VML Shares Joy With Toys For Tots Sharing Campaign

Some holiday cheer from Kansas City's VML. The agency put together a promotion called What's Worth Sharing that will donate $1 to Toys for Tots each time the promotional video is shared. Give it a watch. And get into the spirit of giving.

Rape Prevention Ad Pulled For Blaming Victim

A recent rape prevention ad campaign from Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board has been pulled because critics claim the ad puts the blame on the victim. The ad, which shows a woman's legs on a bathroom floor with her underwear around her angles, reads, "She Didn'y Want to Do It, But She Couldn't Say No."

The intended message, of course, is don't drink so much you can't make decisions for yourself. Nothing worn with that message, of course. One should never gets o drunk that one can't maintain control. But dovetail that messaging with rape and the scenario is a bit different.

It's easy to see why critics interpreted this ad as victim blaming. After all, the ad could be interpreted as saying she got drunk so she deserved it.

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Cat Popularity Leveraged For Advent Calendar

Cats. Cats are a guarantee. If you stick a cat anywhere online it's guaranteed to get seen millions of times. Or so that's the commonly held belief in social media land. Taking advantage of this notion, Big Fuel and The Humane Society of new York have partnered to create the 2011 Catvent Calendar, an advent calender featureing...you guessed it...cats. Check it out.

PSA Gets Men to Look at Prostitution Differently

Here's a look at prostitution from a male perspective. It's quite interesting. The whole prostitution thing when viewed from the eyes of men as the John is sometimes quite glamorous. Imagery of hot, young women in tight mini dresses at one's beck and call to server one's every sexual whim. But when that viewpoint comes from a man as prostitute, the viewpoint is very different. Not all paying "johns" are hot, young women in tight mini dresses. Far from it. Man or woman, Johns are just regular people and regular people are from from the seemingly glamorous fantasy.

But the message in this PSA from the European Women's Lobby which is aimed at men isn't to call attention to the fact not everyone is hot. It's to make men aware of the fact prostitutes are likely disgusted by you, would never have anything to do with you if you weren't paying and wished you'd understand the harm you're doing when you hire a prostitute.

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If You Sleep With Your Baby You Could Kill It

Well here's a pleasant one as we ease our way back into the work week. A new Serve Marketing-created campaign from the City of Milwaukee Health Department would like people to know it's dangerous to sleep with your baby. The campaign, which uses the imagery of a baby sleeping with a knife, urges parents to make sure their baby sleeps on its back in a crib and offers a number to call if the parent can't afford a crib. See the second ad here.

Meth Project Gets Graphic With Darren Aronofsky

OK. So here we go again. Wasn't it determined that scare tactics don't work when it comes to getting kids to stop drinking, stop doing drugs and to not text while driving? If that's the case The Meth Project hasn't been informed. An tandem with Darren Aronofsky, Organic and Wild Plum, four new commercials continue down the "hard-hitting" road to getting people's brains off drugs.

We're not claiming the four scenarios we see in this campaign. Don't happen. They do. Far more often than anyone would like. But hasn't it been determined that all these scare tactics get is a "well that would never happen to me" response? As always, we could be wrong.

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Pereira & O'Dell Raise Money For Cancer With Pod Movember

San Francisco-based Pereira & O'Dell is showing its support for the fight against cancer with Pod Movember, a fund raising project that reaches out to the entire ad community to help raise funds for the cause. Head over to their Movember site, check out some of the mustachioed Pereira & O'Dell employees and donate to the Movember cause. Really. You'll feel much better after you do.

Laura Vandervoort the Latest Nude PETA Celebrity

Are you a fan of Smallville? Or V? Or just love any chance you can get to stare at Laura Vandervoort? Well, now you can stare more as PETA, otherwise known as celebrity porn for a cause, is out with a new animal rights ad. In the ad, Vandervoort is naked and painted to look like a reptile. The ad's tagline asks, "Whose Skin Are You In?" Of course, the ad is aimed at urging people to "leave wildlife out of your wardrobe."

In a short PSA, Vandervoort says, "I want to make people aware that if you want a high end python bag or crocodile... Three or four alligators have to die for each purse. It's just ridiculous. A lot of people think that reptiles don't feel, but they do."

And she should know. She played one on TV.

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OccupyWallStreet's Crowdsourced Commercial Spews Same Old Rhetoric

Occupy Wall Street has been getting a lot of press. Now it's trying to get its message out to more people with a commercial it's purchasing through Google TV with crowdsourced funds through LoudSauce. There's zero said in this commercial that hasn't already been said a million times before in a million other cause-related political commercials. Basically, the message is the same. Everyone wants more for less. Tax the the rich. Free health care for all. No wars. Blah, blah, blah.

Hey, it's a noble cause and maybe the work will result in actual change. But call us jaded. We aren't buying it. As long as there's money to be made, those making it will bend every last rule to make more no matter who it hurts. It's really that simple.

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Publishers Clearing House Taps Facebook Fans For Charity

Today Publishers Clearing House launched a social charity program on Facebook called The Give Back which lets PCH Facebook fans vote for the charity they would like to see the company award $25,000. Second and third place charities will receive $2,500 each and, to encourage participation, one Facebook fan will receive a $5,000 prize.

The Give Back program is a two stage process. In the first stage, fans will vote on ten different causes, including Fight Disease, Save the Environment, Protect the Animals, Help the Homeless, Develop Communities, Improve Education, Enrich the Arts, Promote Sports, Provide Disaster Relief and Support the Troops. This stage will last approximately two weeks. The three causes with the most votes will move on to the next rounds.

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