creatures dolphins are really top of the bunch. One of the things that baffles copy­writers is that dolphins have the ability of (wireless) communication (e.g. Nos. 1, 3) — thanks to their superior intelligence ! I wonder : how do these people talk to the neighbours ? Do cats and dogs and birds and ants communicate with each other ? Do these species use a landline ? Even plants communicate and signal things to each other. Wireless ! It think that the writers are a bit confused. They must mistake echolocation for communication. That is something different, any bat could tell you that.

texts are really a bit tortuous. Advertisement 1 is about financial planning. The header sounds Extraordinary innovation and is followed by The evolutionary cycle (†) of the dolphin has bestowed upon it extraordinary intelligence and the ability to communicate. This has resulted in the dolphin being one of our most highly evolved species. Now comes the link with the service: Innovation is also a necessary requisite in financial planning … Quite a brainteaser.

The author tries to add some weight to the advert in giving the scientific name of the animal : The Dolphin. (L. Tursiops Truncatus). That is the equivalent to stating The Fish, because there are many species of each and fish or dolphin are the name of the collection of all species in the group. Notice also the beginner's mistake in the scientific notation. It should have been Tursiops truncatus L. meaning the Bottlenose Dolphin.

wireless communication belongs to the clever species (3) raises several questions. Why is the species here used, and in the previous advert (1) our species ? Do humans have species in ownership ? Is there only one smart species as implied by the use of the in (3) ? I thought humans were considered the clever kind. But wireless communication (as meant in the advertisement) is only a recent development in human history. It is about the dolphin then ? But scientists doubt them to be more intelligent than monkeys. Questions, questions.

says the car advert (2). The writer stuck to the basics: dolphins are intelligent and so is this vehicle. This new car … has an exceptionally high IQ. He is showing it with a splash. The author continues with some features and then interjects —how smart!—, then some more features and —ingenious!—, features again, and many more smart stuff. Never before existed a car this intelligent. This really is a new kind of intelligence. Had they consulted the USCA green book for car adverts, they would have known that dolphins are not capable of selling cars because there are no features to match. The image editing is very well done though.

it is quite a challenge to make all subsystems run fast and synchronous (4). The advert for the control system achieving just that is refreshingly straightforward : the synchronous movement is shown and the intelligence is suggested by the dolphins.

implies smart messaging between fellow workers (5, 9). Take dolphins: no better way to illustrate the concept. This kind of software must not impose limitations on the project at hand : it's therefore a lucky coincidence that dolphins also emanate a notion of freedom. Several other advertisements touch the same string. Advert 7 is a nice example : you'll work in team but still have the freedom to walk your own way.

with sensoring and detection in (8). The company supplies intelligent (dolphins!) sensors of superior performance. They've got the echolocation correct, but unfortuna­tely derail with the explanation. Dolphins, they say (translated from Dutch), can detect and then transmit faint oscillations. Their sixth sense is unmatched. Our company has developed the same ability. … And you, do you have a sixth sense for sensors? This sounds loud and clear as Learnt from Mother Nature, a popular song.

oceans and therefore, apart from intelligence and communication, Freedom is also synonymous to dolphin : physical freedom, not freedom of mind. Widen your horizon says the touroperator of example 10. In the advert the dolphin is jumping on its way to new horizons and therefore the idea of escape from your daily environment is also present.

The same idea of freedom and freedom of movement is also present in the advertisements of two other airlines (Nos. 15, 16) which talk about their intercontinental flights. And we recognize the idea also in the car advert of No. 17 where it comes with a touch of joie de vivre. It is a bit strange and certainly surprising that airline companies fall back to an animal living in an environment they rather wish to avoid.

Of the three airtravel related advertisements, only No. 15 mentions the dolphin in the bodytext. Under the header we can read: They're beautiful, they're graceful, and they know the wet bit between Europe and the States like the back of their flippers. and —now trying for a chuckle— But they don't carry passengers … . One short paragraph brings back memories from before the cattle flights : We serve good food, in comfortable surroundings … (Sigh, those were the times).

(12) is part of a story where a penguin, a swan and a giraffe are working together in promoting a popular monovolume car. It is not obvious why a dolphin was chosen. The accompanying text gives no clue and is in fact gibberish : The new V6 engine is there specially for who's always late or arrives too early. For people always in a hurry and seldom well. For mysterious strangers or flashy famous people; 153 Hp et voila, everyone calms down, behaves more friendly, the tongues are loosed, cosy atmosphere. In short­: man is freed and ready for his ambitions. My best guess is that the dolphin stands for free movement in a borderless world, just like with the airlines of the Nos. 10, 15, 16, and the car of 17.

the tablet computer (11) claims that Mobility is about instinct and strategy. Or a sense of responsibility. In my opinion that is nothing more than an empty statement and an attempt to look smart. But of course mobile computing is all about the freedom (therefore the dolphin) to use your pc where and when you want.

peculiar approach to freedom is shown in No. 13. With this drug people who suffer from anxiety recover the ability to function autonomously between other people. The French text says Traitement dynamique de l'anxiété or dynamic anxiety therapy and the dolphin was probably chosen for the dynamic. Maybe there is also an allusion to the dolphin therapy some­times used on people with mental disorders.

Dolphins are also used for another medicin, now against constipation (Nos. 19, 20), but I am clueless about the reason. The same holds true for the television screens which won't strain your eyes (21, 22), for the printing blankets (24) and for the user centered computing (23).

ahead is occasionally cast to play a winner. The software (18) and the imagesetter (25) both are fast and designed for growth, the best in their class. Most designers would illustrate the idea of a winner with a horse taking a hurdle.

this chapter:

• Bigger Cetaceans (whales)
• Smaller Cetaceans (dolphins)
• Pinnipeds