Financial Times

The mock funeral
JWT dares to be different
By Iromi Perera
Serious concerns have arisen about the mock funeral conducted by advertising agency J. Walter. Thompson, which was revamped as JWT, two Fridays ago. Many questions, even from the advertising fraternity themselves, have been raised as to whether such an event was ethical and necessary.

But Thayalan Bartlett, Vice President of JWT says they received mostly positive responses from other agencies and clients who saw the whole idea of burying the past as an interesting way of forgetting the past and moving ahead with the new identity.

He added that the negative reaction to it could be a fraction of the positive responses they have received from their clients and friends from the advertising industry. All JWT agencies around the world had different burial ceremonies on March 4.

In Egypt, the JWT office built a pyramid to symbolically mummify the heritage of J. Walter Thompson. JWT- Japan conducted a traditional deep-sea burial ceremony.

Bartlett said that the entire procedure here was done legally, with the agency purchasing the plot at the cemetery and acquiring the deed, even though there was no death certificate. He assured that to the best of his knowledge and as indicated by the personnel at the cemetery there were no bodies previously buried at the plot as they had got a new plot that was empty.

A commercial was also filmed of the burial ceremony. With regard to the 'priest' who conducted the ceremony, Bartlett said that they were very particular that the priest did not carry any religious symbols as such. It was not a church service that had taken place and they had omitted any reference to God or to the Bible. The hymns that were sung at the ceremony had been common hymns such as 'Amazing Grace' and 'Beyond the sunset,' said Bartlett.

An official from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) said that JWT had requested permission from the Mayor of Colombo for this "ceremony" and that permission was granted. However he said this is the first time that such a ceremony of this nature took place.

The mock ceremony took place on March 4 at the general Christian section (with the Roman Catholic and Anglican having separate sections) of the Borella cemetery. Some funeral parlours in Colombo said no burial is permitted at Kanatte without an authentic death certificate.

Industry professionals disappointed by the lack of ethics in the profession drew references to the Accredited Advertising Agencies' Association of Sri Lanka's (4As') recent Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.

There the profession is urged not to make any "Statements, suggestions, innuendoes, pictures or sound effects that are offensive to public decency, minority segments, religious beliefs and cultures."

The Kanette cemetery keeper said that the company had received approval from the CMC and since it was in the general section a letter from a Christian priest was not required, as it is with the Anglican and the Roman Catholic sections. Tyronne May, curator of the Anglican section, expressing his disapproval of the whole mock ceremony said that he would not have granted permission for such a ceremony to take place in the Anglican section.

Has the funeral of advertising begun?
The recent "celebration" for the simple change of the name of an advertising company by way of a bizarre funeral must surely be the beginning of the erosion of advertising standards in this country.

Why, oh why is there no legal authority to prevent such ridiculous and ill-conceived ideas? Modern advertising comes up with a lot of 'catchy' ideas to draw attention and most are appreciated for their humour. But this is 'over the top'!

Let's look at the legal side of this.
In the first instance notwithstanding the emotional strain an average citizen of this country not only suffers at the passing away of family or a friend, he is also subject to the rules and regulations governing the publishing of an Obituary notice. One needs a certified death certificate before an Obituary is accepted for publication by the newspaper.

How did the newspapers that published the Obituary overlook this requirement? Or is this another case of the 'infamous' DEMOCRACY' obituary which brought about the rule anyway? Then there's the ethical side. The cemetery authorities seem to have ignored all known norms of decency and permitted the conduct of a mock funeral. Are they not aware of the sanctity of death? If it was conducted in the Christian section, will the Head of the relevant church explain if permission was given to ridicule death not to mention the fact that someone's grave was dug open?

As for the old man and founder who was featured, it's best that his kith and kin decide if he was disgraced or not. It was mentioned in one report that he would have been proud of all this! I have met some former staff members of this agency and I can assure you that none of them is proud of it. An Ad Industry veteran

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