when a resource is readily available and at a reasonable cost, people will have no problems dishing out money for it. It is simply within their means, else they will have to resort to other means of getting it, which generally involves piracy.

What I find interesting about the commercial, is the potential impact it may have on society. A new phrase may have just been coined: “Tai Chor Laa”

Malaysia may have just found its hero in the fight against piracy, the Magnificent Shiny Disc Hero.

When I first saw the commercial, I instantly knew that it would be more effective in the fight against piracy than the shitty commercials run by the government on TV and in Cinemas.

When people watch the government commercials, they aren’t affected in any manner that will change their decision to buy pirated dvds. Efforts at trying to make people feel guilty for buying dvds out of their means, or making them fear the possibility of facing jail time, simply doesn’t seem to work. I guess our culture has no problems with feeling guilty or fearing something.

But here comes our Magnificient Shiny Disc Hero to the rescue, who gets ridiculed by the people. Does it try to make people feel guilty? No. How about strike fear into their hearts? No. In fact, its a fun commercial about making fun of a the pirated dvd seller, and it sticks to peoples minds. I guess Malaysians have no problems with ridiculing others.

I have been told by several people that now when they get hassled by a dvd seller, they go “Tai Chor Laa”, much in the same manner as Shiny Disc Hero’s potential customers. I guess DVD sellers around Malaysia must be feeling very frustrated right now. But wait a minute. Did anyone just catch that? Whoa, now the people are armed with a single clear concise message against pirated dvd sellers. Something the government hasn’t been able to do!

I may be exaggerating the potential of this commercial, but either way, to the makers of it. Great Job!

   Post in Culture