Pure Goat "When the amount of love exceeds the amount of breast milk" Abri campaign during Pride week, Netherlands

In the Netherlands 25,000 children grow up with same-sex parents. The Netherlands was the first country to make marriage legal for same-sex partners in 2001. In the Netherlands, the pride parades are legendary – and more often than not, by boat! But I digress. 

The Pure Goat Company was founded by Rogier and Frank, who while not romantically involved, are still strong supporters of all kinds of family units. They also care a lot about purity, love, inclusivity, and sustainability, which are the key words in the Pure Goat brand ethos. All of the products of The Pure Goat Company are purely organic and derived from the milk of Dutch goats. In Amsterdam, during the Pride Amsterdam event, these posters greeted the crowds.

Ad agency: fitzroy

gay

Colorado Agency Cactus Tapped to Rebrand Washington County Convention and Tourism as ‘Greater Zion’

Cactus, an independent strategic creative agency specializing in health and recreation brands, has launched a campaign for Utah’s Washington County Convention and Tourism Office. The agency won the business in November after a competitive pitch.

The new brand renames the State of Utah’s Washington County as Greater Zion, with the aim to unify and celebrate the area’s diverse tourism offerings, spread visitation throughout the region and entice visitors to stay longer.

“Tourism is one of the largest economic drivers in our area, and visitation has grown substantially in recent years,” said Kevin Lewis, director of the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office. “One of our key objectives was to distribute visitation throughout the entire area in a way that would inspire longer visits. Cactus helped us develop a cohesive countywide brand to represent all our towns, attractions, parks, and other tourism entities to encourage discovery. The Greater Zion brand anchors us to Zion National Park but also allows us to talk about the many state parks, national conservation areas, communities and activities available within the county. Our vision with the new brand is simple: Inspire Greater. Experience Greater. Live Greater. Beauty and wonder don’t end at Zion’s edge.”

 

Located in the southwest corner of Utah, Greater Zion encompasses more than 2,400 square miles and includes Zion National Park, the fourth most-visited national park in the United States. Four other state parks with year-round recreational land offer some of the best scenic activities such as mountain biking, off-highway vehicle riding, 12 top-rated golf courses, and world-class cultural performances at Tuacahn Center for the Arts. 

 

The vibrant communities of St. George, Springdale, Hurricane, Ivins and towns in between offer a wide range of lodging options, dining experiences and access to outdoor pursuits through local outfitters and tour companies. Host to the 2021 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, Greater Zion is also a world-class destination for sporting events, conferences and meetings. 

 

Media for the campaign includes TV, online video, OOH and social media in the Rocky Mountain Region, covering five states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada along with national and international marketing efforts.

 

“Agencies talk a lot about putting their clients on the map, but with Greater Zion, that’s literally what we’re doing,” said Jeff Strahl, creative director at Cactus. “Three months ago, Greater Zion didn’t exist. We worked with the Washington County Tourism Office to turn a collection of communities lacking a cohesive identity into a unified brand they can be proud to stand behind.”

 

Greater Zion gives context and language to the communities in Washington County, allowing them to easily communicate where they are and what they have to offer to their audiences. It creates a unified sense of place that Washington County has been searching for for a long time. This brand will not only bring communities together, but it will also bring people from around the world together. This place is greater than just one park. This place is greater than just one adventure. This place is Greater Zion.

Advertising Agency: Cactus, Denver, CO (USA)

Brand/Client: Washington County Convention and Tourism Office

Artists, fans, labels: Here's how to claim the money PledgeMusic took from you

I was initially going to call this article “Crowdfunding to make music to crowdfund to,” but Dabitch put her foot down as that was too much music geekery even for her. In retrospect, explaining it was a reference to Spacemen 3’s “Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to,” didn’t exactly help my case, but you know.

Back in April, we reported that PledgeMusic was having trouble paying the musicians who were using its crowdfunding platform to raise funds to make music. Turns out that “having trouble,” is a nice euphemism for “cheating musicians out of cash.” 

In May, the UK-based crowdfunding platform’s co-founder Benji Rogers dropped an “oh by the way we’re headed into bankruptcy,” note on Medium, leaving in its wake a lot of questions. Like ‘Where’s my money?” “How do I fulfill the pledges to my loyal fans who supported me?”

The news probably came as less of a shock to the artists as it did the musicians who had been dealing with this for a while. According to Billboard:

“PledgeMusic acknowledged its issues paying artists earlier this year and asked for a three-month grace period when Rogers returned to the company to help correct the issues. No details have been given about causes leading to PledgeMusic’s financial insolvency, but a former employee told Billboard in January that artists’ crowdfunded money had gone to fund ongoing operations instead of holding it “on account.” Last month, the company’s subsidiary NoiseTrade was acquired by Paste Media.”

Those who hadn’t heard the news and visited the website recently were greeted with this bit of legalese:

“A winding-up order was made against Pledgemusic.com Limited in the High Court of Justice on 31 July 2019. As a result of the making of the order, the Official Receiver becomes liquidator of the company. Any enquiries should be forwarded to LondonB.OR@insolvency.gov.uk, quoting reference LQD5671373”.

A few days ago, Hypebot, which has been doggedly investigating this matter has tracked down a form you need to fill out in case you believe you are owed money by PledgeMusic.


“While lacking a firm deadline, the form is fairly straightforward. Any artist, label or fan affected should fill out the form and send it in with any receipts or proof asap. Download it here.

You can then email it back to Sultana.Begum@insolvency.gov.uk

Meanwhile, the ever-wry Trichordist points out that Pledge didn’t bother to make this information known. Still, they continue,  “…this is good for fans who pledged but believe their money never got to the artist, the artists who are owed money by Pledge and of course the vendors who are owed money for goods they made or services rendered for Pledge campaigns (like Bandwear that is apparently owned $200,000).” 

They certainly aren’t the only ones. As of last month, the band Failure was owed $70,000. Who knows how much money bands are owed when all is said and done. One can only hope that despite the time it’ll take to recover the funds, the process can begin now that the musicians have the info.

Perhaps there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s all hope it isn’t a train, to paraphrase a song written by the Trichordist’s founder. Sorry, Dabs. Had to.

big tech

big tech

Australia vs England hostilities spread beyond the cricket field – "because Vegemite tastes like Australia."

For the record, Marmite started it, in case the brewer’s yeast spread’s parents are reading this. Marmite (a softer, gentler, more polite version of Vegemite) was handing out free jars of Marmite at the Ashes in an attempt to woo those attending. The Australia vs England hostilities have now spread beyond the cricket field – heh, “spread”, see what we did there? In the press, Vegemite and Marmite are having it out in ad spreads. Ad spreads hehehe. Fine, I’ll see myself out.

