Comments on: What “Same Power, Different Attitude” means to us.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:34:29 +0000

@Ari
I will miss Powershop but I won’t be back because humour and entertainment value do not excuse everything.

The ad campaign is so well crafted and funny that I can see why it would be hard for you to drop it. I’m still smiling even at the Mao ad but I it shows further disregard for what some people think is important. And you are doing it to make money. That’s the “make money first attitude” I’m talking about.

By: Cat

Cat — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:14:10 +0000

I love this advertisement so much, actually I love them all. I agree wholeheartedly in what Mark.H.Rawiri says and think that this sort of advertising needs to become something more acceptable in society. The people in the comments who find this advertisement so offensive need to take a good long look at all of the mistreatment, pain, suffering and offence the church has caused the LQBTQ community and get over it. It’s not the point of the advertisement anyway, the point is to see what good a lot of power can do compared to what good it’s not doing in the world today.

By: Haydn Johnson

Haydn Johnson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:13:45 +0000

I thought the poster…(and the whole campaign) was fantastic. It makes me happy every time i see us. I would be nice to see more corporations standing up for human right..or even just voicing opinions.
Are physical copies of the poster available….I would love one for my room.

By: Ari Sargent

Ari Sargent — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:06:38 +0000

@Mark: I am sorry to hear that you are leaving us.

I can assure you that we have never adopted a make-money-first attitude. Yes, we need to make a return for our shareholders, but it is a modest one, and we have always (and continue) to develop tools and information that helps our customers use less power and save money.

It is fair to say we expected some eyebrows to be raised by this particular ad and that gay marriage is a polarising and controversial topic, however, we attempted to represent the pope as a jovial character and I was genuinely surprised that people were offended by it. Perhaps it is fair to label me as naive.

I wish you well with your new supplier, and we’d happily welcome you back as a customer at any time.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:56:54 +0000

@Ari

The ad does make me laugh even now. But I am not quite as amused to think that you honestly thought nobody would be offended by the ad. Your analysis and explanations are usually pretty cogent but this time you haven’t convinced me that you didn’t foresee it.

As a small ‘family’, with a small ‘power’ budget we need to ensure that our ‘interests’ get noticed. So I’m adopting the make-money-first attitude promoted by Powershop and switching to a cheaper power company. I’ve been an avid promoter of Powershop for three and a half years but it is time for a change for Good.

By: Mark.H.Rawiri

Mark.H.Rawiri — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:50:01 +0000

Whilst reading these results, mainly to which I have found quite spontaneous and some what miss leading, there seems to be more controversy with the church than the control of power shop. I personally, have no ill feeling to the people of the catholic church and questions that need to be read and answered by his Pope John Paul the xv1, would be some what difficult for those whom fail to strengthen there faith and listen more to abusive behavior than the keep of Saint John Paul. However the question in doubt, I believe is for the obligation of each server to try and meet the true responsibilities of his/her affairs.

By: Goodgravey

Goodgravey — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:35:50 +0000

Oh wow. While I will admit Ari’s apology was a classic fauxpology, I don’t believe he has anything to apologise for.

The ad speaks of “same power, different attitude”. It speaks of using your power to achieve different results. This particular ad says to me that I stead of using the immense power of the Catholic Church to abuse, offend, alienate and discriminate against LGBTI folk, imagine what could happen if it used it differently.

For all the harm the Catholic Church has done over the years, it deserves ridicule.

This also highlights the complex issue of rights. You have the right to your beliefs, others have the right to express their opinions. How come you have a right to your belief, but others don’t have the right to speak against it?

By: Robin

Robin — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:58:30 +0000

Fantastic advert – absolutely agree with it and I’m very happy you chose to highlight this issue. I’m with you all the way and I know that most New Zealanders will be too

By: Kris

Kris — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:31:31 +0000

Reading Ari’s response dated 4 Feb 2013 and 11 Dec 2012, I trust Powershop’s pure motives are satire and to get noticed. But then I wonder why they have not taken up Gianni’s question by replacing the Pope with the Holy Prophet Muhhamad? Surely, based on Ari’s replies, people will still accept it as satire, if the ad shows the Holy Prophet Muhammad instead of the Pope. And such ad will be tremendously noticed not only by Kiwis but also by people of any religion/faith all around the world. Can’t wait to see Powershop do that. Lastly, Ari is mistaken in saying that the ad is meant to be only for a month. The Pope billboards have been in my city since at least for more than 2 months now.

By: J L Knol

J L Knol — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 12:31:59 +0000

I agree with Tom Hockley, that wasn’t much of an apology. I also notice, that while you may have only booked the billboards for the month of december, you’re still running the campaign on various websites. That’s not being sorry for causing offence, that’s just posturing. Very disappointed.