Thai Tv Ad With Disabled Children Singing

[chiangmaibruce]

Has anyone else seen the ad showing now on TV showing children from a disabled school sing Que sera sera ... with the parents watching?

I think it was done by a Thai insurance company, that presumably sponsors the school. Does anyone know which company? I thought it was very nicely produced and quite touching. My hat's off to those involved

Edited October 9, 2009 by PeaceBlondie
Corrected at rerquest of OP. PeaceBlondie

[chiangmaibruce]

OK, well for anyone interested you can read all the background details here:

http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thail...-will-be/1483/#

[Atmos]

OK, well for anyone interested you can read all the background details here:

http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thail...-will-be/1483/#

thanks; I saw the advert once on TV and didn't understand it was for insurance; beautiful version of the song, have now sent the link to so many people

only comment re this thread's headline is the kids are from a 'school for disabled children' the autistic bit is misleading

cheers!

[smint]

Thank you so much for the link. The video was certainly nicely done... Very moving too. Does anyone knows what the ad says at the back? Wanted to know how they would phrase the last bit after the video of the children singing..

Edited October 8, 2009 by smint

[Meg_2003]

Thank you so much for the link. The video was certainly nicely done... Very moving too. Does anyone knows what the ad says at the back? Wanted to know how they would phrase the last bit after the video of the children singing..

It says something like

"Lives are born differently, but we take care the best we can"

Chiwit (Life) gued maa (born) dtaak-dtaang (different) dtae (but) duu lae (take care) dee tee sud ( the best) dai (can)

Apologies for the weird 'karaoke'

[elektrified]

Thai Health is the company.

Nice commercial. Very moving. We enjoy it too.

[DickFarang]

My wife likes the song and I printed for her the 1956 version by Doris Day, so that she can sing with the children.

It proves to be an ad for an insurance company, but I did not know the children were disabled.

It is on Channel Seven, I think every evening.

[PeaceBlondie]

Just heard it on TV at 9 am. Lovely.

[chiangmaibruce]

The link I posted originally now seems to be dead.

Unfortunate, as it gave some interesting background to the ad.

In case that linked page is not reinstated, here is the ad on YouTube:

[CTO]

Curious - any one with a handicapped kid been able to get health cover from said insurance company?

[mmushr00m]

I really like that ad, the most poignant part for me were the scenes showing the production crew. The look on their faces, to be there live...wow.

[ThailandLovr]

To me the ad speaks volumes of the wonderful, caring Thai people and culture.

[Moonrakers]

To me the ad speaks volumes of the wonderful, caring Thai people and culture.

Lets not get carried away here, it is a marketing tool used by a corporation in order to raise their own profile and thus generate more business. I doubt very very much that an increase in profits was not the main reason behind this advert and as mentioned above, I wonder what the premiums would be for a handicapped child.

Having said that though, it is a nicely done advert with the added bonus that the schools profile will now have been raised and as such will almost certainly see an increase in donations.

[soihok]

Curious - any one with a handicapped kid been able to get health cover from said insurance company?

Along with Moonrakers post.

I am a parent that has the day to day stress, sorrow and joy of an Autistic child.

I am going to post a picture of her as she is a beautiful girl of 7 years old and if I were to tell you the following,,,,,you would,nt have known going by the picture.

I have seen the advert on TV , and it is very touching, I wonder how many of the voices on the Ad are from Disabled kids though.

I wish the world for my daughter, as any Dad would, she has been refused health insurance a number of times AIA/AIG being one of them - Manchester United sponsors..Very Nasty!!!....maybe I should get in touch with the company that runs the Ad....she is Thai after all.

She can only speak in her own way , which does,nt come close to any formed words that we can recognise, still in pampers and is unable to dress/undress without assistance.All these comments are as of now but she is young and she can do it on her own soon....I hope.

Anyway...not to put a damper on a nice thread.....she is the happiest child I,ve ever met

Edited October 17, 2009 by soihok

[CTO]

Soi hok - thank you

CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility is common in the west - not so common here

There video is very well done - but I was angry first time I saw it - my sister worked with handicapped kids al here life teaching and then writing books - I'd volunteer to help - and my sister is a very frank person - she didn't know happier kids - didn't like hypocrisy - hated profit from emotions.

I also wonder at the value of the donations - it seems following the links funds are to be raised for one school.

Typical in Thailand - the ads cost more than the money raised - never mind that - but why not give $'s for the national foundation that looks after these children and their needs?

Nice idea - poorly aimed - and sorry - it makes me angry - not happy.

Curious - did anyone here who said the add was nice donate? I'd be impressed if you did but dubious if anyone bothered.

[Moonrakers]

I am with you CTO.

I refrained from mentioning anything at first for fear of being labeled insensitive but it's clear that I am not the only who can see that although done well, the whole thing is actually done is poor taste and I suspect that advertising and trading watchdogs in the west would have more than a few questions to ask of the insurance

And soihok, sorry to hear abut your daughter. I can understand to some extent what you must be going through as my own daughter is epileptic, although her life is still more or less normal.

[DickFarang]

Che Sera (Doris Day) A.D. 1956 B.E. 2499

When I was just a little girl,

I asked my mother, what will I be ?

Will I be pretty, will I be rich ?

Here's what she said to me:

Che sera, sera,

whatever will be, will be,

the future's not ours to see,

che sera, sera; what will be, will be.

When I was just a girl at school,

I asked my teacher, what should I try ?

Should I paint pictures, should I sing songs ?

This was her wise reply:

Che sera, sera,

whatever will be, will be,

the future's not ours to see,

che sera, sera; what will be, will be.

When I grew up and fell in love,

I asked my sweetheart, what lies ahead ?

Will we have rainbows, day after day ?

Here’s what my sweetheart said:

Che sera, sera,

whatever will be, will be,

the future's not ours to see,

che sera, sera; what will be, will be.

Now I have children of my own,

they ask their mother, what will I be,

Will I be handsome, will I be rich ?

I tell them tenderly:

Che sera, sera,

whatever will be, will be,

the future's not ours to see,

che sera, sera; what will be, will be.

Che sera, sera.

[DickFarang]

The original title (and theme) is a strange mix of Italian and French:

che: Italian for “what” (In Italian the h indicates that the preceding c should be pronounced k before an e or an i. Ch is not pronounced tsh as in English or in Spanish.)

sera: French for “will be” (More precisely: Indicative Mood, Simple Future Tense, 3^rd person singular of the verb être = to be.)

[soihok]

Thank you and...................?

[geriatrickid]

Read the background notes. yes, a company improves its image, but the real boost goes to the Princess Mother’s Volunteer Foundation and Srisangwan School. It's no different than Purina the American pet foods a division of Swiss multinational Nestle doing similiar ads for pet shelters. Nestle has been lambasted for its baby formula marketing, but in the Purina situation gains a good public image while at the same time helping those that need help. I have seen similar themed ads for eyeglass retailers that collect glasses for reuse in the third world. Warm fuzzy feelings are best evoked using children or animals.

I'd rather a company spent money on ads like this that raise the profile of groups that are kept out of sight than on billboard eyesores. It's a win win situation.

[mmushr00m]

I give a % of my monthly income to charities. Not this particular one but to orphanages.

[mccw]

Curious - any one with a handicapped kid been able to get health cover from said insurance company?

Be very interesting, my suspiscion is no.

I love the song but think the add is not nice. Pulling on heart strings, using disabled kids to flog insurance! If it was an add for a charity then maybe, but for insurance i find it in very bad taste.

Edited October 31, 2009 by mccw

[Heng]

Yeah, imagine any marketing company anywhere in the world resorting to things like that.

That said, I do think that this 'way' is better than the tradition here of keeping special needs children hidden away from society, in many cases never even sent to school, living at home until old age. While the ad does "say" 'buy insurance!' it also says "these kids are still your kids, they should be in school, they haven't done anything wrong, they didn't choose to be the way they are."

Edited October 31, 2009 by Heng

[soihok]

"these kids are still your kids, they should be in school, they haven't done anything wrong, they didn't choose to be the way they are."

Well said Heng, until a larger community of special schools develops in Thailand, which I think is a way off, things will stay as they are now.

I have actually thought about establishing a special school but I dont know where to start with it. I am a mechanic that works with tunnel boring machines, not a principal of a school.

The cost of creating it would out strech my personnel funds , cant see any funds being granted by Thai Government departments, it would be mega stress on my family and myself. I would wish the school to be non profit making entity , all funds being fed back into the school to gain progression.

As it is I need to go work outside Thailand again soon to be able to provide for my family.

Its a dream though.

Edited October 31, 2009 by soihok

[CTO]

Personally I've never liked the song - it always seemed to me "Accept the shit as it happens - don't bother planning fo rthe future"

Very Budhist - but not my style.

VERY sadly the parents of special needs kids know the future and are scared of it - their kids will turn into adults and will still need spoecial attention - when Mum and Dad retire in not so distant future what happens? When mum and Dad die, what happens.

The future is tough and well know - regardless what the song says.

[Daffy D]

Que_Sera__Sera___Doris_Day.mp3

[skybluestu]

Personally I've never liked the song - it always seemed to me "Accept the shit as it happens - don't bother planning fo rthe future"

Very Budhist - but not my style.

VERY sadly the parents of special needs kids know the future and are scared of it - their kids will turn into adults and will still need spoecial attention - when Mum and Dad retire in not so distant future what happens? When mum and Dad die, what happens.

The future is tough and well know - regardless what the song says.

Isn't it for insurance you take out before your child is born, not after, because you don't know if you'll have a healthy child or not?

[CTO]

no idea how that kind of insurance works - could be a good point if that's what they cover.

Thing is "The future is not ours to see" is sadly crystal clear for parents of handicapped kids - something I wonder if the people putting the clip together even thought about

Still think the money - if it was a CSR exercise - should have gone to a national foundsation rather than one school only - IF any money has been raised.

[YoungNRich12]

This commercial made me cry. I am such a sensitive guy. But I still like the commercial where the father whose wife died is driving to his teenage son's concert that he did not want to go to initially and he crashes and you see the watch being shattered. And people claim that Thais are not creative. Two of the best commercials I have seen. Highly effective, poetic.

[GuestHouse]

The future's not ours to see......... And there in the audience a pregnant woman looking at a bunch of handicapped kids with a look on her face of what has the future got in store for me and my baby.

BUY INSURANCE!

Me personally, I think the advert is a cynical play on emotions, worse a cynical abuse of the image of handicapped children.

Cynical Kitsch nothing more.

Grown men with tears in their eyes proclaiming the beauty of Thai caring attitudes to handicapped children - Go find out about what real Thai attitudes and treatment of the disabled children is.

Look at the proportion of disabled children dumped in orphanages, and attitudes to disabled people in the work place, access to education, employment, health care ........