“G’Day” the ad reads and continues: 

“News has reached down under that free jars of marmite are being handed out at the ashes to try and prove it tastes better than our Vegemite. 

Are you guys barmy?

Of course the refined English palate will prefer yours.
You see, Vegemite is a far stronger taste, made of resilience and fortitude with a dash of cunning and guile. Vegemite tastes like back-to-back tons on your return test. Vegemite tastes like a come-from-behind victory by 251 runs.

You lot won’t like the taste of Vegemite, because Vegemite tastes like Australia.

Catch ya at Lord’s. “

I must say, even if I don’t understand half of it because I am neither British nor Australian, nor am I wise to the ways of cricket, I love the tone of this ad. It’s all chest-thumpingly proud of being not only an acquired taste but even more so than the other polarising-taste spread, Marmite. For the record, I like them both, on hot and slightly buttered toast. Fite me.

Matt Gray, Vegemite spokesperson in Australia said “It’s not often we get brought into such a large scale international conflict. However, we found Marmite’s behaviour to be a little untoward. It’s just not cricket to give away Marmite at the cricket. We just want to set the record straight that Australians will always prefer Vegemite as Vegemite actually tastes like Australia. The English are welcome to their mild Marmite, it probably suits their sensitive palates a little more.”

Thems fighting words.

OOH

The One Club Partners with Spotify On Portfolio Night All-Stars and Young Ones Student Awards

The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, has announced a partnership with Spotify to serve as exclusive sponsor of the club’s 2019 Portfolio Night All-Stars program and provide a client brief for the 2020 global Young Ones Student Awards.

 

Long recognized as the world’s largest advertising portfolio review program, Portfolio Night is a fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment that takes place in dozens of cities across the globe on the same date to help the next generation of creative talent to enter the industry.  

 

A highlight of this one-of-a-kind program is Portfolio Night All-Stars, where industry professionals from each city host select the single most outstanding young creative in their market with the best portfolio.  These talented All-Stars will be flown to New York, courtesy of The One Club, and spend August 12-16 working on a creative brief from Spotify.  During the week, the All-Stars will meet with Spotify creative teams for mentoring and feedback on their creative ideas, and present their work to representatives from the brand on the final day.

 

In addition, Spotify will also provide a brief for 2020 Young Ones Brief Competition, which tasks a team of college students with creating client work with the chance to earn a One Show Pencil.  The program is part of The One Club’s global Young Ones Student Awards, one of the most acclaimed competitive showcases for college students studying advertising, digital communication and design.

 

“Spotify and The One Club share a passion for creativity, and these two programs are recognized for identifying and elevating the next generation of creative talent,” said Alex Bodman, Vice President, Global Executive Creative Director, Spotify.  “Portfolio Night All-Stars in particular has a history of engaging top young creatives from around the globe, and we look forward to working with this year’s winners and seeing what exciting ideas they bring to Spotify.”

 

“Professional development is one of our four key pillars of programming, and we’re thrilled to have Spotify as a partner to help us bring these two programs to students around the world,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club.  “Their support and participation in Portfolio Night and Young Ones will have a direct, positive impact on future generations of creatives.”

 

Spotify was recently named The One Show’s 2019 In-House Agency of the Year, as determined by the total number of Pencils won.  The brand picked up four One Show Gold Pencils this year — three for “Your 2018 Wrapped” and one for “David Bowie in Here” — along with three Silver, three Bronze and eight Merits.  In The One Club’s recent ADC 98th Annual Awards, the jury of global creative leaders presented Spotify with two Gold Cubes (also for “Your 2018 Wrapped”), two Silver, four Bronze and two Merits.

announcement

announcement

Renault with getaway driver Thierry Henry in ‘The Big Shop’ and ‘Game Over’ idents

Renault has launched its latest campaign ‘The Getaway’ starring brand ambassador and legendary French striker Thierry Henry for its sponsorship of Sky Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.

 

Shot in the style of a classic getaway movie, we see Thierry Henry play the role of ‘The Transporter’ whose mission is to help football fans ‘Get to the Game in Style’. Thierry and his Renault rescue fans from the everyday commitments such as shopping or going to the gym to get them back in time to watch the football on Sky Sports, whether at home or the local pub. I need a driver like this in my life. 

The campaign created by Publicis•Poke features two 60-second & 30-second films titled ‘The Big Shop’ and ‘Game Over’ that when cut-down serve as idents broadcast during 128 live games and various non-live programming across the 2019/20 Premier League season on Sky Sports. 

Adam Wood, Marketing Director – Groupe Renault UK and Ireland said: “The renewal of our partnership with Sky Sports is about celebrating the dedication of football fans to be part of the game. Football fans show a zest for life, a desire to succeed and a spirit of togetherness, and will try to be at the game no matter what.”

 

Dave Monk, Executive Creative Director – Publicis•Poke

 

“We’ve all been there, there’s a big game on telly but you’ve got something equally big on that you can’t escape; Your sons ballet class, your daughters best mates 9th birthday, or that big weekly shop. Take one beautiful Frenchman, a couple of brand spanking new Renaults, a legendary directing / cinematographer combo and a cracking soundtrack, and you’ve got a visual feast that should get footy fans revved up for the new footy season”

PUBLICIS•POKE CREDITS

 

TITLE: Renault Sky Sports Sponsorship

 

CLIENT: Renault UK

 

CLIENTS: Adam Wood, Olivia KayeChriso Antoniou

 

BRIEF: (sum up in one sentence) To grow awareness and affinity of Renault through the Sky Sports Premier League sponsorship

 

ADVERTISING AGENCY:  Publicis•Poke

 

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR:  Dave Monk

 

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Colin Byrne

 

SENIOR CREATIVE TEAM: Andy Thirsk & Matt Comras

 

PLANNERS: Calvin Lyon & Will Elliot

 

BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Stuart Pond

 

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Abby Fox

 

ACCOUNT MANAGER: Luke Cox

 

HEAD OF FILM PRODUCTION: Colin Hickson

 

AGENCY PRODUCERS: Emma Havard-Jones, Joss Haynes

 

MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: MGOMD

 

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Pulse Films

 

DIRECTORS: 32

 

PRODUCTION COMPANY PRODUCER: Shirley O’Connor

 

DOP: Sean Bobbitt

 

EDITOR: Ten Three

 

POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Time Based Arts

 

AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Factory

 

ILLUSTRATOR: Sam Gilbey

 

DATE RELEASED: 9TH August

Cactus Launches Statewide Effort in Colorado for Opioid-Antidote Naloxone

Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan, is a nasal spray that can revive someone who has overdosed on heroin, OxyContin, fentanyl or another opioid. A generic spray will be available to consumers by the end of 2019. The spray, which blocks the effects of these drugs, can be bought in 4 oz. doses at pharmacies and does not require a prescription. Naloxone costs $140 at full retail, but 93% of insurance companies cover it, according to Robert Valuck, a pharmacy professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and executive director of the Consortium, which is the state’s anti-opioid task force. More than 500 pharmacies in the state claim to stock it, and any can order it.

