Make Dot Believe – Brandon Faber

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by Graham in Brandon Faber

I wasn’t there, that day Dot lost her faith. None of us were, I suspect.

Once an energetic, rose-cheeked woman, Dot was the town sunflower. Her presence lit up the coldest corners of the crummiest bars, her smile could spin the universe in an entirely different direction. Her eyes twinkled with a mischievous grin every time someone tried to figure her out, and blazed with fierce resistance when any man tried to bottle her for himself.

Yup, Dot used to be a pistol too hot to handle, too puzzling to resist.

Then one day everything changed. The light faded from her eyes and Dot started to wander aimlessly through life. Her drive no longer evident, her passion a dulled reflection of its radiant past. Dot had lost her faith, her spirit was broken, her heart no longer galloped through the lush fields of life with gay abandon – instead retreating to a feint beat that could only be heard on the quietest of nights, in the darkest parts of the city.

Today shadows follow her when she walks, whispers are not far behind. Dot never looks up anymore. Dot has lost her faith.

Thankfully this imbalance in the forces of nature has not gone unnoticed, its impact making it all the way to Tokyo, Japan – where news of Dot’s demise was greeted with such outrage and outpouring of humanity that SONY embarked on a worldwide campaign to help one woman find herself, once more.

Never before has a corporation taken such interest in the wellbeing of another human being and do I, today, applaud the men and women behind the electronics giant for this unselfish act. Sure, cunning attempts have been made to hide the true purpose of the campaign by writing the slogan as “Make. Believe” – but it’s when voiceovers are added to advertisements that you hear the “Dot” clearly pronounced.

You may argue that it has to because “make believe” is not really the kind of thing you want associated with your brand. Sony “smoke and mirrors” just doesn’t have the right ring to it, sure – but as we’ve now learnt, all this commercial motivation behind the payoff line really is “make believe” – a great act of abracadabra as SONY masks its concern for “the return of faith in the goodness of life” for one woman, lost in a world gone iMad.

I’d like to throw my considerable weight behind this global push for the emancipation of Dot and I encourage you to do the same. Together we should hold vigil, light our candles and sing songs to bring Dot back from the brink of depression.

A “Make Dot Believe Day” is also not a bad idea.

Like believing in Father Christmas or the welfare of fairies – the spiritual upliftment of this (once magnetic woman) is not the sole domain of our specie’s young or chemically imbalanced.

Today it is our duty to raise the torch of faith on behalf of Dot.

Let us print T-shirts, and badges, and mugs with messages of encouragement. Let our offices be adorned with slogans of support and letter boxes overflowing with “Get Well Soon” cards.

At noon on 1 September 2010, let us switch off all electronics, stop all cars and shout our unified support for the return of the Sunflower to this cold and lonely place.

Setting Dot free from the ropes of self-ridicule and the cuffs of conformity is the right thing to do and, am I willing to bet, will our assistance not only make her believe again, but return onto us the greatest gift we have…

Faith in each other.

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