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.

adrants

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

Allison O'Keefe Wright Named President of Open Mind Strategy, LLC

Allison O’Keefe Wright has been named as company president at market research firm Open Mind Strategy. She formerly was executive vice president and managing director.

Robin Hafitz, founder and CEO, said, “Allison has been effectively leading the OMS team for several years and ensuring that our clients get the highest quality research-driven insights that can be provided. It’s time to make her leadership role official.” Hafitz, herself, will switch to the title of founder/chairman to make clear that O’Keefe Wright is “in the day-to-day driver’s seat for OMS research projects.”

Lianna Willoughby, formerly vice president, managing director, is also being promoted, to senior vice president, managing director. Willoughby works in partnership with O’Keefe Wright to assure that client expectations are met or exceeded.

Hafitz said of O’Keefe Wright, “She’s got a brilliant mind, is amazingly tuned into consumers, and is diligent in assuring that our clients are given a competitive advantage by working with us. She spearheaded the development of our Youth Insight Quarterly Brand and Trend Tracker, a tool that gives subscribers – and us Open Minds – fresh insights into Gen Z and Millennials and the new attitudes and behaviors they bring to today’s media and brand landscape on a constantly refreshed basis.”

Of Willoughby, Hafitz noted, “Lianna has been an indispensable member of the OMS team. She’s often behind the scenes, but is key to ensuring the consistently high standards to which we hold ourselves and which make our client repeat rate close to 100%.”

O’Keefe Wright joined OMS in 2013, and had previously been in VP Roles leading research and strategic planning at EMI Music and MTV. Prior to those engagements, she’d worked on the “vendor side” with Headlight Vision, and “agency side” at Publicis. Willoughby began her career at the MDC ad agency, kb+p, and was OMS’ first hire after Hafitz opened the company in 2010. 

About OMS, LLC
Founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur, Robin Hafitz, Open Mind Strategy, LLC is a hybrid research company (handling both quantitative and qualitative inquiries) and consulting resource known by its clients for providing deep insights into mission-critical audiences. The company provides custom research studies and consulting help to companies like Food Network, Anheuser-Busch, Facebook, Netflix, Verizon, Varsity Brands, BBC American, Nat Geo, and many more. OMS also provides its syndicated Youth IQ tracker to clients seeking regularly updated insights into Gen Z and Millennial consumers. OMS is headquartered in New York City.

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Macy’s Back to School – "All brand new" (2019) :30 (USA)

Do a lot of dancing, sprinkle in some meme effects like the “deal with it glasses”, throw a good sound track and color sparkles on top – this is the mix that Macy’s hopes will entice generation Z to gear up before they go back to school. Directed by Maxime Bruneel.

 

According to 1stAveMachine Partner and Executive Producer Sam Penfield, “Maxime is not an obvious choice for a kid’s back to school spot as his style is a bit edgier and street but Major Behavior immediately focused on his work. The agency wanted to make something that would resonate with young people and knew that the authenticity of Maxime’s work was key. The collaboration was delightful and we absolutely love the resulting film.”

Client: Macy’s

Campaign Name: Macy’s Back to School

 

Agency: Major Behavior

Founder/Creative Director: Ken Erke

Agency Producer: Maria Xerogianes

 

Production Company: 1stAveMachine

Partner/Executive Producer: Sam Penfield

Executive Producer: Peter Repplier

Executive Producer: Lisanne McDonald

Executive Producer: Michaela McKee

Director: Maxime Bruneel

Director of Photography: Luis Arteaga

Producer: Jason Taragan

 

Service Production Company: Capital Media

CMC | EP / Managing Partner: Christian Allen

CMC | HOP / Partner: Keely Stothers

Executive Producer: Krista Thompson

Production Supervisor: Andy Shaw

Production Coordinator: Laura Byrnes

Talent Coordinator: Alice Ride

1st Assistant Director: Stuart Andrews

Gaffer: Torbin Doege

Key Grip: Mark Yates

Production Designer: Katharine Reynolds

Wardrobe Stylist: Leila Bani

Hair & Makeup: Trudi Egerton-Ball & Shannie Reynolds

VTR: Dale Anaka

Script Supervisor: Danielle Piche

Choreographer: Natasha Gorrie

Can We Quit All the Quitting, Already?

When the content firehose drowns a person in noise and distortion, it’s natural for the person to flee. To say enough already and quit. You may have heard that people have been leaving Facebook in droves. Some of your friends and family may have vacated the digital premises. Many Facebook users have begun to rethink […]

The post Can We Quit All the Quitting, Already? appeared first on Adpulp.

