A political party in Alberta launched its provincial election campaign by unveiling its new bus. As is popular with most political campaigns, the bus was wrapped to look like a gigantic billboard. But no one bothered to properly proof the final layout.
A photo of the party’s female leader was placed in a rather unfortunate position over the rear wheels of the bus.
After a day of negative attention and being laughed at, the party says it will replace the $10,000 wrap. That’s an expensive do-over.
(Edit: a week later, the party is still being laughed at.)
This is what you get for cutting corners and going cheap. Trying to save a few bucks by not hiring the best people is often an expensive lesson. Getting it right the first time is always the best bargain.
The photography used on this party’s web site [Edit 2017: the party no longer exists] is poorly composed, poorly edited, frequently out-of-focus and sometimes grossly over/under-exposed. Based on the EXIF data, most pictures were shot on cheap, amateur point-n-shoot cameras.
All of this proves that this political party couldn’t care less about its image, couldn’t be bothered to provide quality, informative photography for the voters, doesn’t understand the importance of photography as a communications tool, doesn’t understand good marketing, can’t be bothered with the details and obviously loves to cut corners wherever it can. How can this party be trusted to run a government?
Events, organizations and corporations need experienced, news photographers for their in-house coverage, web site and press releases. News photographers know how to properly advance a location because they know what makes a good picture and what doesn’t. They know how to create effective photos that enhance the message.
When corporate image and credibility are at stake, there’s never an excuse for cutting corners. Unless, of course, the company wants to be laughed at.
