Oiva (2001)

Oiva

Oiva, a 2001 commercial for a well-known brand of cider is, at first glance, rather cryptic. Yet upon closer inspection reveals itself to be, in essence, a clever and witty visual puzzle of the sort one imagines graphic designers might play in their off-hours. It is an exercise that gives new meaning to the term “subliminal advertising,” as the product name and written information about it become essential formal elements in the visual design of featured characters and their environment, and are embedded throughout the piece in some obvious and some not so obvious locations. For example, the flowing lines of a woman’s hat spell “Oiva” while her skirt flies up to reveal the percentage alcohol content of the beverage rather than a full complement of the requisite body parts. Other body parts fluidly shift shape to spell out everything from the product’s ingredients to its cost. Repeated viewings are required to determine exactly what the
commercial is selling and the enigma cleverly serves to pique and hold the spectator’s interest. This is doubtless a far more effective method of generating consumer support and, incidentally, a feature that might serve such a publicity campaign well in a North American–style commercial broadcast schedule where the same advertisements air several times an hour. But more interesting is the way in which words and images are fundamentally at odds with one another. We see the word “Oiva” several times; but it does not represent Oiva, the product, but rather a character’s hat. One is tempted to speculate about whether this is a cheeky way of preserving artistic integrity: a commercialized meditation on the insidiousness yet essential meaninglessness of consumerism with its associated brand names and goods.
Nicholls, C. (2005). (Very) Short films by Pärn. Oiva. Metro Cinema Publications Number Two, March, lk 23.