Nike Just Did It

Dan Wieden and his ad agency are many different things to many different people. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the copywriter’s copywriter. His game-changing tagline for Nike has always summed up the sports brand in three perfect syllables. Just Do It. The brand mantra is now 30 years old and Nike wants to let […]

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Happiness Is A Tweetless Holiday

Holidays are full of travel, family, food, and for many people today, an unending stream of social media updates to their “smart” phone appendage. Sadly, this is where politics and the weight of the world can creep in. Tessa Films in Chicago believes we can put our phones down for the betterment of America and […]

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Brevity Is The Soul of Wit, But Not On Twitter, Not Anymore

Twitter doubled down on its character limit this week. Users of the social media platform are now able to update in 280 characters—twice the previously allotted character count. The news isn’t going over particularly well in certain circles. At least two literary lions loathe the change. Twitter’s destroyed its USP. The whole point, for me, […]

The post Brevity Is The Soul of Wit, But Not On Twitter, Not Anymore appeared first on Adpulp.

Dodge Flexes Its Muscle Cars On Social

Content and social media marketing get beaten up by old school ad men for focusing on “the conversation,” instead of the sales pitch. I think the reality is a bit different than the reported complaints. Car companies, real estate companies, clothing companies, restaurants, and hotels all use social media to share their assets with the […]

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Make Room For HR In Your Company’s Social Feeds

Not too long ago, people used to “break in” to advertising. That’s how hard it was to land a job at a top creative agency. Today, even the best agencies need to make an effort to recruit talent. Witness Brunner’s self-promotional efforts on Twitter: We offer careers where you’re not holed up over a laptop […]

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Adverati Only

Listicles are ridiculous. Lists, on the other hand, are often helpful and handy. Grocery lists, for example, keep one on task. Twitter lists can also be put to good use. Here’s a new list I made that’s comprised of 30 agency leaders who regularly drop knowledge on Twitter. These 30 members of The Adverati like […]

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These Students Made a Song Out of Inactive Twitter Accounts, and It's Super Catchy

To get people to delete their (probably long-forgotten) inactive Twitter accounts, some students from Rotterdam-based Willem de Kooning Academy created a ridiculously catchy @twittersong, with lyrics created by combining—and calling out!—handles that have been dead since March 2016. 

“Hey you, the one who’s still in their eggshell,” a folksy voice sings, “Yeah you, the one who didn’t say farewell. You didn’t have anything to say, no tweets were coming your way. So you decided not to stay … but why did you never fly away?”

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Is This Any Way to Sell a 'Razor Sharp' Eyeliner?

Urban Decay’s promotion of its Razor Sharp eyeliner, with what it called “Razor Sharp Swatches,” has drawn the ire of some of its consumers. At issue is a photo the brand tweeted of a model with color swatches on her wrist—which, given the name of the product, some saw as a reference to cutting. 

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Muscle Up The Strength To Save A Bro

Last year, when “Bros” needed saving, Organic Valley and its agency Humanaut was up to the task. It’s a great campaign. Still, not every Bro knows about the dangers of pounding protein shakes with synthetic ingredients and scary chemicals. If you know of a Bro in need of better protein, please go to SaveTheBros.com and […]

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Gap Baffles NASA Fans by Featuring the Space Shuttle in an Ad About 1969

Gap’s been running ads celebrating “iconic Americana moments” and playing up the chain’s founding in 1969. But one of its retro choices left NASA fans flummoxed.

A tweet from the recent campaign, posted on March 1, featured a photo of a space shuttle liftoff, emblazoned with the text “1969.” As any fan of space history knows, that was the year Apollo 11 went to the moon on a Saturn V rocket, more than a decade before the space shuttle made its debut.

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Alfa Romeo Responded to This Forlorn Fan With One of the Best Personalized Tweets Ever

A lot of brands try for a personalized, poignant touch with their social media fans, but few have ever pulled it off this well.

When Daniel Hancox of England’s Burton upon Trent tried to buy an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, he arrived at the dealership to find someone else had snatched up the car he had his eye on. Clearly heartbroken, he wrote a poem about the missed connection and sent it to Alfa Romeo UK on Twitter:

The brand’s response did not disappoint. Check out the follow-up poem:

From there, things seemed to be progressing nicely:

I followed up with Hancox, who says he’s still hopeful that a long-term relationship is in the cards:

Hat tip to Aneta Hall at Wells Fargo, via LinkedIn.

Mashable Just Learned a Basic Rule of Twitter: Cross William Shatner at Your Own Risk

The first rule of tweeting about William Shatner is to assume your tweet will be read by William Shatner. Which is great, unless he’s not happy with what he reads.

(Trust us, we’ve been there.)

Mashable fell into Captain Kirk’s crosshairs this afternoon after posting a tweet calling the actor a “teen girl” for asking Justin Bieber to follow him on Twitter.

Shatner’s brief Twitter conversation with Bieber was more likely tied to Shatner’s vocal involvement in the massive charity scavenger hunt GISHWES (The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen, hosted by Supernatural actor Misha Collins) than to some random budding bromance.

But Mashable, seemingly unaware of the context of the tweets, instead chalked it up to Canadian solidarity or guessed “he just wanted to make a bunch of teenagers jealous.” Shatner took issue with the story’s headline and tweet, calling out editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff.

Here’s how it all played out: