Cursed Products from an Alternate Reality

 Scroll to the end of the blogpost for a very unsettling video.

Background Info

For my final project in my Drawing 120 class, I put together a video that features some of my cursed inventions that I've been working on this year. My drawing instructor gave me a lot of freedom to create anything that interested me and challenged me to continue developing my skills in the medium of my choice. Since I had such a positive experience with 3D modelling in the OBDF 110 course, I decided to push myself to create a short video that features realistic renders of my products. The preliminary ideas for these products came to me in January when I was working on the Mashup project that you can view here.

Inspirations

Inspired by the Guerrilla Girls’ snarky tone and bold texts, David Shrigley’s humour and unconventional subjects, Barbara Kruger’s criticisms of consumerism, and Margaret Atwood's explorations of human vices and insecurities, I created several advertisements that parody the impractical products that are often advertised in the media.

Atwood's novel, Oryx and Crake, also inspired the naming techniques I used for my cursed products. In her novel, Atwood makes fun of the corporations that combine monosyllabic and disyllabic words to create silly and memorable names for their products. Real products that sound similar to the fictional ones created by Atwood are HappyMeals, TuttiFrutti ice cream, Dippin’ Dots, Dunkin’Donuts, Jugo Juice, Kit-Kats, Tic-Tacs, Cap’n Crunch, Best Buy, Toys R’ Us, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn—the list is infinite. 

Similar to Atwood, I chose names (Sink Drink, Potty Pony, etc.) that indirectly poke fun at popular products that use these simple naming techniques. Atwood's use of the double meaning also inspired me to come up with the name B-Light Technologies, which is the name of the fictional manufacturer of my cursed products. The company's name is a play on the words blight and light to make viewers question the intentions of the brand. 

Concept

In the past few years, I have noticed that many of the products advertised in the media are intended to appeal to consumers' shock-value rather than their needs. Oftentimes, the objects are interesting because they are new and not because they have an inherent value. I decided to respond to these consumerist tendencies by advertising 3 products from a fictional company named B-Light Technologies. My intention is for viewers to consider some of the classic advertising techniques that are used to promote products that are not practical or in demand. At the same time, I encourage viewers to consider how our insecurities and vices contribute to the success of impractical products.

Video: Cursed Products