Boycott of Adidas Called Over Ads on Graffiti Wall

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The wall surrounding Warsaw Horse Racing Track is a monument to the Warsaw graffiti scene. About a mile of wall space covered with colorful graffiti. We're told it has always been an important place for the Polish hip-hop culture. While the area has been in decline over the years, it's still well respected by artists the world over.

Recently, Adidas planned to place ads on the wall and that has raised the ire of some in Poland who have called for a boycott of the brand. In its advertising, Adidas often uses graffiti imagery and though the groups claims the brand supports graffiti artists, the group is not pleased with Adidas' presence on their holy shrine to the graffiti art form, saying, "They do not care about our work and history."

The group has launched an Adisucks Facebook page and already has 23,227 supporters.

Do brands simply not get the culture? Do they not care? Or do these reactionary groups just have their panties in a twist over nothing?

by Steve Hall    Mar-28-11    
Topic: Cause, Outdoor, Social



PETA Clubbed by Canadian Club Over Seal Hunt Parody

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PETA is catching some heat for a New Yorker-style cartoon ad it ran recently which shows a seal at a bar asking the bartender for "anything but a Canadian Club." The ad, which aims to protest Canada's annual seal hunt, has raised the ire of whiskey maker Canadian Club which sent the cause group a cease and desist letter.

In the letter, Canadian Club VP and General Counsel Kenton Rose wrote, "PETA's malicious publication has caused degradation of Canadian Club's corporate image and the advertisement has and will damage the 'Canadian Club' brand and trademark,"

While PETA General Counsel Jeffrey Kerr claimed the ad was an obvious parody, the cause group agreed to pull the ad and destroy all post card versions of the ad.

In response to Canadian Club's complaint, PETA General Counsel Jeffrey Kerr wrote, "Jim Beam could stand head and shoulders above the rest by saying, 'Let's drink to the end of seal slaughter!'"

by Steve Hall    Mar-24-11    
Topic: Cause



Road Safety PSA Urges Us to Slow Down, Appreciate Life

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Alright so we were all ready to whip up something snarky about this latest feel-good road safety PSA (it's a trend, you know) until we realized the message within the three minute video is a very important one. We need to slow down. Not just on the road but it life. In every aspect of our lives. We move too fast. Eat too quickly and drive too fast. And this makes us tense and uneasy and takes a toll on out bodies.

We need to breathe. To breath slowly as this PSA encourages. And to appreciate that slow breath and its importance. And to understand that getting there a few minutes earlier really isn't worth the harm life's constant race places upon us.

Some nice work from the Road Safety Council of Western Australia

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by Steve Hall    Mar-24-11    
Topic: Cause



Agency Exec's Pet Project Aims to Save Public Schools

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So what happens when an ad exec is unhappy with what he sees around him? He gets everyone in his agency to get behind his pet project for pro bono account work. And that's just what Paul Venables, founder of San Francisco's Venables Bell & Partners did when he became upset of the plight of public schools in Marin county California.

Driving around Marin you'd not necessarily realize there were many problems. It's a very upscale and beautiful area but the state has cut $55 million in school aid and things are not going so well on the public school front.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-23-11    
Topic: Agencies, Cause



Sex-Crazed Smutley the Cat Calls Attention to AIDS

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So you know that expression that's sometimes said about a person who just can't get enough sex? Yea. You know. How they like to "f*^k everything that moves? Well that's the kind of guy Smutley the Cat turns out to be in this French AIDS awareness video for the non-profit AIDES.

Created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and directed by Niklas Rissler and Kevin O'Grady at againstallodds through Passion Pictures, the video brings us along on a ride with Smutley as he gets himself off by stuffing himself inside everything from a turtle to a dolphin to a fish to an elephant and more.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-22-11    
Topic: Cause



Vida Guerra Lends Assets to PETA

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Continuing its obsession with nudity, PETA is out with yet another video featuring a near nude celebrity talking about how bad it is to eat meat and how we all should Go Veg. This time around, it's the bootylicious Vida Guerra who talks about the health benefits of going vegetarian and why it's cruel to wear fur.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-21-11    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity



Burger King and CP+B Split, Sun Times Cans Lewis Lazare

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- Burger King and Crispin Porter + Bogusky have ended their seven year relationship.

- The Chicago Sun Times has let go ad critic Lewis Lazare.

- A sex doll commits suicide in an ad all to promote a dating site.

- Super hottie Tehmeena Afzal is out with another video. This one's for a local car dealer and she's wearing less clothing than she ever has before.

by Steve Hall    Mar-18-11    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Cause, Racy



New GoDaddy Girl Joan Rivers Supports Same-Sex Marriage

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Now that she's a GoDaddy Girl, Jon Rivers can do anything, even support gay marriage in New York. Which is exactly what she's doing in a new commercial for gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.

In the ad, Rivers says, "All New Yorkers believe in fairness, that's why we should support marriage equality. For goodness sakes, come on guys,"

Sadly, she looks way less hot in this commercial that she did in the GoDaddy commercial.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 9-11    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity



Shannon Doherty Like You've Never Seen Her Before

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- Here's Shannon Doherty like you've never seen her before. She does a beautiful job in this episode of Suite 7, a sponsored episodic series from the Better Sleep Council and produced by CJP Digital Media. Other episodes star Draig Bierko, Brian Austin Green, Illeana Douglas, Milo Ventimiglia and others.

- Big River has created a campaign for the National 4-H Council which includes print, radio, TV and a video which features 4-H kids talking about their experiences with 4-H. Dubbed Generation G, these kids are giving their time to improve their communities.

- George W. Bush's daughter, Barbara Bush, has filmed a PSA supporting gay marriage in New York. Tsk. Tsk. Daddy wouldn't approve.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-11    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Celebrity, Video



Vegetables Fellated, Dreams Interupted, Obama Faked

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- Yawn. PETA films hot models fellating vegetables because, well, it's sexy and they're never going to get on the Super Bowl anyway.

- Don't let your partner interrupt your dreams.

- And in more PETA news, the organization wants to put up a Go Vegan billboard in Denver but two outdoor companies have rejected it. Something about cattlemen's inability to come.

- The call for entries is now open for the 2011 international ADC Student Brief competition, part of the ADC 90th Annual Awards. The deadline is March 18.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 1-11    
Topic: Cause, Industry Events, Racy, Strange, Video