Internet Baby Ad Will Make You ‘Weep For Humanity’

The MTS internet baby ad went quickly went viral and sparked a heated debate about the future of our world. The ad currently has more than 24 million viewers and is said to make you “weep for humanity.” The baby ad was released by an Indian company in February and only recently caught global attention.

The computer generated baby cuts its own umbilical cord and then quickly immerse himself in the world of technology — much to the shock of his parents. The MTS internet baby grabs a smart phone from a delivery nurse’s pocket and takes a selfie. The controversial viral video also shows the doctor stumbling backwards as the newborn walks rights after birth and taps away on both a laptop and a tablet.

Ad Week has this to say about the MTS internet baby ad that some have deemed terrifying:

“We thought he was creepy, as most CGI [computer generated] infants are when they do adult-like things. The ad’s utopian vision of ever-younger digital natives also seemed dystopian, to say the least. The ad will make you ‘weep for humanity,’ we wrote, adding that the Internet baby must be stopped. Others, including Time magazine, later agreed with us.”

MTS internet baby creator Sajan Raj Kurup is defending the viral ad. Kurup is the founder of Creativeland Asia, the company which created the video commercial for MTS Telecom. The baby ad is up for an award later this week at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The internet baby ad creator had this to say about all the controversy swirling around the MTS Telecom video and the Ad Week critique:

“You have mentioned how the MTS Internet Baby spot will make one weep for humanity. You have also appealed that somebody must stop the Internet baby. As someone who wrote the spot, may I sincerely ask that somebody not to stop my little Internet baby. Very humbly, here’s why: I live in a country where millions of babies are born into poverty. Hunger in their life manifests itself in many terrifying ways. From basic amenities, to education, security and healthcare.

The internet and mobile phones arrived in my country in the late 90s. Today, India is the fastest growing telecom and internet market. Beyond the economic benefits, there is huge social upside to it. Internet and telecommunications has perhaps been the greatest social leveler in my country. It has begun to empower even the most socially backward Indian in the remotest corner of the country with information, with access, with knowledge, with education, with true power.

Kurup went on to compare the angst over the MTS internet baby ad to the controversy and confusion surrounding life-changing inventions when they were first introduced. “It is natural for a handful of people to think that this is freaky or unnatural. Remember even the motorcar was called evil by some people a hundred years ago. But let not the playful thought of an Internet-empowered baby at birth terrify us. Let’s not stop him.” The tagline at the end of the MTS Telecom ad also garnered ire, “Born for the Internet.”

What do you think about the MTS internet baby and the amount of time even very young children are now tied to technology?