That's My Billboard! No, It's Mine! No, Mine! Waa! Waa!

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Pity the poor wild posting. It's under attack by New York-based Public Art Campaign. Specifically, the group is targeting NPA, a company which maintains a collection of specific wild posting locations.

Public Art Campaign representatives Sunday were seen around Manhattan with buckets of white paint covering NPA wild posting boards. According to Gothamist, less that an hour after the boards were whitewashed and non-commercial art applied, NPA had reclaimed the boards are reposted them with commercial messaging.

It's like two kids fighting over a toy (Mine! Mine! Mine!) until it breaks. Which then leads to a dueling temper tantrum of epic proportion.

According to the New York Times, five people were arrested in association with the standoff.

by Steve Hall    Oct-27-09    
Topic: Cause, Outdoor, Strange



'Be That Woman' Helps Single Mothers Get on Their Feet

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We didn't think a cute little video about the challenges a single mother faces would affect us all that much but then, as we watched, we realized there are a lot of struggling women out there with mouths to feed who need help and don't have it all that easy.

This video from BeThatWoman.org takes us through the day of a woman who's trying to make a go of it for her and her baby. And it's tough going. She can't afford medicine. She can't afford to pay her utility bills. She can't afford daycare or the bus. She can't get a job at a snotty cafe.

And then. Salvation. She finds a women's center which can help her get back on her feet. It's the Washington Area Women's Foundation and the video was created by RP3. We like the simplicity of the work and the simplicity of the message.

by Steve Hall    Oct-26-09    
Topic: Cause



Universal Healthcare is Hot, Blond and Curvaceous

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When Heather Graham hit the scene in Drugstore Cowboy and then again on Twin Peaks, we were, well, peaked. While we're not quite sure what appearing in a MoveOn commercial hyping a public health insurance option will do for her career, we are very sure she - and all of her hot, blond curvaceousness - has caught the eye of the very bloated, for-profit insurance companies.

As they all stand at the starting line of a race in which they don't need to compete (after all, why exert any energy when complacency works just fine), Heather, and all of her hot, blond curvaceousness, approaches the starting line as a representative of the public health insurance option and gets set to beat the crap out of all the other bloated insurance companies.

All while Peter Coyote (President on Flash Forward!) pleads for us all to contact congress and tell our representatives we need that public health insurance option.

by Steve Hall    Oct-26-09    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Commercials



If You Give A Bill to A Stripper...It Won't Have A Happy Ending

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Ever wonder where that $10, $20 or $100 went after you handed it over to to buy some food, get a car wash or tip a stripper? Well, Germany's Heart's Desire Association takes a look at a single bill's travels. It isn't pretty. But the organization promises bills that find their way into the organization will have a much happier ending.

by Steve Hall    Oct-23-09    
Topic: Cause, Good, Racy



Squid Puked, TV Smashed, Babies Crawl

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- If more commercials were like this one, advertising would be a better business and the general public might actually believe what we have to say.

- Not really all that exciting but when a brand decides to throw stuff at a TV in slow motion, it's occasionally worth the watch.

- Can't get people excited about a cause? Bring out the time-tested baby strategy.

by Steve Hall    Oct-22-09    
Topic: Cause, Commercials, Strange



If You Can't Charge for Tweets, Charge for Their Fuel.

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The most loved and hated socnet du moment is partnering with Crushpad, a company that lets amateurs make, sell, brand and market their own wines -- to produce a Twitter-branded Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

1/4 of the proceeds for the project, dubbed The Fledgling Initiative, go to a nonprofit called Room to Read, which promotes literacy for children in places like Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Zambia and Nepal.

According to Biz Stone and Ev Williams, the partnership's in keeping with their commitment to grow Twitter -- "because if you can't read you can't tweet!"

So there you have it. Ignite a future for the high-profile navel-gazers of tomorrow with your own bottle of Twitter wine, which goes for $20 a pop. Every case sold buys 60 local language books for Room to Read. You can also keep up with The Fledgling Initiative and find ways to get involved by following @fledgling.

by Angela Natividad    Oct-15-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Social, Strange



Once Again, Artists Ask World to Get Along. Sadly, It's Pointless

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If you're a fan of that Warren Beatty Bulworth-esque statement about everyone "co-mingling" until we're all the same color, you just might like this new effort from We Love People for fashion brand Blend. The agency worked with artists from baghdad, Tehran, Myanmar and Afghanistan to spread positive messages about "blending" the world.

So yes, it's the same old if we could al just get along" message that everyone always agrees to and aspires to but, sadly, never seems to work.

So yea, there's a video. It's typical. Give it a watch.

by Steve Hall    Oct-13-09    
Topic: Cause



Dogs Are Pretty Smart But They Do Need Help With Birth Control

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Here's an approach to doggy family planning we haven't seen before. The SPCA in Malaysia is urging pet owners to neuter or spay their dogs. But they've done it in a very interesting "There are some things you can't teach your dog" kind of way.

If only dogs actually were this smart. Then when the moment struck us humans, all we'd have to do would be to send old Butch to the store for us.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-09    
Topic: Cause, Good



Food Prices Skyrocket in Hunger PSA

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We watched this black and white PSA filled with disbelief as images of deserted grocery stores selling apples for $11/lb, cans of chicken noodle soup for $22.78/ea and ground beef for $52.49.lb faded in and out. We wondered is this a post apocalyptic world movie trailer? Then it brightens, a woman returns a loaf of bread to the shelf and a tagline reads, "Imagine a world where food was too expensive. For 36 million Americans, it is."

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct- 6-09    
Topic: Cause



Putting on Lee Jeans Will Give You An Orgasm...And A Seahorse Ride

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So yea. October 2 is Lee National Denim Day, a fundraiser for breast cancer research. Pimping its participation, DDB Chicago created this cute little video in which a woman is a bit shocked at what she feels and experiences when she puts on a pair of Lee jeans.

In the promo, the woman whisked away on a flying seahorse through the clouds until she falls of the things and lands back in reality. Namely, the dressing room of some random retailer. We're sure all form of fantsay have occurred in dressing rooms around the world but orgasm-causing jeans and seahorse rides is a new one on us.

by Steve Hall    Sep-28-09    
Topic: Cause, Strange