Video Advocates Creation of Cannes Humanitarian Lion

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About a week ago, a video appeared on YouTube that advocates the creation of the Cannes Humanitarian Lion, an award honoring the agency which submitted the best idea and action plan to solve one of several pre-determined worldwide humanitarian issues. Each agency that submitted work to Cannes for any category would be required to also provide one Humanitarian Lion idea. Finalists would then be selected and have until the next year's Festival to execute the work at which time the work would be judged and the winner awarded the Humanitarian Lion.

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by Steve Hall    May-12-08    
Topic: Cause, Good, Industry Events, Video



Newsflash! Jane Goodall Is Not Dead!

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Who knew? She was old when I was a kid but apparently, she's still alive and well and hangin' with the chimps. Or at least helping Green Mountain Coffee Roasters preserve chimpanzee habitats in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. The effort aims to lessen area farmer's economic difficulties and to end the clear cutting or forests. Oh, and to make sure the region can continue to make coffee so Green Mountain can continue to make money.

by Steve Hall    May-12-08    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Inflight



Anachronistic Truth Campaign Commercial Gets Blank Stare

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Continuing its illogical idiocy, the Truth campaign has dredged up yet another decades old quote from a "tobacco company executive" who is now likely dead if not certainly retired. This executive, in response to a claim smoking cigarettes during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight said, "...some women would prefer smaller babies."

This is idiotic on so many levels. First, it's an anachronism from 1971. Times have changed and no human with a brain in their head would ever say that today. If this ad ran in 1971, it would make sense. Today, it's a complete disconnect. Attempting to slam a tobacco company for something someone said 37 years ago is just stupid. Second, maybe women did and still do want smaller babies. After all, who really wants to squeeze out a 15 pound fattie? Maybe the guy was repeating something he heard while drunk at a cocktail party and it was taken totally out of context.

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by Steve Hall    May- 6-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Worst



Freeze-Packed Used Condoms Call Attention to Beach Pollution

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If you're one of those beach police dudes, you might want to make sure you take your keys out of your little beach cart before you inform a beachgoer they're on a private beach lest you want an angry walrus to drive off with it. That particular scenario is part of a Saatchi & Saatchi LA-created campaign for the beach protection cause group Surfrider.

Along with an amateur-style video with the walrus antics, which, let's be honest, is pretty lame, comes seafood packaging placed in local farmer's markets which don't contain fish, rather various collections of trash collected from the beach. Not exactly the sort of thing you'd want to see when digging through the cooler for that prefect cut of fish.

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Darfur Cause Aims for Paris Hilton-Like Publicity

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Forrester Senior Analyst Jeremiah Owyang has written a concise summary with insightful commentary on the Louis Vuitton brand-jacked Darfur t-shirt situation. Briefly, an artist, Nadia Plesner, created a t-shirt showing a Darfur child holding an LV bag and a little dog.

Imagery sound familiar? It should and that's Plesner's point who explains, "My illustration Simple Living is an idea inspired by the media's constant cover of completely meaningless things [ie. Paris Hilton]. My thought was: Since doing nothing but wearing designer bags and small ugly dogs apparently is enough to get you on a magazine cover, maybe it is worth a try for people who actually deserves and needs attention."

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by Steve Hall    May- 5-08    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Celebrity, Consumer Created, Opinion, Social



Will Ferrell Rolls the Cause Dice for Burma

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Whether you're an air traffic controller or some random kid in Toledo, Burma could use your help tackling that slippery "human rights" concept.

Seriously. There's some screwed-up stuff happening there, including ethnic cleansing and the imprisonment of a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Will Ferrell took time out of his busy Funny or Die schedule just to tell you so.

In the next 30 days, other celebs will lend their earnest faces and awkward jokes to Burma: It Can't Wait, orchestrated by Fanista and Digital Influence Group. Up to bat tomorrow: Jennifer Aniston and Woody Harrelson. Sure it's an odd pairing (Natural Born Killers meets Friends?), but crisis has a way of making unlikely bedfellows.

Loving how the site cuts right to the chase with that big red DONATE button.

by Angela Natividad    May- 1-08    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Online, Video



Chatterous Gets You Laid, Spoken Word Promotes Healthcare, Starbucks Points Fingers, Acura Sucks Up

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- There's something about spoken word poetry that makes us clench our glutes. You know, like someone about to suffer something unavoidably bad. This spoken word PSA by "MIKE-E" for the American Cancer Society wasn't terrible, but we winced all through it anyway.

- Google Maps, meet GTA IV.

- So Twitter went down for just exactly too long, and in that time frame Jolie O'Dell discovered Chatterous (now in alpha!). It will get you laid.

- New Google killer on the loose. You know what's fun? Googling "Google killer".

- Starbuck's profits fell 28 percent compared to this time last year. Bummer. CEO Schultz says the crappy numbers "reflect the sharp weakening US consumer environment."

- Acura's TSX hopes to endear itself to Millennials by pointing out how we don't sleep. EVER. Printwork by RPA.

by Angela Natividad    May- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Magazine, Online, Promotions, Video



It's An Ad Contest for CATS!

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In tangent with Cat Fancy, Petfinder.com has launched "Cats Rule!", an ad contest that aims to do two things:

- Improve public perception of cats
- Encourage people to adopt homeless ones

Entrants must create a 7x10" print ad that demonstrates "the value and importance of cats, specifically of adopting one." The winner gets a full-page run in Cat Fancy's September issue. It will also appear on Catchannel.com and Petfinder.com.

That's one thing I don't get about this campaign. If its purpose is to alter negative public perceptions of cats, why preach to the saved? Get that bad-boy a full spread in Modern Dog or ... hell, Dwell.

The deadline for submissions is May 23. See guidelines. If after the height of lolcat and Caturday you can't put together a bangin' cat ad, sell your Big Black Pencil and go be an accountant somewhere.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Trends and Culture



Haagen Daaz Co-Ops Plight of Bees in New 'Cause' Campaign

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What do bees and ice cream have to do with each other? Apparently, a lot if you are Haagen Daaz which relies heavily on the work of bees for their product's natural ingredients. It seems the bee population has suddenly dwindled and, with help from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Psyop, Haagen Daaz wants us to know we can help by donating money to to their cause.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-24-08    
Topic: Cause



Because Do You REALLY Wanna Take the Casale Bag Home?

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Last week at ad:tech, Steve and I ran into Marjorie Kase. Kase, in tangent with David Preciado and originator Mike Liskin, is a mastermind behind the Schwaggin' Wagon, whose mission is to gather craploads of SWAG (Stuff We All Get -- but don't actually want) for charity.

The Schwaggin' Wagon will take donations all through the Web 2.0 conference in SF this week. Follow the van's activities on Twitter (caution: psychedelia ahead) or check Facebook for tour updates.

Let's just hope the Schwaggin' Wagon doesn't cross paths with Plaid Tour '08, because the result (AESTHETIC WARFARE!) might give us epilepsy.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Events, Good