The billboards are extremely straightforward. The headline simply states that most opioid overdoses happen at home. The payoff is “Naloxone stops an overdose and saves lives” and BringNaloxoneHome.org.

The objective is simply to inform the public about this new drug available now, so we’ll let the execution slide. Different door colours do not a varied campaign make, really, but in this case, the doors are there to be the colour that makes people read the line. The doors also serve another purpose, they are the kind of doors you’d find behind white pickets fences and manicured laws, telling the reader that opioid addiction can happen anywhere. It can be friends, neighbours, family members in need. Overdosing deaths are a preventable outcome.

“People have a tendency to think that overdoses happen to the homeless or other people they don’t know,” said Norm Shearer, Partner and CCO at Cactus. “But in actuality, most of the people accidentally dying from opioids are those who are taking prescription drugs in their homes. We want them to know there is a spray that can literally bring someone back from the dead.”

In 2016, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a standing order that allows pharmacies and harm-reduction organizations to dispense the drug to anyone. Still, confusion about the life-saving drug abounds: In 2018, 543 Coloradans were known to have died of drug overdoses linked to prescription opioids or heroin.

Advertising Agency: Cactus, Denver, CO (USA)

Brand/Client: Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention

OOH

Traeger Grills – “Tastes Like Gas” (2019) :70 (USA)

The idea behind Traeger Grills tongue-in-cheek “tastes like gas” line is quite simple – we all know that wood-fired BBQ tastes better, and suggesting that gas grilled “tastes like gas” reminds us of this. See, Traeger is the original and best wood-pellet grill available, and to tell everyone this the Traeger team collaborated with Nate Morley, Public Address, and Los Angeles-based GenPop, who has worked with big names like Marvel and Beyonce, to make this gassy-pun vision come to life.

Traeger, CEO: Jeremy Andrus
Traeger VP, Brand Marketing: Hjalmar Hedman
Traeger, Creative Director: Sam Rodgers

Traeger EVP, Product, Sales and Marketing: Denny Bruce

Director: Nate Morley 
Director: Patrick Brice
Producer: Rick Brown

Production Company: GenPop
Executive Producer: Nick Moceri 
Creative Director: Nate Morley
Creative Director: Ben Conrad
Writer: Nate Morley

Director of Photography: Adam Frisch
Production Designer: Kris Starr Davila
Wardrobe Stylist: Ela Erwin

Editorial: Nomad Editing Co. 
Editor: Jared Coller
Assistant Editor: Noah Phillips-Edwards
Post Producer: Tanner Gordon

pun

BBQ

Director Matt Baron Joins Partizan for Global Representation

With a worldwide reputation for creative excellence, Partizan continues to edge out the competition by signing filmmaker and photographer Matt Baron. As a hands-on director, Matt is recognized for his ability to create deeply immersive worlds with a meticulous eye; the perfect stage for telling the highly emotional visually driven stories for which he’s best known.

 

Born and raised in Manhattan, Matt had a unique childhood, from the cultural melting pot of downtown New York to living as a French-speaking local during summers with his European family in Corsica. The innate duality of Matt’s early years helped to forge the versatile, yet humble filmmaker he has become. 

Director Matt Baron

Matt’s passion for photography, music and people informed his directing career from the beginning. Learning the industry from the ground floor, Matt interned for legendary photographers, carving his own path by recognizing the need for behind-the-scenes films from their shoots, which Matt would shoot, edit, color and set to music.

 

Directing was the natural intersection of Matt’s multifaceted skillset and inherent taste level. His ability to adapt within a creative atmosphere means he is equally comfortable helming high-octane spots for adidas, avant-garde fashion films for Vogue, or socially conscious content like his #metoo-inspired film for Nest. Matt’s effortlessly well-rounded approach to direction is highly evident in ads like “Drive” featuring Gigi Hadid for Tommy Hilfiger, where he displays fresh ways to deliver high-gloss, aspirational scenarios in a relatable format. 

 

Working with a well-established team, Matt has created some of the most poignant branded films in the game, with a client list that includes Beats by Dre, Gatorade, Moncler, H&M, and Kendrick Lamar. Along the way he has won a Grand Clio, a Silver Clio, two Bronze Cannes Lions, and an MTV VMA nomination. 

 

As showcased in his most recent spot for RIMOWA luggage featuring Yuja Wang, Matt works closely with his talent to bring out spot-on performances, and fosters emotion in a manner that resonates effortlessly with a global audience. This ability to communicate across markets was a drawing factor for Matt’s signing to Partizan, which boasts studios in London and Paris (both offices cover the rest of Europe), New York, Los Angeles, and representation in the Middle East, China, and South America.

 

“I’m not someone who wants to hit just one territory,” explains Matt. “I like that Partizan is a company with a unified vision of what an artist can achieve on a global level. Being repped by one team worldwide gives directors like me room to reach our goals on a much broader scale.”

 

Of the fresh signing, Partizan founder Georges Bermann says: “Matt is the type of director we love to nurture at Partizan. He’s young, talented and ambitious, with a strong and unique creative point of view. He knows how to develop and portray character, even in short formats, and that’s a very important skill set. Above all, he’s passionate, and is excited to direct music videos, as well as commercials and other content, branded or not.”

 

Always keeping a full slate of projects, Matt is looking to continue making a mark in the commercial world, as well as ramping up work across music videos, narrative work, PSAs, and fashion-related content. 

announcement

announcement

WE ARE Pi Crowned Adage Small Agency of the Year

1st August 2019, WE ARE Pi, the Amsterdam based ideas company, has been awarded International Small Agency of the Year in the annual competition curated by Adage.

The Small Agency of the Year award comes after a year in which the thirty five person team of self proclaimed ‘Pirates’ has demonstrated time and again the power of innovation and scale that an independent agency can deliver through resourcefulness, passion and vision.

The story of WE ARE Pi is an optimistic modern alternative to news stories of behemoth mergers and the death of traditional agencies.

Eight years ago four intrepid pirates split off from the Wieden + Kennedy mothership to form their own indie agency in Amsterdam. Their goal was to preserve the independent spirit, while bringing the real diversity and daring of Amsterdam for a new age.

WE ARE Pi was unintentionally, founded on international Pi day. Being associated with a number that never settles into a repeating pattern seemed too fitting a metaphor to ignore, and so the agency’s name and motto to ‘Never Settle’ was born.

Over the last eight years as many traditional agencies have struggled to navigate big changes in the media and advertising landscape, WE ARE Pi’s small band of pirates has grown eightfold.

