Stare at This Empty Bed And Tell Us What You See

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Um..what the what, what? Are we missing something here? We're all for a good cause but we've looked at this Chi & Partners-created ad for the UK's Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation for quite some time and all we see is an empty bed.

OK, so yes, we get that the empty bed signifies a person who's no longer with us but, really, this add is so clinical it could be for a hospital bed manufacturer.

Could we have a headline? Tagline? Some heart string pulling copy?

Or are we just too stupid to grasp the simplicity of this message? Yea, it's probably that.

by Steve Hall    Mar-24-09    
Topic: Cause, Creative Commentary, Strange



Smoking is Addictive. You Know, Like Gummy Bears.

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The team at Truth is at it again with Infect 2009, flanked by a guerrilla team called the Infectors. In a set of five ads, two charismatic but prickly MTV hosts -- which join Truth in battle -- invade ordinary spaces with 100 Truth warriors at beck and call. Their objective is to illustrate some of the egregious claims tobacco industry executives have made over the years.

See "Gummy Bears." Uh, diggin' how they're still using quotes from the late '90s.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar-24-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Guerilla



...but Won't the Fibers Destroy that Fine Watery Flavour?

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Designer Benjamin Edgar is responsible for the minimalist packaging behind Boxed Water is Better, which helps bottled-water elitists be more eco by using packaging made from renewable resources.

The, uh, box format that's become so popular with other fine beverages means empty containers can be shipped flat back to a water plant. More flattened boxes can fit in a truck than whole bottles, so emptied Boxed Water containers require fewer truckloads.

Nothing's sexier than a rapidly-shrinking carbon footprint. (Writing that out makes us think of Chinese foot-binding, which is sort of uncomfortable, and probably has more to do with our psychological states than this campaign.)

by Angela Natividad    Mar-23-09    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Packaging



Because It's Hard to Puff-Puff-Pass with Your Parents Weighing Your Arm Down.

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In a tech-zealous adaptation of the WWJD? wristband trend, The Sound Advice Project lets parents record DON'T-DO-DRUGS! messages, which are translated into a "three-dimensional representation" and made into bracelets for impressionable weebies.

We dig how some of the printwork totally plays on pre-ado insecurities: "His voice is cracking. He embarrasses easily. Now is the perfect time to buy him a bracelet."

Oh, that's just malevolent. But it probably merits pointing out that any kid willing to wear Mummy's good intentions on his sleeve is probably more at risk of getting his favourite snowcap stolen than of smoking a blunt after school.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-16-09    
Topic: Cause, Magazine



Testicular Awareness Goes Right for the Balls

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You gotta forgive the quality of the imagery at left, but we couldn't leave this one alone. For a Macedonian testicular cancer awareness campaign, grabby paper hands were laid down on public seats or positioned suggestively over barber's gowns, snatchin'-the-manpouch style.

The objective is to take the stigma away from checking your Holy Grail for testicular cancer. (Alternatively, I don't know how I'd feel if I put on a barber gown and looked down to find two disembodied hands cupped over my boobies. I guess I'd have no choice but to live with it.)

The blunt "Check Them" message also appeared on eggs -- which made us feel decidedly wary about picking any up in the near future.

Orchestrated by McCann Erickson for NGO Veritas Spiriti. The work is also shortlisted in the "Best Targeted Campaign" category of this year's Festival of Media Awards.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-11-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good, Guerilla



Anti-Suicide Folk Bring Sudden End to Songs, TV Shows

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Suicide Action Montreal needed to get its message of suicide prevention out to a jaded province. Faced with the challenge, the clever cats at Touche! phd, Sid Lee and Astral Media concluded there's no better way to illustrate suicide than to bring an abrupt end to things people like.

The campaign rolled out in two ways. To start, popular programs randomly went black to make way for the following (roughly translated) message: "Does this premature ending surprise you? Imagine if it happened to the life of someone close."

After a few seconds of darkness, the episodes started rolling again. Same thing happened with popular songs on the radio.

Refreshingly out-of-box. Check out examples of both the TV and radio executions (bad pun!) on the Touche! phd blog.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-10-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good, Radio, Television



Avoid Massive Bodily Injury. Heed This Caltrop-Wielding Butterfly

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You've gotta love when a butterfly says, "It's up to you to help the planet. And if you don't, well, I'll rain an assemblage of caltrops down on you like Greek fire." Which is why we love this new TDA Advertising-created campiagn for 1% For the Planet.

The organization urges people to buy from its stores and urges businesses to sell their wares through the store. One percent of every sale goes to environmental causes

by Steve Hall    Mar- 6-09    
Topic: Cause, Good, Magazine



Spoofs for a Cause, Courtesy of AIA

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To promote the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Agencies in Action and Bill Oberlander at Cossette produced a triage of cynical spoofs on well-known ad campaigns. (See iPod and HSBC variants.)

The goal: to get Manhattan's agency creatives to volunteer at soup kitchens and food pantries at least once monthly. So far, six agencies have committed: Arnold Worldwide, Cossette, DiMassimo Goldstein, Gotham, Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners and TBWA\Chiat\Day.

In the event that you need more convincing, or just feel compelled to show your face at another social gathering, hit up the AIA kickoff reception on Thursday, March 12 at 7pm. It all happens at the Cossette office on 415 Mad Ave, 3rd floor.

More intelligence at the website.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 6-09    
Topic: Agencies, Campaigns, Cause, Events, Poster



Drug Taking Trivialized! No, Wait. It's an Anti-Drug Ad!

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"I was absolutely outraged when this was brought to my attention. To trivialize drug-taking in this way is completely irresponsible and unacceptable. I am shocked that advertising could sink to such low depths. I find it unacceptable that a local magazine aimed at young and impressionable people would stoop to such a level in an attempt to gain readers." So said Bedford (in the UK) borough councilor Andrew McConnell to the Advertising Standards Authority.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 5-09    
Topic: Cause, Policy



Nudity + Cause = PETA Ad Campaign

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You know, we need a name for this soon to be overused math equation headline style. Anyway, it's like the headline says. Some strippers got naked for a cause and ended up in a PETA anti-fur ad.

Ad AdFreak reports, the naked (really poor term since all the parts that actuall constitute "actual nudity" are covered) women are Rick's Cabaret strippers and that that move defeats the entire purpose of PETA's nudity campaigns: that they get people who you won't normally see nude to go nude for a cause. Jenna Jameson excluded, of course.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-09    
Topic: Cause, Racy