Hasta La Creative!

(TrendHunter.com) If you love the outdoors and want a unique way to incorpote the wonders of nature into your wardrobe, then these DIY Twig Bracelets are a subtle way to showcase the beauty of nature in your…

(TrendHunter.com) If you’re like me and fashion and food are your two favorite things, then this W May 2013 editorial will satisfy both your style and meal-time hunger.

Featuring a dessert theme paired with…

Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches" quickly became a viral phenomenon. But as it blazed past 1 million views on YouTube, the video has racked up its fair share of critics, too. The Ogilvy-produced clip, which shows a police sketch artist drawing women as they perceive themselves versus how strangers see them, has been praised by thousands of women as a heartwarming wake-up call for women to stop being so hard on themselves. But some feel the video actually reinforces beauty stereotypes by depicting one sketch as "uglier" than the other. Below, we catalog a few of the specific complaints about the campaign that have been bouncing around the Web this week.

1. It features too many traditionally attractive white women.
Jazz Brice on Tumblr: "When it comes to the diversity of the main participants: all four are Caucasian, three are blonde with blue eyes, all are thin, and all are young (the oldest appears to be 40). The majority of the non-featured participants are thin, young white women as well. … Out of 6:36 minutes of footage, people of color are onscreen for less than 10 seconds."

2. It seems to define beauty as being thin and young.
Kate Fridkis on PsychologyToday.com: "Looking at the two portraits of herself, one woman described the one meant to be prettier as looking 'much younger,' which seemed to be true of all of them. The more 'beautiful' facial representations seemed to all be thinner and younger-looking. If that is the crux of beauty, then I guess we're all pretty screwed by that obnoxiously inexorable bastard called time."

3. It positions beauty as the yardstick by which women measure themselves.
Stacy Bias on StacyBias.net: "Is the pinnacle of success always beauty? Believing that others see us as beautiful? Believing that we are beautiful? I want people to question their negative self-perceptions, sure. But I would love for that to happen in a context where beauty doesn't always end up valorized. This is a mindfuck—'everyone is beautiful, so you are beautiful, too!' still reinforces beauty as an aspirational value."

4. It shows women as their own enemies rather than victims of a sexist society.
Erin Keane on Salon.com: "All of that body image baggage is internalized by growing up in a society that enforces rigid beauty standards, and since the target demographic for this ad is clearly women over 35 with access to library cards (which is to say, women who have had some time to figure this reality out), it is baffling that Dove can continue to garner raves for its pandering, soft-focus fake empowerment ads."

5. It is hypocritical because it comes from Unilever, which also makes Axe, Slim-Fast and more.
Charlotte Hannah on Twirlit.com: "[Dove's] long-running Real Beauty campaign has shed light on some important truths about the media's unrealistic portrayals of women, but given the fact that Dove is owned by Unilever, which also owns Axe (ugh) and the company that produces Fair & Lovely skin lightening cream (double ugh), the campaign comes across as hypocritical and patronizing—a way for the company to pander to women for sales while practicing the very evil it preaches against."

What arguments have we missed? Let us know your thoughts or share links to other reactions in the comments.

Related stories:
• Dove Hires Criminal Sketch Artist to Draw Women as They See Themselves and as Others See Them
• Low Self-Esteem Is Not a Problem in Dove's Real Beauty Sketches … for Men

When the first bomb exploded at the Boston Marathon on Monday, Christian Williams — an art director at local creative agency Small Army — was standing just a few feet away. His legs were shredded by the blasts, and his right hand was partially “degloved,” which means that he no longer has skin on three fingers.

His girlfriend, Caroline, was also hurt, and the couple — who both ran in the marathon last year, raising money for cancer research — have already undergone multiple surgeries. Christian recalled to his friends at Small Army that it was a runner who came to his rescue, creating tourniquets out of belts so that he wouldn’t bleed out.

The good news is that the doctors were able to save all their limbs. But there’s a hard, long road ahead. So, like so many others that are setting up recovery funds and sharing their brave stories, Small Army created a site to send well wishes and raise funds for their friend Christian, and for Caroline.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Guardian Witness é uma nova forma do público enviar suas próprias histórias, fotos e vídeos para o The Guardian, que publicará as melhores.

O aplicativo funciona através de tarefas disponíveis para serem cumpridas, normalmente seguindo algum tema/pauta popular no momento. As tarefas cobrem as seções de notíciais, esportes, cultura e estilo de vida, mudando de tema a cada semana de acordo com o que os editores estipulam.

O serviço permite cobertura de notícias de forma mais completa, capturando todos os pontos de vista.

Com a facilidade de se produzir qualquer conteúdo multimídia hoje, devido aos smartphones e tablets, espera-se que fotos e vídeos sejam os tipos mais enviados.

Sabendo que o modelo tradicional de publicação de informação já está fadado ao passado, o aplicativo é um passo na frente para fazer uso e disseminar, de fato, conteúdos construídos de forma colaborativa.

Abaixo, um vídeo de como funciona o Guardian Witness.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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McDonald’s reported disappointing sales for the first quarter, citing difficult prior year comparisons, intense competition and frugal consumers.

The chain’s global comparable sales decreased 1.0%, while U.S. same-store sales dropped 1.2%. Its Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa segment reported a drop of 3.3%, primarily due to negative sales results in China, and sales in Europe were down 1.1%. Income for the quarter was relatively flat at $1.27 billion.

“While not unexpected, we’re not satisfied with our first quarter results,” said CEO Don Thompson during an earnings call Friday, calling out as obstacles softer retail sales in the U.S. and the Avian flu concerns in China. “The challenging economic environment [in] which we are operating impacted our first-quarter results. While there are mixed signs of a slow recovery in the U.S., significant headwinds persist as consumer confidence continues to waver.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Twitter is venturing deeper into branded content with a new network partner.

The company has signed a deal with BBC America to serve video clips that can appear in-stream on Twitter when users click — after, they hope, brief pre-roll from a sponsor.

While Twitter has struck various branded content deals of late with the likes of the Weather Channel and Turner Broadcasting’s March Madness coverage, this is the first time that a sponsorship will be offered around episodic TV series.

Continue reading at AdAge.com