In the last 12 months they added an exciting roster of new clients including the world’s biggest sports retailer InterSport as well as Urbanears, WeTransfer, Nike, Desigual and Netflix.

Work featuring in CNN news and written about in Vogue were our fav 2018 accolades. Industry peer reviews also reinforced WE ARE Pi’s growing presence in the ad world, with Small Agency of The Year Award from Creative Pool, Grand Prix and Game-Changer Awards from Campaign and Best Social from Webby Awards.

WE ARE Pi’s commitment to never settling has taken them to places that co-founder and CEO Alex Bennett Grant admits he might never dreamed of.

“We’ve created a Studios offering and extended into the entertainment business. We’ve found ourselves mastering world famous events like hot air balloon music festivals and zero gravity plane drops. We’ve helped clients create new product franchises and even created a fair bit of advertising along the way.” Alex Bennett Grant, co-founder and CEO of WE ARE Pi.

Founded with Jamaican, British and Japanese roots the agency has expanded into a crew that hosts fifteen different languages. While the marketing world has seen its diversity problem turn into a series of PR crises, WE ARE Pi has been having fun grappling with everything from West Indian immigration to pan-asian hip-hop and Indian weddings like the cultural natives they are.

A hallmark of Pirate culture is how much the agency invest each year in their birthday, Pi Day, when they close the agency’s doors and remind themselves why they created the agency in the first place. This year took inspiration from Dutch cycling culture to design and build the world’s first (and now world famous) Pi Bike.

Adding insult to injury for big city ad land commuters, Pi decided they couldn’t call themselves Pirates without owning a ship; the agency boat is moored outside our Canal House offices. While it’s smuggling days are largely behind it, it does make a great location for status meetings and Friday night drinks.

Co-founder and CEO, Alex Bennett Grant has this to say of the agencies progress towards being crowned Small Agency of the Year.

“At Pi we believe that any agency that is going to have a healthy future needs to look beyond advertising alone. We’ve worked hard to create a business that, while still committed to creating great advertising, has a bigger view of its future.”

“One of our biggest successes has been diversifying into the entertainment space with the creation of Pi Studios. We’ve made a number of hires of people with pure entertainment backgrounds”

“In 2018 we jumped in the deep end by investing in our own entertainment franchises and original shows. This has allowed us to respond directly to cultural moments with entertainment franchises, like when we responded to the Windrush Immigration scandal with Migrant Sound a 4-part series on West Indian Immigration’s impact on the UK music scene. We’ve created co-branded partnerships with Boiler Room, Guardian, Nikon and WeTransfer and produced over 250 minutes of original content with millions of organic views in 2018 alone.”

“Having a group of talented documentary producers on staff has also elevated our core strategy and research functions. We’re now able to nimbly find unique stories and produce high quality documentary shorts to bring audience insights. This added extra expertise to our existing Cultural Authenticity Network which we built over the years to ensure that our small resourceful team of pirates can deliver insight with big global impact. Our network of organisations and partner relationships includes TED Conferences and Singularity University, which we use to get inspiration beyond advertising and carry out research that is genuinely reflective of today’s rich and complex cultural universe.”

“We made some big changes to our structure in 2018. A big part of the founding philosophy of Pi was that the agency model had become bloated and expensive. We restructured the agency in 2018 to make sure it kept its commitment to efficiency, ownership and pace; taking the successful model of four founding pirates and building the agency around it. All our project teams are now led by four senior generalists across brand, strategy, creative and delivery, supported by specialists.”

announcement

announcement

Bruce St. Clair signs to PULSE films

Global content studio Pulse Films has today announced the signing of award-winning director Bruce St. Clair to its Commercials roster in North America. 

Known best for his ambitious Commercials work with brands which include Mercedes, IKEA, Audi, Mini, Kia and Fiat to name a few, Bruce’s style is unmistakable, exciting and distinct. His talent to expertly deploy intricate and complex VFX into his films, while preserving authenticity and emotion has proven to be a potent combination for the films he creates.

Bruce’s diverse output has won a plethora of awards and has been celebrated at industry leading ceremonies like Cannes Lions, D&AD’s and the Clios.

Bruce St. Clair commented: “Pulse Films is the ultimate multi-disciplinary and future facing company to be a part of.  I wanted to be somewhere that believes in high production values but that is also a hub for talent.  As a studio Pulse Films is  building huge momentum in the US.  Davud and the team have an innate judgement of good creativity when it comes to seeking opportunities and setting their filmmakers up for success through the production process. I am proud to be part of the family.”

Davud Karbassioun added: “Bruce has a fantastic and fresh body of work, which we have long admired. He effortlessly integrates high end visual effects through a beautifully cinematic lens, but above all his work has a real perspective and personality which we love.  Whether it’s provocative or unapologetically charming, he is a rare combination of skills as a filmmaker.  Above all he’s a gent and we’re excited to welcome him to Pulse Films USA.

announcement

announcement

Director Ante Kovac Signs With Lord Danger

Director Ante Kovac has joined forces with Lord Danger, a creative production studio at the intersection of entertainment and advertising. Kovac, a Toronto-based visual storyteller and writer, joins Lord Danger with an impressive body of work including short form content and commercials for Honda, Dove, KFC, 3M, and BGON, in which storytelling and authentic performances meet a streak of humor.

 

Tapped for his dual talent in directing and developing concepts, Kovac mines humanity’s many expressions, all with a cinematic through-line and a penchant for quirky mystery. With “Junkman,” Kovac blended the ridiculous and bittersweet to the notion of being physically overwhelmed by unwanted things. The short branded film garnered attention from industry publications and was named to The One Show shortlist in 2019 for Film in two categories: Film Under 100K and Branded Entertainment Long Form Video.

 

“Ante blew us away from the start with his BGON short, Junkman. I saw his work and thought, ah, this is what everyone is trying to do,” says Lord Danger Founder/EP Josh Shadid. “He captures naturalism in a high level, cinematic way. Then once we got to know him we saw how enthusiastic, thoughtful, experienced, and hard-working he is – it shows in every spot on his reel.”

 

Kovac’s entre into directing was an explosion sparked by simultaneous exposure to film at university and the Toronto International Film Festival. A former musician who had turned his attention to the craft of music production, this cinematic introduction became an obsession as Kovac consumed massive quantities of film – a staple part of his cultural diet to this day. His directing career began in creative playground of music videos; he then applied his passion for short form narratives as a commercial director, first with UK production company Therapy, and recently with Canadian production company Animals. Lord Danger will be the first company to represent Kovac in the United States.

 

“Lord Danger stands out as a company comprised of people that are not beholden to convention and are helping define the industry,” notes Kovac. “They have vision and integrity without being precious. For me, finding that balance of imagination and determined drive in Lord Danger is energizing.”

 

In addition to short form projects via Lord Danger, Kovac will direct his first feature film, an 80’s homage thriller “Coming Soon,” in 2020.

announcement

announcement

Fallon London hires former Virgin in-house strategist and award-winning creative João Paulo Testa

nnounced today, Fallon London has appointed two senior hires; strategy heavyweight, Olly Markeson, as its Planning Director and award-winning creative João Paulo Testa (JP) to Creative Director.

Markeson joins from Virgin Management (the Branson family office) where he was their in-house Brand Strategist and JP joins from F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi.

 

With over 14 years’ experience JP will report to Chief Creative Officer, Chaka Sobhani. He is the creative mind behind many lauded campaigns, including the latest AMG ‘Made of Power’ project. He will partner with existing Creative Director Ronaldo Tavares.

 

Prior to F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, JP worked at AlmapBBDO for five years working on brands such as Audi, Volkswagen, Pepsi and Havaianas. He also co-founded Workhäuss, a co-working start up that offers workspaces in unused areas of exclusive bars and restaurants.

 

Markeson will report to Chief Strategy Officer, Josh Bullmore, and will be responsible for strategic execution across Fallon’s ŠKODA account.

 

With over 11 years’ experience and prior to Virgin, Markeson held senior positions at agencies including BMB on McCain, and Grey on Vodafone and Pantene.

Prior to that, client-side at Procter & Gamble (P&G) he led the strategy for teenage perfume brand “XX by Mexx” – a far cry from his life as an officer in the Army Reserves.

 

Charlie Rudd, CEO Leo Burnett & Fallon London: “Both Olly and JP have the ideal blend of strategic and creative rigour and we are very lucky that these two impressive individuals have chosen to join us. I know they will help make our work better.”

 

JP, Creative Director, Fallon London: “Fallon London has always been a benchmark of creativity and craft excellence for me. It is a great honor to be joining a team that has a bold culture and builds brands with passion and an incredible business vision.”

 

Olly Markeson, Planning Director, Leo Burnett London said: “It is a unique privilege to help unlock the extraordinary potency of both Fallon and the ŠKODA brand.”

announcement

announcement

Idles – "Mercedes Marxist" – headbanging office worker video directed by Will & Dylan of Directors 32

They had me already at the start of the office scene. It doesn’t hurt that I like the song as well, but this whole grungy “video” look to the music video, with a grainy drab office somewhere, and a man banging his head against the desk repeatedly, yepI’m hooked. At 2:42 there’s a nice screaming release as our headbanging office grunt hero rages into the void and the strobe light cuts are edited together to make it even more manic. This is gritty, grimey, desperate, and so very old school punk somehow.  Directors 32 directing team Will & Dylan created this music video with the much buzzed about band Idles. 

Starring: Kris Hitchen

Directed By: Thirtytwo

Produced By : Erin Sayder

Executive Producer: Maurizio Von Trapp

Executive Producer: James Sorton

Production Company: Pulse Films

Record Label: Partisan Records

Director Of Photography:  Ben Fordesman

Production Designer: Tim Gibson

Production Manager: Millie Wells

Casting Director: Kharmel Cochrane

1 S? T ?ad : Chris Malin

Costume Designer: Adam Howe

Hair & Make Up / Sfx: Scarlett O’connell

Editor: Ellie Johnson

Colourist: Simone Grattarola

2nd ? Ad: Sam Bokma

Production Assistant: Ellie Sanders Wright 

Production Assistant: Rachel Bashford

Location Manager: Alistair Vlok 

Location Manager: Titus Penate 

Focus Puller : Ed Tucker

Clapper Loader: Jay Coates

Trainee: Ernie Griffths

Grip: Lee Naylor-vane

Jimmy Jib: Mike Drury

Jimmy Jib Trainee: Hannah Vivancos-drury

Gaffer: Esteban Gimpelewicz

Electrician: Leopold Naessens

Electrician:  Izzy Jones

Electrician:  Jeff Celis

Spark Trainee: Evance Breteuil 

Props: Louis Ruscombe King

Props: Nick Hancock

Props Buyer: Anna Leahy

Art Dept Assistant: ? George ?gunn

Art Dept Assistant: Conor O’hagan 

Stunt Coordinator: Dave Nolan

Runner: Tracey Lopes

Runner: James Reed

Runner: Elliot Lang

Runner: David Marrt

Runner: Amelia Stott

Medic: Mark Doree

Driver: Mark Rigoletto 

Driver: Terry Gibourn

Catering: Red Hot Box

Camera Equipment: Panavision

Lighting Equipment: Panalux

Production Equipment: Get Set Hire

Edit Assistant: Amanda Jenkins

Edit Producer: Julian Marshall

Edit House: Tenthree

Flame Artist: Jamie Crofts

Flame Artist: Nina Mosand

Flame Artist: Adam Paterson

Nuke Artist: Linda Cieniawska 

Post House Producer: Sean Ewins

Post House Executive Producer: Tom Johnson

Post House: Time Based Arts

Sound Designer: Anthony Moore

Sound Design Executive Producer: Lou Allen

Sound Design House: Factory

Insurance:  Jlt Specialty Ltd.

 

Cast:

Wife: Sarah Whithe

Pub Drinker: Danny Granger

Pub Drinker Friend: Claude Driver

Pub Screen Actors: Kim Driver,  Stan Roberts,  Charlie Hinnegan,  Dale Clarke
Office Screen Actors:  Kim Driver, Jamie Treacher, Charlie Pawlett, Claire Brice, Simon Bass, Jack Chapman, Hayley Powell, Amanda Collins, Wendy Jt Simeon, Billy Wright

Supermarket Screen Actors: Sophie Dearlove ,  Helen Walling Richards,  Jermaine Young, Izzy Joan, Nick Field,  Jo Hart , Katherine Beresford 

Stunt Performers: Mark Rigoletto, Danny Granger , Anna Thornley, Chris O’Reilly, Calum Ralph

Hudson Brasserie – The Medium is the message – print, Israel

The Hudson brasserie is one of the finest meat restaurants in Israel, and to advertise it they used one of the finest meat puns.

Ad agency: Grey, Israel

Senior Art director: Moti Rubinstein
Senior Copywriter: Shay Chikotay
 

pun

Move over "Truth in advertising", Jean and director Pam Thomas create "Commercials", a hilarious look at our industry

Do you remember “Truth in advertising”? This series is kicking that off its inside-joke throne with style. An updated look at the world of making commercials, warts and all.

Community Films’ directorial collective JEAN and director Pam Thomas have joined forces to create “Commercials”, a comedic web series about the humorous, ego crushing, overanalyzed silliness that plagues the world of commercial film making and everyone involved.

