The Fox Crime channel is going live (playing dead?) in Norway this week and Norwegian agency Frank Oslo has produced a series of ads starring some criminally minded trolls to promote it.
In Norse mythology, trolls (known as “troldfolk” or “troll-folk” in Norway) are usually cave-dwelling troglodytes with a penchant for being unfriendly to humans, for example by eating them. Today, trolls still occupy their little pop culture niche, with feature-length movies (see the 2010 “Blair Witch Project”-inspired flick “Troll Hunter”) and touristy trifles as can be purchased online at norwayshop.com/trollshop.
Frank’s illustrated ads for Fox Crime depict goofy cartoon trolls committing crime clichés, like transporting a body in the back of a car trunk and engaging in an over-the-top two-handed shootout. The ads are appearing in supermarkets all over Norway.
Let me state from the outset that I love crime drama. In no particular order, I’m an obsessive viewer of: Law & Order: SVU; Law & Order: Criminal Intent; straight up Law & Order; Sherlock; Poirot; The Wire; CSI (only Las Vegas, please); NYPD Blue; Dexter; and Cold Case (if there’s nothing else on), to name but a few. I watch film noir and read hardboiled crime fiction, all of which I know glorifies crime by turning it into compulsive entertainment.
I’m clearly complicit — guilty by association, if you will — but cartoon ads showing mythical creatures disposing of bodies? Seems a little fluffy to me.
But then again, the channel’s lineup is quite a hodgepodge: They’ll be showing “Fringe” (sci-fi) next to “The Glades” (a Chicago cop moves to the Everglades and … who cares).
Mostly I want to know if the trolls are going to be held accountable for their actions. If you eat the hapless human who crosses your bridge without permission, a.k.a, the crime, then you’ve got to do the time — which shouldn’t be too much of a problem considering Norwegian trolls can live up to 400 years.
(image credit: Creativity)
