Hasta La Creative!

Minneapolis-based agency Martin Williams, fresh off rebranding Mall of America, has teamed up with Mary Beth Mueller (widow of Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller) in a campaign launching Kill Kancer, “a nonprofit aimed to raise awareness for preventable types of cancer.”

Following her husband’s death approximately nine years ago, Mueller started The Karl Fund at the University of Minnesota “to support breakthrough cancer research.” Kill Kancer is an extension of The Karl Fund, “a nonprofit positioned to inform the younger generation to take proactive measures on preventing cancer.”

“Cancer is the leading cause of death in Minnesota and since I have been personally affected by the terrible disease, I’ve made it my life’s mission to support the fight. After much research, I found there is a lot information on diagnosing cancer but limited information about prevention,” explained Mueller. “Through Kill Kancer, I hope to give our younger generation information that is useful to them concerning prevention as well as an outlet to have open dialogue about the illness.”

The backbone of Martin Williams’ campaign is the Kill Kancer website the team designed providing cancer prevention information and a community portal where visitors can post content. At the center of the site (and the campaign) is the above video, directed by Dan Huiting. The video features appearances from Minneapolis-based artists such as Slug from Atmosphere, Ashley Dubose from NBC’s “The Voice,” street artist HOTTEA, and rapper/community activist and teacher Toki Wright. Martin Williams will also be hosting a benefit concert for Kill Kancer today at The Cedar Cultural Center, including performances by by Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum, Silverback Colony, Communist Daughter, Willie Murphy & Special Guests, and Taj Raj. Irksome intentional misspelling of “Kancer” aside, this is an important campaign that differs from countless other cancer awareness campaigns by providing important information about preventative measures people can take to reduce the risk of certain cancers. Since most people don’t even realize there are cancer prevention methods, this is an invaluable cause that could do a lot of good.

“Pro Bono work is extremely important to us,” said Tom Moudry, CEO and chief creative officer, Martin Williams. “Working on Kill Kancer from the ground up has been an unforgettable experience, especially for someone who gave the Minneapolis music scene so much and was such a lovely guy.”

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Toronto-based Grip Limited have a new campaign for Testicular Cancer Canada that’s, well, ballsy.

The agency employed risque humor to raise testicular cancer awareness and get more guys to self-examine regularly. Built around the tagline, “No one’s going to check them for you,” Grip’s two TV spots, directed by Matt Swanson, show men receiving testicular exams from unexpected sources, resulting in some pretty ridiculous (and funny) situations. In the first, and more successful spot, “Cop,” a guy is pulled over for a broken taillight. “Let me see your driver’s license,” says the cop, “….aaaand your testicles.” The humor in the spot comes from the resultant avoidance (and non-avoidance) of eye contact and awkward looks during the exam. “Mechanic” is basically the same idea, but with a mechanic in an auto body shop instead of a cop. It could just be that I viewed “Cop” first, but something about it just wasn’t as funny. Nevertheless, both spots make admirable use of humor to make a message that’s all too often forgotten memorable, an admirable accomplishment, especially when you consider the prevalence of testicular cancer.

“Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 15-29”, explained Testicular Cancer Canada founder Cheryl Perry explained . “If you try to sit these guys down and teach them something, they might tune you out. But if you make them laugh, they’ll remember what you’re saying”.

In addition to the TV spots, the integrated campaign, which is timed to coincide with Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, also features radio advertising from Pirate Toronto and an online testicular cancer “remote scanner.” As you might have guessed, the remote scanner asks dudes to place their balls on their phone screen only to display an error message telling them to check their balls themselves. Stick around for credits and “Mechanic” after the jump. continued…

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A group of New York ad professionals and filmmakers–minus the aid of any agency–including Point Blank Productions director Kim Dempster collaborated on “#StopTheNightmare,” a series of PSAs for Freedom For All, a non-profit created by former Ford Models CEO Katie Ford to end slavery.

“#StopTheNightmare” includes three, 30-second PSAs dealing with the horrors of human trafficking and sex slavery, each ending with the number for a hotline viewers can call to report or get confidential help. The spots highlight the surreal, nightmarish aspects of human trafficking, leaving viewers with the impression of the horrors faced by victims of human trafficking. “Indebted” is probably the most effective of these, showing a man who trades his passport for a card that says “labor.”

Through the nightmarish scenario that follows we learn that he faces this fate for the rest of his life. “Sex Slavery” uses similarly nightmarish imagery to implicate the horrors of a life in the sex trade. “Hidden in Plain Sight,” while not as emotionally affecting, delivers the important message (especially for those who fail to realize the scope of this global problem) that there are over 27 million people being trafficked around the world today. Taken as a whole, “#StopTheNightmare” is an effective, well-conceived statement, and a distinct departure from PSAs utilizing voiceover to educate viewers, opting instead to deliver a visual message about the nightmarish nature of the problem.

“The more I learned about modern-day slavery, all I could say was, ‘this is a nightmare,’ and that was the basis of our visual narrative — the nightmare of what people dream the first night they realize they have been forced into bondage,” explains Dempster.

Dempster enlisted the help of colleagues Lisa Kwon (Kwoni Productions) and Hooligan senior editor Peter Mostert to produce the PSAs, which included a four-month post-production process that included ” photo-real CG environments created by VFX companies Republic and Piranha.” Stick around for credits and the “Sex Slavery” PSA after the jump.

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Sausalito, CA-based Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners are rolling out a new campaign today for Raise the River, “an organization that has been working to bring water to the Colorado River and restore it to the Gulf of California.” The new campaign revolves around a series of videos pitting Robert Redford against Will Ferrell in a mock debate about the proper way to restore the Colorado River. Redford plays the straight man, representing Raise the River, while Ferrell thinks the solution is to “Move the Ocean.”

The campaign begins today with a series of videos, first exclusively on YouTube and Funny or Die, and then on Participant Media’s Pivot Channel on March 22nd. Funny or Die released the first clip today, with a series of videos to be released gradually through April. BSSP’s campaign aims to raise 10 million dollars for the restoration of the Colorado River. Redford explains the problems facing the Colorado River and how Raise the River can help. Will, excuse me, William Ferrell chides “Old Sundance” and argues that the real solution is to “several hundred miles inland,” which will help both the river and American surfers. To add emphasis to Ferrell’s cause, he is joined in one of the videos by surfer, Kelly Slater.

“We saw this idea of a fictitious debate between Mr. Redford and Mr. Ferrell as a novel way to generate greater awareness of the very serious issues facing the Colorado River,” explains Jill Tidman, executive director of the Redford Center. “Bringing a sense of humor to the effort opens the door for a much greater audience and offers everyone a chance to be part of winning this campaign—and this is one we are going to win.”

In addition to the series of videos, BSSP has created websites for both Raise the River and Move the Ocean, as well as “a series of sharable social media clips featuring Ferrell to seed a robust social media initiative.” You can see Redford debate Ferrell in the clips above and below, and stick around after the jump to see Kelly Slater join Ferrell for Move the Ocean.

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