 

“As Commercial directors and former advertising creatives, we’ve experienced hundreds of completely ridiculous moments during productions where we looked at each other and said, ‘this needs to be a show,’” says Natalie Prisco of JEAN.

 

Seizing on the seemingly important, but altogether ridiculous scenarios that inherently go along with making commercials, “Commercials” peels back the curtain on an industry that everyone is familiar with, but very few know much about.

 

“The world of commercial making is such a unique industry that feels so ripe for satire,” says Eric Eckelman of JEAN

 

Told from the unique point of view of an eccentric group of egomaniacal, yet wildly insecure commercial directors and their production company, Bird Films, “Commercials” satirizes the world of production as The Office did the world of 9-5ers.

 

Each episode gives a glimpse into the various aspects of commercial making and stages of production, leaving nobody unskewered in the process.

 

“We’d love Commercials to give viewers a sneak peek into what we love so much about our business and hope they find it as hilarious and fun as we do,” says Pam Thomas.

 

“We’re thrilled we finally decided to make that show,” adds Armand Prisco of Jean.

Episode 101: ‘ETHNICALLY AMBIGUOUS’

Nate, Maggie and the agency team try to figure out how to navigate an unexpected client request. This one feels as real as it gets, this happens. A lot.

Episode 102: ‘REALLY GREAT MEETING’

Nate and Jay may or may not have totally nailed their Snackyz presentation. Or maybe not. Maybe.

Episode 103: ‘MANTRUM’

TRUE STORY – the last time I heard a story about a director locked in a car delaying the shoot, he was also eating bowls of cereal in there.
Nate uses the oldest trick in the book to lure the out of his mind director Axel Roundhouse back to set.

Episode 104: ‘FULL CLOCKS’

Directing team Tom and Dave learn the art of the full clock.

Episode 105: ‘GUYS AND DOLLS’

A seemingly mundane Pre-Production meeting goes off the rails.

About JEAN

JEAN, pronounced like the pants that are made of denim, is comprised of Eric Eckelman, Armand Prisco and Natalie Prisco. Known for their comedy chops, and pulling believably odd performances out of their actors, they have created comedy-driven work for Lifetime, Delta, Pizza Hut, AT&T, Honda, TBS and Visa. Armand & Nat got their start working as a creative team at McCann before they went over to write and direct for MTV. There, they met Eric who was also a writer and director for the acclaimed network.

 

About Pam Thomas

Pam Thomas began her career at MTV, back when it was cool, in the late 1980s, writing and directing promos in the On-Air Promotions Department. Pam has worked with dozens of brands and agencies to produce a huge body of work, including spots for Gatorade, Nike, Visa, AMEX, Payless, Lexus, Wal-Mart, Dove, Verizon, Cheerios, Pantene and Cotton featuring celebrities Zooey Deschanel, Kate Bosworth, Emmy Rossum, and Hayden Panetierre. Pam’s style of work portrays an essence of glamour, fashion and creativity. Her sense of humor and knack for getting great performances, is evident in her TV work on Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives and more recently on the Netflix series Atypical with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michael Rappaport.

 

 

COMMERCIALS CREDITS

 

ETHNICALLY AMBIGUOUS

Directed by JEAN

Written by Natalie Prisco

Story by JEAN

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang          

Maggie Cheng: Ana Parsons    

Ashley: Ali Hillis         

DK: DK Uzoukwu                   

Agency Producer: Brent Popolizio    

Head Client” Rebecca Tilney              

AD: Sam Carsons        

EA Woman: Rachel Varela

 

Editor: Angela Cheng

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello  

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz    

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson 

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis 

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney  

Second AC: Austin Pedroni 

DIT: Lee Summer          

Gaffer: Tim Stratton 

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr  

Boom: Jason Brooks

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

 

 

 

REALLY GREAT MEETING

Directed by JEAN

Written by Natalie Prisco

Story by JEAN

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang                       

Jay Beck: Bo Barrett                

Agency Producer: Katie Von Til         

Creative #1: Rich Pierre Louis          

Creative #2: Dalton Leeb        

 

 

Editor: Angela Cheng

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz      

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson 

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis 

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney  

Second AC: Austin Pedroni   

DIT: Lee Summer  

Gaffer: Tim Stratton  

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr   

Boom: Jason Brooks

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

           

 

 

MANTRUM

Directed by Pam Thomas

Written by Lloyd Stein

Story by Lloyd Stein

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang                       

Tom: Adam Silver                   

Dave: Ken C Peterson             

Agency Producer: Olivia Herman

AD: Sam Carsons        

Actor #1: Christal Deloney      

Actor #2: Casey Alexander

  

Editor: Angela Cheng

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello  

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz      

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson  

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis  

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney

Second AC: Austin Pedroni   

DIT: Lee Summer          

Gaffer:Tim Stratton

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr  

Boom: Jason Brooks                

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

 

 

 

FULL CLOCKS

Directed by JEAN

Written by Natalie Prisco

Story by JEAN

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang                       

Tom: Adam Silver      

Dave: Ken C Peterson             

Agency Producer: Olivia Herman

AD: Sam Carsons        

Actor #1: Christal Deloney      

Actor #2: Casey Alexander

 

Editor: Angela Cheng

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello  

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz    

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney  

Second AC: Austin Pedroni  

DIT: Lee Summer          

Gaffer: Tim Stratton  

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr  

Boom: Jason Brooks                

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

 

 

 

GUYS AND DOLLS

Directed by JEAN

Written by Natalie Prisco

Story by JEAN

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang                     

Maggie Cheng: Ana Parsons   

Male Client #1: David Lowe

Male Client #2: Ted Canon     

Female Client #1: Jayne Entwistle  

Female Client #2: Io Bottom

   

Editor: Angela Cheng

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor

Andrea Tello  

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz      

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson   

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis   

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney   

Second AC: Austin Pedroni  

DIT: Lee Summer          

Gaffer: Tim Stratton   

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr  

Boom: Jason Brooks                

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

           

 

           

BREAK ROOM

Directed by Pam Thomas

Written by Pam Thomas and Lloyd Stein

Story by Pam Thomas

Created by JEAN and Pam Thomas

Production Company: Community Films

Executive Producer: Lizzie Schwartz

Executive Producer: Carl Swan

Producer: Tony Cantale

Director of Photography: Neil Shapiro

 

CAST

Nate Young: Nate Lang                       

Tom: Adam Silver       

Dave: Ken C Peterson             

Agency Producer: Olivia Herman

AD: Sam Carsons        

Actor #1: Christal Deloney      

Actor #2: Casey Alexander

Editor: Angela Cheng

 

