Hasta La Creative!

As a parent, you no doubt experience pangs of trepidation — no, horror — when you leave your children with a babysitter you may not know very well. You wonder if your children will be well cared for, whether they will be fed properly, whether they go to bed on time.

But, if you’ve ever had any of the three types of babysitters featured in this BBDO Atlanta-created, Tool-produced commercial, your concerns are a bit more serious and you’ll want to make sure your next babysitter has take the American Red Cross’ Babysitting Basics course before leaving the house.

In an effort to call attention to little known Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is slowly and painfully killing his 6 year old son, Harrison, Alex Smith can be seen along with his son in a AIS London-created PSA for the desease which carries the headline, “I Wish My Son Had Cancer.”

The strategy behind the ad, of course, is that cancer is widely known — and well funded — as compared to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy so, in a sense, Harrison might have a fighting chance had he suffered from cancer instead.

The ad copy gets straight to the point, “Harrison, my 6 year old, has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He is one of 2,500 sufferers in the UK who’ll die from it, most before they’re 20. Unlike cancer, there’s no treatment and no cure. And because you’ve never heard of it, very little funding either. My only hope is to raise as much money as possible for the research scientists. They’re close to a major breakthrough. Your 5 pounds can get them even closer.”

The ad is receiving a lot of press in the UK and Alex was invited by ITV for an interview which you can watch below.

Here are three of the strangest quit smoking ads you will ever see. Created by Sukle Advertising & Design for the Wyoming Department of Health, three ads explain how the department can help people conquer the challenge.

In “Patches,” a man nervously eyes a peg-legged pirate on a city street corner, before gleefully snatching the pirate’s eye patch. A deadpan voiceover reminds viewers that free nicotine patches are available. “Gum” opens with an agitated young man watching an older woman take a piece of gum, which he then extracts from her mouth through a passionate kiss. Free nicotine gum is also available from the Health Department.

Finally, in “Someone,” a long-haired ex-smoker tells his troubles to a friendly man who dispenses advice. When it turns out the two men are one and the same, the voiceover reveals that “someone to talk to” is also available and free.

What’s a PSA without a good fart joke? That’s the tact BBDO Toronto and the Perlorian Brothers took when they created new work for the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Quit the Denial campaign.

The campaign introduces us to a girl who admits she is a social farter. In the PSA, she claims, “Just because I fart at parties now and then, it doesn’t make me a farter.” Our lass has no trouble at all letting it rip at parties, while dancing or talking to guys. And she has no problem approaches guys to ask, “Do you want to go outside for a fart?”

Of course, the whole approach points out social smoking is as ridiculous as social farting. But who really cares? The ad’s got a cute girl who can squeeze one out on command. And that’s kinda hot. OK, that’s as ridiculous as shaved pubes in the middle of the seventies. But we digress.

Anyway, our cutie is in denial of her wind whipping skills much like many a social smoker when asked, “Do you smoke?” The whole approach is wonderfully juvenile. After all, who doesn’t love a good fart joke every once in a while?

What’s that stupid saying? What’s old is new again? No. No, it’s not. Old is old. Old is tired. Old is dilapidated and smelly. Unless of course you are a fashion hound who can’t get enough vintage clothing and are too insensitive to realize assisting the elderly poor is something you should do without having to be persuaded by a stupid marketing stunt.

But, sadly, some people need a stupid stunt to get them off their hipster asses and actually give a shit about something. So Shorashim, an Israeli group that helps elderly people in need, created Roots, a second hand fashion brand because, well, young people like smelly old clothes and if that’s the only thing that gets them to care about the elderly then that’s what the brand’s agency, McCann Digital, had to do.

So the agency created Roots, a retail brand that took all the old clothes the elderly didin’t need anymore, applied some fashionista marketing complete with photoshoots with famous Israeli model and an online store and BOOM, young people who don’t give a shit about old people suddenly came to the aid of the elderly without even knowing it.

According to the case study video, enough money was raised for 1,400 holiday meals.

The visual narrative in this thought-provoking :60 juxtaposes imagery of a healthy older man’s life to that of an unhealthy one. It’s an effort from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation called Make Health Last that aims to encourage Canadians to live the life they want.

Current statistics suggest that the average Canadian will spend their final decade with sickness and disability. The organization offers information for Canadians to learn how to change their future and grow old with vitality.

The ad, created by Lowe Roche Toronto, really makes you think.

Way to ring in the New Year. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a disgisting, pustule-filled anti-smoking PSA that oozes with gross-out imagery. Of course, nothing’s worked in the past so why anyone thinks a “growth” emerging from a cigarette will be any different is beyond us. Anyway, here you go. Happy New Year. Mutations and all. Courtesy of England’s National Health Service.

With help from BBDO New York, the American Red Cross has launched a new “storytellers” ad campaign which consists of personal accounts filmed by real people affected by tragedy and how the Red Cross came to their aid. The stories are touching and eloquently capture experiences we all hope we never have to go through.

Of the campaign, Red Cross CMO Peggy Dyer said, “We wanted to tell the story of the Red Cross through the people we serve, while at the same time demonstrating the breadth of our mission. Many people know the organization for our work in major disaster relief or blood collection, and the goal for this storytelling campaign was to bring our everyday mission to life in a personally relevant way.”

The Red Cross enlisted 300 storytellers – people helped by the organization’s five lines of service – and gave them cameras and one task: tell their Red Cross stories.

The initial wave of Red Cross ads feature two New York families whose homes were destroyed by fire and a Washington family devastated by a flood. Future ads will include stories of a Virginia resident whose newborn twins were saved by a single blood donation; a Michigan teenager whose Red Cross CPR training helped him save a life; and an Oklahoma family who lost their home in a tornado.

You can view the campaign “trailer” below and the rest of the videos here.

DDB Chicago and Thornberg & Forester created a touching video for the Ronald McDonald House that tells the story of a mother (Erin Maley), a tragic car accident and how the Ronald McDonald House came to her assistance.

The work is part of a campaign that aims to raise $1 million for the charity by December 31.

Of the work, Thronberg & Forester Co-Founder Scott Matz said, “Our friends at DDB Chicago conceived a very thoughtful campaign to elegantly connect images and textures that manifest in sync with the audio story. The ribbon ultimately wraps a special gift, initiating a call-to-action to support Ronald McDonald House Charities by inviting donations… and to get there, we follow Erin Maley’s powerful testimonial.”

Working with Crush, Toronto-based KBS+P tells the story of Emily, a little girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and how her wish was granted by Canada’s Children’s Wish Foundation. The animated tale is just the kind of heartwarming tale we need during the holiday season. Give it a watch.