Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister mocked for promotion video
In an attempt to promote traditional grocery stores, Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar wrote and released a music video titled “Show Huay Show Suay”.
Reviews described it as both a waste of government time and inappropriate splurging of taxpayer money. Accusations have been made of the song sounding oddly similar to the 1975 Muhammad Ali anthem Black Superman by English artist Johnny Wakelin and The Kinshasa Band, opening up the chance of possible copyright violations against the ministry.
The ill-received music video showcases Nattawut and other enthusiastic government employees singing along while performing side step dances with revved up elbows, twirling fingers and flailing fist pumps all jutting towards the screen.
In the mix, the video hurls a montage of shoppers scanning through grocery aisles, inspecting detergent and cereal, and seemingly enjoying their overall shopping experience. A guitarist mimicking the dress style of hard-rock band AC/DC’s Angus Young also appears in the video, “shredding” a guitar.
On June 22, Thailand’s Commerce Ministry uploaded the video to YouTube in celebration of the two-month mark of Nattawut’s motion of encouraging the country’s citizens to support and buy goods from traditional grocery stores. Markets in the grocery retail sector of Thailand have recently been changing, with less focus on wet markets and more on supermarkets.
While the video quickly racked up more than 50,600 views, viewer “dislikes” outnumbered the “likes” by a gaping margin of 1,560 to 160 by 11AM on June 26, 2013. The video was later deleted.
One commenter on YouTube, nb5, stated: “This is retarded”. Another, ss10110tk, wrote: “The deputy commerce minister is terrible”. “Nattawat reang” said: “Tragic, can’t they find anything better to do?”
Users on Bangkok Post also had some notable commentary about the video. One Thailand based user named Bonzo noted Nattawut’s talent in song creation was, “A thrilling experiment in polyrhythms and microtonality… he truly is a rock leg-end. Nice Dad Dancing technique.”
Another, more concerned user by the name of Silkpit said, “That’s the best he can do with his gods given abilities. It’s frightening that such folks are running a ministry of a country, yet no surprise in Thailand under the present leadership from Dubai.”
The public’s response of distastefulness was not quite what Nattawut had expected, as the video endured more ridicule rather than commendation. Hours later, YouTube displayed a message stating that the video had been pulled by the original uploader.However, YouTube user Komsan Jandamit re-uploaded the video on June 26th, 2013.
Watch the video below.
In an attempt to promote traditional grocery stores, Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar wrote and released a music video titled “Show Huay Show Suay”. Reviews described it as both a waste of government time and inappropriate splurging of taxpayer money. Accusations have been made of the song sounding oddly similar to the 1975 Muhammad Ali anthem Black Superman by English artist Johnny Wakelin and The Kinshasa Band, opening up the chance of possible copyright violations against the ministry. The ill-received music video showcases Nattawut and other enthusiastic government employees singing along while performing side step dances with revved up...
In an attempt to promote traditional grocery stores, Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar wrote and released a music video titled “Show Huay Show Suay”.
Reviews described it as both a waste of government time and inappropriate splurging of taxpayer money. Accusations have been made of the song sounding oddly similar to the 1975 Muhammad Ali anthem Black Superman by English artist Johnny Wakelin and The Kinshasa Band, opening up the chance of possible copyright violations against the ministry.
The ill-received music video showcases Nattawut and other enthusiastic government employees singing along while performing side step dances with revved up elbows, twirling fingers and flailing fist pumps all jutting towards the screen.
In the mix, the video hurls a montage of shoppers scanning through grocery aisles, inspecting detergent and cereal, and seemingly enjoying their overall shopping experience. A guitarist mimicking the dress style of hard-rock band AC/DC’s Angus Young also appears in the video, “shredding” a guitar.
On June 22, Thailand’s Commerce Ministry uploaded the video to YouTube in celebration of the two-month mark of Nattawut’s motion of encouraging the country’s citizens to support and buy goods from traditional grocery stores. Markets in the grocery retail sector of Thailand have recently been changing, with less focus on wet markets and more on supermarkets.
While the video quickly racked up more than 50,600 views, viewer “dislikes” outnumbered the “likes” by a gaping margin of 1,560 to 160 by 11AM on June 26, 2013. The video was later deleted.
One commenter on YouTube, nb5, stated: “This is retarded”. Another, ss10110tk, wrote: “The deputy commerce minister is terrible”. “Nattawat reang” said: “Tragic, can’t they find anything better to do?”
Users on Bangkok Post also had some notable commentary about the video. One Thailand based user named Bonzo noted Nattawut’s talent in song creation was, “A thrilling experiment in polyrhythms and microtonality… he truly is a rock leg-end. Nice Dad Dancing technique.”
Another, more concerned user by the name of Silkpit said, “That’s the best he can do with his gods given abilities. It’s frightening that such folks are running a ministry of a country, yet no surprise in Thailand under the present leadership from Dubai.”
The public’s response of distastefulness was not quite what Nattawut had expected, as the video endured more ridicule rather than commendation. Hours later, YouTube displayed a message stating that the video had been pulled by the original uploader.However, YouTube user Komsan Jandamit re-uploaded the video on June 26th, 2013.
Watch the video below.