Production Designer: Jace Ford

Original Score: Jay Lifton

Casting Director: Chad McKnight

Casting Assistant: Rachel Varela

Re-Recording Engineer: Robin Buyer for Pulse Music

Colorist: Quinn Alvarez

First AD: Julianne Maiello

Second AD: Aban Sonia

Script Supervisor: Lucia Pier

Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello  

Production Coordinator: Kathy Burnham

Art Director: Chad Bailey

Leadman: John Horlick           

Set Decorator: Marisa Collins

Prop Master: Greg Schultz      

Set Dresser: Marty McCue

Costume Designer: Julie Vogel

Key Costumer: Kristin Hazen

Costumer: Ariel Kostrzewski

Key Make Up: Brenna Bash

Make Up Assistant: Laura Connelly            

Camera Operator: Bill Robinson 

First AC / A Camera: Diona Mavis 

First AC / B Camera: Jason Kinney  

Second AC: Austin Pedroni

DIT: Lee Summer          

Gaffer: Tim Stratton   

Key Grip: Marco Pearson

Sound Mixer: Scott Farr 

Boom: Jason Brooks                

VTR: Mike Waters

Key PA: Francisco Hernandez

Production Assistant: Scott Belsky

Production Assistant: Patrick McElroy

Production Assistant: Scott Kukla

Production Assistant: Phoebe MacCurrach

Production Assistant: Jeremy Meizlish 

Production Assistant: Tony Paoli

Production Assistant: Ted Sheahan

 

Special Thanks

House Casting

Cosmo Street Editorial

Pulse Music

Apache

advertising jokes

advertising jokes

Match & Rebel Wilson – “Let’s Make Love” and "Get your heart on" new campaign from 72andSunny

Match just released first work with global creative agency 72andSunny. Rebel Wilson. In the campaign, Rebel Wilson plays host on a podcast-like show where she puts bad dating behaviours, like sending unsolicited D pictures, ghosting people, getting “zombied” or “mermaided“ on blast while dishing out dating advice. If you are charmed by Rebel Wilson, and her delivery of cheeky lines like “heart on” and “nut milk” you’ll probably love this campaign. Like so many other campaigns from 72andSunny driven by the celebrity that stars it, it relies on the celebrity themselves rather than the core concept.

“People are ready to make love, but like actual love. We just needed a way to talk about this timeless topic that wasn’t cheesy or sappy. So, we enlisted Rebel Wilson who can say what we’re all feeling about dating in a relatable but ridiculous way, gave her a pretend podcast, and asked her to help people get their heart on,” said Adam Szajgin, Creative Director, 72andSunny Los Angeles. 

 

“Match has always been about making love – like, real, actual love,” said Ayesha Gilarde, CMO at Match. “In partnership with Rebel Wilson, we are excited to give a voice to the challenges daters face today in a fun and relatable way, all the while encouraging singles to get out there and make some love.”

 

“Dating shouldn’t be a numbers game – or any game at all – it should be about finding YOUR number one partner.  So I’m teaming up with Match to start talking about real feelings, real commitment and treating each other like the amazing effing people we are! So for all you hopeful daters out there looking for your person, join me in flipping the script on dating today and let’s make love…some real love.” – Rebel xoxo

Client: Match

Agency: 72andSunny Los Angeles

Production: Caviar 

Director: Neal Brennan 

Editorial: Cut+Run 

Editors: Frank Effron and Eli Beck-Gifford

Music: Mean Machine

Post / VFX: The Mission

Dick Edelman

“Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie. Make the audience or the reporter believe that everything is okay. How many times have you heard a CEO stand up and say “No, I’m not leaving the company” and then – days later – he’s gone. Reporters understand that you “had” to do it and they won’t hold it against you in your next job when you deal with them again.”

Edelman Senior Training Executive 

 

It was fascinating to watch faux woke joke and quintessential cliche of a PR agency in the worst possible sense Edelman struggle to turn its cowardice and hypocrisy into a win this week. Particularly and especially since they failed.

 

Surely you know of what I speak: The latest big agency tone-deaf marketing disaster story broken suspiciously simultaneously in the ethically struggling, run-by-a-creep New York Times and Adweek, with Edelman abruptly pulling the ripcord on its ill-advised-from-a-PR-standpoint deal with private prisons company The GEO Group, which was being targeted and scapegoated for the perceived sins of the Trump administration’s separation of illegal immigrants’ children from their parents and their “parents” at the Mexican border, even as one-quarter of the “parents” turn out to be probable human traffickers.

 

Considering how impeding humanity’s emotional, intellectual and empathetic evolution looks to be Edelman’s groove thang, it seems a bit weird that this is where their suddenly enlightened employees would draw the line, but hey—we’ll take what we can get when it comes to disgruntled underlings sticking a plank in the spokes of one of the world’s largest and most despicable propaganda cabals of corporate conniving and cancerous communications conspiracies.

Trust me. I know of what I speak. I’ve had unpleasant, unethical dealings with the too-smooth-by-half leader of the eponymous agency, and dealt with its consistently dishonest spawn on numerous fronts over the years. Like a virgin schoolmarm with Long Dong Silver, my first Edelman experience was the worst and most painful, but almost all of them share sinister similarities that suggest an ingrained communications strategy rooted in fundamental dishonesty and self-generated fake hype.

 

When I worked at MediaPost covering Edelman’s “Wal-Marting Across America” scam in 2006, CEO and Prez Richard Edelman himself personally called me and “swore upon his professional honor” [off-the-record, of course] that they had no idea the people driving the RV and staying at Wal-Marts and blogging about how great it was were actually a Washington Post photographer doing double-duty, and a woman who had a family member who was an Edelman executive.

 

When I later discovered that the organization financing the trip, “Working Families for Wal-Mart,” was a shell company SET UP BY EDELMAN ITSELF, Dick Edelman would not take my calls but instead wrote a mea culpa for his personal blog. As did Edelman’s WoM specialist Steve “Rubber” Rubel, who likewise pled total ignorance that the whole thing was orchestrated by Edelman. Dick Edelman did speak to me later, on-the-record, to apologize. But only after he got caught.

 

Since you gotta figure Edelman the agency and presumably its CEO Dick Edelman were cool with PITCHING the GEO account, it doesn’t really sound like too much has changed in the 13 years since Dick Edelman lied to my face. They’ll try to get away with as much as they possibly can, and, if caught, eject and try to spin the hand-in-the-cookie-jar moment into a happy mistake we all learned from. 

 

But who is learning what, exactly? My repeated experience with PR people who work or have worked at Edelman is that the “off-the-record lie” is a go-to communications propaganda strategy. People who work or have worked at that firm have crossed my path and deployed that tactic again and again throughout my career.

 

”The fish stinks from the head down,” as my grandmother used to say.

