Hasta La Creative!

“Business is a tough kind of sport. So if you want to be a winner, prove it. Be faster. Be tougher. Improve yourself. Do you have the winning mindset? You’re not hear to participate. Prove your superiority. Make it happen. Be unbeatable. Then go for the next one. The new Toyota Camry. You’re here to win.” Never before have I heard Toyota Camry described in such Alpha Male terms. Businessman by day, fighter by night and all. This spot was shot in Dubai.

You know what’s stressful. Medical errors, on your credit report. That make everything stressful until they are, wait for it, clear. Credit Karma’s helped remove almost six million dollars in bogus debt. that’s a lot. And then the guy’s phone dies. This is ridiculously silly. But the comic timing saves it.

“Portland and Iceland take beards very seriously. Almost as seriously as we take our vodka.” So says the bearded Icelander, talking to folks in Portlandia. Reyka has made it a mission to increase its vodka sales in Portland. So it’s made a series of :15 second spots for its debut in PDX. It sounds like a niche brief, but i can’t think of a better suited demographic.

Portland and Iceland both love football. They also love vodka. So there is much in common. Also in common: beards. And lying.

Cybertip.ca has seen an increase of 89% in teen boys being reported as victims of sextortion from in 2015 and 2016 compared to the previous two-year period. Sextortion? What is that, you ask? Just like it sounds. Sextortion occurs when kids (teen boys most often) get conned into sending out naked selfies to online predators. Then the blackmail begins. Send more nudes or else. It’s awful. And this campaign urges you do send something else instead.
Namely: send a naked mole rat. Which as the talking head in the spot basically says in the spot, looks like a photo of your junk anyway.
The irony factor is strong in this one, most likely in the hopes of making it shareable.
Clever indeed because behind that health class film trope is a serious message. This campaign also includes memes, gifs, and perhaps most importantly, a lesson plan for teachers to use in their classrooms. Which by the way, is an extremely underrated part of advertising.
Sure you can come up with something viral that people share for a day or two. But if you can help a government agency or NGO mould young minds in a way that isn’t cheesy or forced, then you make a potentially longer lasting impression.
The gifs and memes and other info can be found on the Don’t Get Sextorted microsite. Did I mention there are memes? Of naked mole rats? That look like your junk, kids?
I’m curious to know how many kids will download the memes. I wish they would have called it something other than “memes” on the website. Kids like to discover stuff on their own. I do applaud the effort but it would have been cool if they’d put them on imgur, too.

Framestore is pleased to announce the joining of Jordi Bares as Creative Director in Advertising, London. Jordi joins at an exciting time for Framestore, as the multi-award winning company continues to deliver innovative creative solutions to an ever-increasing portfolio of clients across its Advertising, Content and Film divisions.

Jordi is an established name in the visual effects industry, having previously led teams at The Mill, Realise Studio and most recently, Glassworks. With a reputation for breaking creative boundaries, he has built an astonishing portfolio of work, collaborating with leading directors for brands including Adidas, Guinness, Heineken, Levis and Sony.

Jordi trained as an architect in his native Spain, and worked in both software engineering and cell animation before discovering the world of VFX. His eye for structure, and a desire to replicate physical realities born of his architectural studies, continue to inform his work as an artist and supervisor on a daily basis.

Jordi’s infectious enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit will further bolster Framestore’s successful Advertising division, which upholds at its heart the core craft of beautiful visual effects. The artists frequently work hand-in-hand with the newer disciplines offered by the VR Studio, Framestore Pictures and Framestore Labs, offering clients a highly collaborative and streamlined pipeline and a truly 360° approach to campaigns.

Says Helen Stanley, MD Integrated Advertising:
‘Jordi’s reputation for tech innovation combined with creativity and creative problem-solving is such a great fit for Framestore, particularly in light of the increasing number of projects that require this dual approach at the highest level. We are therefore delighted he has joined the team here, and look forward to seeing his influence in the work.’

Says Jordi Bares on his appointment:
“I can’t think of a better environment in which to tackle the upcoming creative and technical opportunities in our industry. Framestore has been always a reference point in both film and advertising, and in the coming years I am certain that the company’s pedigree and vision will prove critical in reinventing what visual effects mean for our clients.”

LOGAN, a bicoastal content-creation studio, has appointed Paul Abatemarco as executive producer in Los Angeles, adding two decades of production expertise and close work with the world’s largest brands.

“We’re thrilled to be able to welcome Paul to LOGAN,” says company founder Alexei Tylevich. “His extensive commercial and advertising experience will help continue to drive sales and establish and maintain top-level client relationships.”

Prior to LOGAN, Abatemarco oversaw sales and operations for Brand New School’s West Coast studio, helping guide the company to record growth during that time. Abatemarco also helped lead MPC launch MPC Creative in the United States and has served as executive producer at Stardust. Most recently, Abatemarco was managing director at Los York.

“I’m excited to join such a dynamic studio that has always pushed the boundaries of the commercial world and developed some of the industry’s most respected directors,” says Abatemarco.

Abatemarco’s experience includes campaigns with leading brands such as Nike, Google, Target, Adidas, Honda, Ford and Toyota, among others. The commercial and advertising veteran also served on the management side at studios such as Digital Domain and Radium, and was director of operations at post-production juggernaut R!OT.

LOGAN, along with its roster of directors at Logan & Sons, has worked on recent brand campaigns for Apple, Nike, BMW, Clinique and Cisco, among others. The company’s latest entertainment marketing campaigns include Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet and the Clio award-winning work for 20th Century Fox’s blockbuster X-Men: Apocalypse.

Creative studio Carbon has teamed up with agency Cramer-Krasselt to bring mesmerizing, exhilarating visual flair that reflects the otherworldly experience of Mystic Timbers, the newly unveiled, 109-foot-tall wooden roller coaster ride at Cedar Fair’s Kings Island theme park in Mason, Ohio.

To highlight the mystery, twists, turns and thrilling journey through the woods that Mystic Timbers offers, Carbon was brought in early on as a partner to help craft a fully-animated film that gives viewers firsthand perspective of the ride while highlighting its standout features. “This was a dream brief for the artists,” says Carbon Executive Producer Phil Linturn. “Cramer-Krasselt proposed some great references for the look and tone, and we immediately knew we were going to have fun developing the style into something very different from any of Cedar Fair’s previous campaigns.”

Mystic Timbers at Kings Island – (2017) :30 (USA)

Utilizing reference points ranging from computer games to graphic novels as well as hours of real-life roller coaster footage, the Carbon team initially oversaw fundamental development of styleframes to establish the mysterious, enchanting look and feel of the film, while simultaneously developing storyboard, edit and animatic. “We needed to walk a fine line that allowed the ride to appear thrilling and spooky, without becoming too menacing and bleak, losing appeal for the intended audience,” Linturn explains. “Once we found that balance, full work began on production of individual shots, which involved all modeling, VFX, animation, compositing and color correction.

While wearing multiple hats during the eight-week production process, from VFX to editing to directing, Carbon worked closely with Cramer-Krasselt throughout the Mystic Timbers project, which serves as a stylish affirmation of the agency and studio’s deep history. “We are lucky to already have a close working relationship with the team at Cramer Krasselt, so we began this project with a level of trust that affords greater latitude when making creative suggestions,” Linturn adds. “This was a rare project where ideas and recommendations flew from initial conversation to testing to screen in record time. I think this is a testament to the early detailed creative conversations allowing us all to begin and ultimately finish development with a very clear and unified vision.”

On Vaisakhi – a historical and religious festival in Sikhism celebrated on April 13 or 14 every year and is “the Sikh new year”, a million-dollar awareness campaign launched in the United States aiming to quell confused hatred and attacks by explaining who they are and what they believe. I posted “Neighbours”, “Proud” and “Who we are” (short variant) here earlier, while wondering why such a campaign would even be necessary.
Clearly, I am not the target market.
This campaign was funded by Sikh leaders and their families across a dozen cities in the United States and is a response to the angry and uninformed who react to their beards and turbans. Those are symbols of equality in a religion that opposes India’s caste system. If you think about it “we are all equal” is the most American of values, and that’s exactly what the campaign aims to teach people.

On Monday night, a horrific terror attack was executed in Manchester, UK, where young girls and their parents were greeted by a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

In the wake of that, I see why people need to be educated on Sikhs. As media in the United States and the United Kingdom keep misidentifying Sikhs as Muslims when they are clearly not. The most misidentified is a Sikh cabbie driver who spent all night driving people anywhere they needed to go, for free. One of the primary principles of Sikhism is to live selflessly and serve others, which explains why you find so many helping others in dire situations like this. Cosmopolitan women’s magazine tweeted about the “Muslim Taxi Driver.” If the media can’t tell the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim, why would the consumers of said media be able to? This ad campaign is ironically fighting the media that it is supporting, by buying ad space on the networks that often misidentify Sikhs.

We are Sikhs – Who we are (2017) :60 (USA)

The worst part about the Cosmopolitan gaffe is that the journalist who ambulance-chased her way to the free images she saw on Twitter had to be aware that the man was Sikh, since his name is “Singh”. In stereo, as his twitter name is Singhlions.

Not just Gurudwaras in Manchester offering victims food & accommodation, this Sikh cab driver is offering free taxi service to the needy #RT pic.twitter.com/AJNXL6JurW— Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) May 23, 2017

The Sikh Press Association in the UK manned the battle stations on Twitter as well, asking the Mirror to please stop misidentifying the Sikh cabbie. One would think that the UK would be a little better educated on these things, considering their relationship with India in the past, but I guess tabloids are brain-dead everywhere.

We ask our friends in uk media to encourage @DailyMirror to correct this asap. Stop misidentifying Sikhs. This has led to murders.RT pic.twitter.com/OrEAlmTXhf— SikhPressAssociation (@SikhPA) May 23, 2017

I suddenly see the need for the campaign We are Sikhs. They might need to make one in England as well. It’s astounding that journalistic media, even if it is just an air-head fashion magazine and a shitty tabloid, can spit out factual inaccuracies in articles and to millions of Twitter followers without double checking what they are writing. No wonder people’s faith in mainstream media is at an all-time low.

In the UK the “Rocking Sikh” who sang “keep your gums off my Poppadums” was a controversial and award-winning advert back in 1988. What happened between then and now to make the United Kingdom collectively forget what religion the guys in the turbans follow?

Walkers Poppadums – Rocking Sikh – (1988) :30 (UK)