Not tonight, darling, I've got 3G

In the famous blackouts in New York in 1965 and 1977, the next day resulted in New Yorkers asking each other, “Where were you when the lights went out?”

Idea Mobile’s new television commercial tells you what to do - and what not to do when the lights go out.

Continuing with their leveraging societal and community concerns (saving paper and the environment, preventing corruption, speaking in any language) in their advertisements, Idea sees entertainment available thanks to their 3G service as a ‘plausible’, tongue-in-cheek answer to population control by offering entertainment options other than sex during as power cut.

The film, created by advertising agency Lowe, deliberates on pre and post 3G life at large particularly depicting interplay between man and woman, and the difference it makes to curb population growth.

It’s not as fanciful as one might think; a two-day power cut in a small town in the Netherlands in October 2008 saw a 44% increase in conceptions during that period.

The two blackouts in New York, in 1965 and 1977, also gave rise to blackout baby boom theories, though these seem to be without basis.

It’s not just power cuts; extreme weather too can be a cause for a baby boom. “International studies confirm there are sharp rises in birthrates nine months after heavy snow and/or major power cuts, both of which occurred in the winter of 2009-2010.

Houston in the US reported a 25% in births nine months after the power cuts caused by Hurricane Ike. Ten year earlier, blizzards in Colorado had almost exactly the same effect,” says Catherine Dagger.

In the UK, says a Telegraph report in 2010 in support of the US theories of bad weather baby booms, “The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is predicting the same pattern in Britain, resulting in a “double whammy” hitting maternity wards this autumn, just as they recover from a regular peak in births following conceptions over the Christmas holidays.

For thousands denied heating as well as television and radio during this month’s repeated power cuts, the chance to find alternative sources of warmth and entertainment will have proved irresistable, say midwives.

RCM director Jacque Gerrard said maternity units were now gearing up for a “significant” baby boom.”

So if Idea and Lowe are to take the population control crusade further, dealing with the severe winters in the north and torrential rains elsewhere country the might be the next steps.

The long summer, though, will be a tall task.

Watch the Idea ad here