 

But hey, don’t let me come off as the bitter bastard burning—Edelman’s got a looooong rap sheet that showcases their business as the type of place that would gladly take ten bucks to put your mother’s corpse on strong twine and make it dance like a puppet. Or at least Robin Williams’.

 

Remember when Edelman lost a slew of executives who got sick of working for a place that played the climate debate from both sides for maximum profit?

 

How about when a bunch of make-your-kids-fat corporations and associations formed the Law of Inversion named “American Council for Fitness & Nutrition”--a clown world creation with the subversive actual intent of stifling regulatory action intended to confront and combat the nation’s obesity epidemic. Who did ACFN members Kraft Foods, Chocolate Manufacturers Association, Sugar Association, National Council of Chain Restaurants, Association of National Advertisers, and so on, literally ad nauseam…who did this crew choose to flip the fake news script from healthy to hellish? Edelman!

 

And who did the shady Red Cross turn to when it backstabbed 9/11 families by keeping nearly half of the half-billion dollars it raised for the so-called “Liberty Fund” after the Sept. 11th attacks? Edelman!

 

And what about your dead mom’s malevolent marionette sendoff? In 2014, Edelman advised clients to “Seize the day,” and capitalize upon tortured comic genius Robin Williams’ tragic suicide with a “visible and aggressive approach” to create content tied to Williams’ death.

 

You would think that pointing out this type of despicable soulless anything-for-a-buck hypocrisy would be like shooting fish in a barrel or hanging Harvey Weinstein in a whorehouse. But apparently not, which is why I ended up writing it here. Last week, the half-smart/half-hopeless closed Facebook PR/Media group to which I may not still belong after this gets published had a bunch of lemming-like lapdogs licking Edelman’s hand after its not-so-brave slapdown of the GEO Group (there were, to be fair, a few iconoclasts pushing back).

 

Quite a belated stand to take, too, since all reporting stated Edelman so impressed the client they didn’t even have to pitch against anybody else. But then they quit and apparently gave the story to the Times and “AdWeek,” because fucking over your client two times is twice as satisfying as paying the sister of an employee to shill for Wal*Mart.

 

Ah well. Professional denialism continues even though the fatal iceberg hit has already occurred. There are already two large agencies dealing with a kind of primal moral awakening among their younger employees That we know of. Like bugs in the walls of a decaying building, if we see two, there are probably 22. At least.

Still, the mentality of too many remains that Leo and the Titanic might be going down, but maybe if we all wish really hard, our whores will turn into heroes…even as all indicators IRL are flashing bright red that the opposite is true.

 

Me? I know a Dick move when I see one.

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Opinion editorials on advertising and business

Billboard that celebrates low birthrates gets cheeky reply from Portuguese family

The Great Decrease – aka de grote krimp in Dutch – is an organisation that wants to open up to have a discussion about the global population growth. After a number of public evenings in the Netherlands (www.degrotekrimp.nl) about the subject of our population growth, the organisation concluded with a modest international billboard campaign. They decided to post these billboards in places where the birth rates are very low.  As the Great Decrease site says:

‘Shrink towards abundance!’ and ‘Celebrate low birth rates!’. In an overpopulated world having less children is the most pro-child action you can take. According to the Great Decrease falling birth rates are a blessing. Therefore we start an international campaign to encourage countries with low birth rates to celebrate this. 

The Great Decrease put up billboards in Portugal (with a 1.2 birth rate the country with the lowest birth rate in Europe), Singapore (birth rate of 1.3) and the Netherlands (birth rate of 1.6). 

Not everyone agrees, however.

Mom, Dad Filipe d’Avillez and six beautiful children are no fans of the billboard at Praia Macas, in Sintra, Portugal.

Filipe d’Avillez spotted the billboard in Sintra and went there with his family to show what he thinks about it. They don’t agree that the fact that there are fewer children born is something to celebrate. Neither do many other people. 

Hans Rosling, who knew how to paint the future by numbers predicted that the world population will never exceed 11 billion anyway, and way back in 2010, in Cannes, he explained that it’s only by raising the poorest peoples living standard that we lower birth rates. 

If we are worrying about birth rates, because, as the site “The Great Decrease” puts it “the large number of people is the driving force behind today’s major problems, including climate change, loss of biodiversity and scarcity of resources” then, one would think, solving these problems would be a more presssing issue than to just have fewer kids. As Hans Rosling notes,  as billions are lifted out of poverty by improvements in health, education, and infrastructure, as is happening and seems likely to continue, their energy use goes up dramatically. 
 

There’s the paradox, improved quality of life lowers birth rates, but it also increases energy consumption even though there are fewer people born. 

These issues won’t be solved by a billboard, no matter if it celebrates the low birth rates of Portugal, Singapore or the Netherlands.

marketing mishaps

Markee the Sad

SKYN – Explore yourself / Space (2019) :70 (France)

SKYN® Celebrates Moon Landing’s 50thAnniversary with Campaign Reminding Us to Explore Ourselves

 

Decades after we first set foot on the moon, the idea of self-exploration is still considered taboo and sex toys remain illegal in many places, a perception SKYN® hopes to change. To accompany the take-off, SKYN® is launching a campaign with a film that pays tribute to exploration, using historical footage from NASA, and asks: “We were never afraid of exploring planets located millions of miles from us… so why then are we so afraid to explore our own bodies?”

 

The film will be accompanied by an outdoor campaign featuring the tagline “Exploring space is wonderful. Exploring ourselves should be too”, with billboard trucks circling the headquarters of NASA in Washington, D.C. and SpaceX in L.A.

SKYN® recently ventured into new territory itself. Earlier this year the brand introduced its own ED pill that can be ordered online and which comes in special packaging, a designer case that always stands on its own. By normalizing ED and the notion of self-exploration, the popular brand hopes to carry out its mission to erase stigmas and make us more comfortable with ourselves.

The rockets are all very phallic, and so are some of the glorious space images, which is fun. Art direction is really quite nice here, but I find the connection between exploring space and exploring myself a little thin. 

Sid Lee:

Title: Explore Yourself

Advertising Agency:  Sid Lee Paris 

President: Johan Delpuech

Executive Creative Director:  Sylvain Thirache

Creative Directors: Céline et Clément Mornet Landa ?

Art Director: Ludovic Gontrand 

Copywriter: Max Harrington

Head of Production: Thomas Laget?

Producer: Francois Breteche

Video Editor: Yoann Plard 

Head of Strategy: Bruno Lee

Strategic Planner: Patrice Zamy

Managing Director: Mehdi Benali 

Account Director: Héloïse Marchal?

Account Manager: Trisha Mitra

 

Lifestyles – SKYN®?

President & General Manager: Jeyan Heper

Global Marketing Strategy Director: Marta Toth 

Global Brand Marketing Manager: Nicolas Woussen

sex