The blue ball of connection

The story behind the remarkable TV commercial

The commercial
Perhaps you have seen them a few years ago: Salem Samhoud, an unknown Dutchman, calling upon people to connect. In the film he says he has had enough of individualisation and polarisation, and he asks people to support his connection initiative by ordering a blue ball, free of charge. The film lasts around two minutes; a long time in television terms. It looks attractive, polished and professional. In other words, it has cost someone a lot of money.

Many people wondered what was behind the film. What was the idea? Many assumed that there must be a commercial motive behind it: a clever campaign to publicise a new brand or product. Others, like the television correspondent of the newspaper The Volkskrant, suspected a vague conspiracy to convince people of the benefits of transcendental meditation or something in that direction. But there had to be something behind it… after all, nobody would pour so much money into a project with nothing but altruistic motives.

On the website of &samhoud, the organisation behind the connection initiative, we can also see many positive reactions to the film. People saying they are reassured, especially in an election period, to see that someone is finally taking the initiative to make a positive contribution. Someone who, evidently just like them, has had enough of all the negative bickering and complaining. Have these people understood the message? Or are they simply naïve, and have been taken in by a clever marketing trick?