{"id":10898,"date":"2015-01-31T06:43:05","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T06:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.richardlittledale.co.uk\/?p=10898"},"modified":"2015-01-31T06:43:05","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T06:43:05","slug":"empathy-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2015\/01\/31\/empathy-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"Empathy fatigue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got the t-shirt<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As regular readers of this blog will know, I love a good advert. As a\u00a0preacher who often speaks in public uninterrupted for 25 minutes or so, I have huge admiration for the people who can capture my imagination with 60 – 80 seconds. The latest offering from Ikea, by London agency Mother,<\/a> is no exception. However, when an advertising manager from a furniture store says <\/a>that ‘unless the t-shirts looked 100% real the audience wouldn’t be able to empathise with them and care about their journey home’<\/em> I grow just a little sceptical.<\/p>\n

Empathy is a precious emotion.\u00a0 It is a rope bridge slung between human beings, no matter how great the chasm beneath. Across it I may carry compassion, understanding, and even a screaming frustration to do something about what I saw on the other side. It strikes me that if I waste too much of it on animated t-shirts advertising a desperate need for neat storage in aid of a furniture company, I might find I have used it up for the day when I really need it.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n

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