Selling Nothing

 

I was doing research for a corporate video spot for a Maldivian company called, Lintel Investment, a leading distributor of luxury perfumes, skincare & cosmetics, when i came across very distinctive trend in relation to future of advertising and branding. Before we get in to this, it might be a good idea to say a little bit about the project itself , which was to develop a video spot for Lintel, reflecting the company’s core values and strengths, or in summary introduce the company as one that brought innovation and progressive ideas to the Maldivian business sector. Our idea was to develop a video spot which in itself was progressive in nature, as well as showcase a narrative that epitomized the progression the economic landscape has taken through history, to the present. You can see more regarding this project in the “works”, “Lintel Corporate Video”.

Going back to the the idea we started off with, while researching for the project, i noticed that advertising and product branding was redefining and providing a mythological narrative to how our economic and technological landscape was mutating/ or even evolving while at the same time devolving, into a more advanced primitive state. Two of the most prolific symbols of “fetishistic commodities”, Apple and Levis was finally in the business of “selling nothing” ?, former selling “Air” , while the latter selling “Nudity”, all in the form a material object. The intangible has a tangible form, at least for now anyway.