Prisoners Are Family Too!

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AdPunch points us to this campaign launched a couple years ago for Centreforce by agency Better World Advertising. It ran in San Francisco and Oakland.

Seeking to humanize inmates and fellow prison alum, ads feature friends and family members who really want their dads/sisters/husbands back and are asking for community support as they reintegrate.

We're sort of reminded of Benetton's We, On Death Row campaign. Boy oh boy did Benetton get hell for that - a possible reason why they devolved from provocation to potato-pushing.

Granted, Death Row inmates deserve all the flak they can get considering they aren't really people.

...or are they?

by Angela Natividad    Apr-22-07    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Social



Sao Paulo Purges Ads. No, We're Not Kidding

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Here's a billboard we haven't seen before.

"Imagine a modern metropolis with no outdoor advertising: no billboards, no flashing neon signs, no electronic panels with messages crawling along the bottom.

Come the new year, this city of 11 million, overwhelmed by what the authorities call visual pollution, plans to press the 'delete all' button and offer its residents unimpeded views of their surroundings."

City officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil just passed a law that may see the end of ads in public display. Billboardom tips us off, but the above quote comes from the International Herald Tribune.

"I think this city is going to become a sadder, duller place," says Dalton Silvano, an ad guy who cast the one dissenting civil vote. "Advertising is both an art form and, when you're in your car or alone on foot, a form of entertainment that helps relieve solitude and boredom."

more »

by Angela Natividad    Apr-20-07    
Topic: Policy, Social, Strange, Trends and Culture



Animals Aren't Accessories! Even if They Match the Shoes

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This dalmation standing at graceful attention poses with a price tag - like a handbag or fancy gloves - because 80 percent of people who become pet parents do it on a whim, according to the Foundation for the Adoption, Patronage and Defense of Animals.

Thus armed, Contrapunto Barcelona created a set of fashion spreads that included well-matched pups to air both the vacuity of such life-changing impulses and the seriousness of consequent pet abandonment cases. The awareness ads were then run in fashion magazines for the most devastating effect.

A clever way to make a point. It could probably be used for, you know, other types of irresponsible impulses.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-20-07    
Topic: Good, Magazine, Social



Rubel Reprimanded, Lonelygirl15 Spins, Mamet Directs

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- PC Magazine editor in chief gives Steve Rubel an earful over a comment he made about the magazine on Twitter. Steve Rubel responds.

- Cynopisis reports, "Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned his company was 'very close' to releasing a new digital filtering system called "Claim Your Content" that would automatically identify copyrighted content via audio and video fingerprinting technology. Speaking at a keynote session at NAB, he claimed two or three partners are currently testing the tools. Schmidt also said that YouTube is also working on a video advertising network that will involve pre-roll and post-roll spot ads."

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by Steve Hall    Apr-17-07    
Topic: Commercials, Consumer Created, Policy, Social, Tools, Video



Ads Drop Imus for 'Nappy-Headed Hos' Crack

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After calling lady members of the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed hos" and "jigaboos" last week, advertisers dropped "Imus in the Morning" like the man was in flames. The list of the departed is long and includes P&G, AmEx, GM and Staples.

The displeased knights of valor at MSNBC dropped its simulcast of the CBS Radio show shortly thereafter, attributing the decision to maintaining integrity and not to the Arctic chill generated by pissed-off household brands.

What to expect from a guy who looks (and sometimes sounds!) like a Civil War relic? Sirius, you've just won yourself a new high-profile deejay.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-11-07    
Topic: Social, Television



Sloggi Shares the Lingerie Love, Lets You Choose Ass, Make Billboard

Fresh Creation tips us to yet another bit of salacious ad fun. If you've got time to waste and want to stare it thong-clad Sloggi models while making your own billboard with the Sloggi Billboard Director, have at it. Famous for their banned billboards and propensity to show as much ass as often as possible, the lingerie maker is now letting everyone in on the fun having. After all, why should art directors and photographers be the only ons to stare at ass all day long?

by Steve Hall    Apr-11-07    
Topic: Consumer Created, Online, Racy, Social



New Social Networking Site Victim of Boston-Style Marketing Stunt

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Not that we need another but if you feel you simply don't have enough online personas, there's another place for you to place one, B4class. Created by 18-year old North Quicy, MA resident Sofia Loginova, the site's unfortunate claim to fame, to the chagrin of Loginova, will now be yet another Boston-based marketing stunt gone wrong even though Loginova had nothing to do with it. This morning, unattended backpacks were found in Newton North High School which prompted a Aqua Teen Hunger Force-style lock down until it was determined the backpacks contained only promotional references to Loginova's B4class.

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by Steve Hall    Apr- 9-07    
Topic: Guerilla, Social



Doe-Eyed Kashmir Kids Gaze Longingly Out of Grocer Freezers

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The people of Norway get a surprising little treat in the frozen section of their local grocery stores. This strategically-placed UNICEF poster is meant to raise awareness about the sub-zero living conditions of poor children in Kashmir. Copy reads, "The children of Kashmir are freezing" and the concept belongs to Dinamo Reklamebyra of Oslo, Norway.

We think the campaign is borderline clever but doubt it will inspire much emo checkbook-busting. At best it may just make Norwegian moms think twice about getting frozen pizza.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 9-07    
Topic: Poster, Social



10-Year-Old Susie Flynn Petitions for POTUS

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Tired of lies, bored with Nader and irritated by the '08 POTUS-race-cum-Myspace-popularity-contest?

Vote for 10-year-old Susie Flynn who, in the still-pure well of her heart, promises "every child in America will get the health insurance he or she deserves" if she wins.

Campaign videos and petition available on-site. Little Susie is taking war chest funding from the spin-docs at Fallon, Minneapolis on behalf of the Children's Defense Fund, who want to build awareness about the child health care crisis in the US.

In a small but recent victory for the Susie party, Congressman Bobby Scott introduced HR 1688, The All Healthy Children Act, to provide all children and moms-to-be with health care access, including the 9 million uninsured kids out yonder. Brava. Government dosh is better spent pushing swings than picking cat-fights in the East.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 5-07    
Topic: Agencies, Campaigns, Social



Reebok Runs Easy With Route Sharing Site

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Molecular and Carat Fusion have put together a site called Run Easy for Reebok. The site allows runners to enter and share their favorite running routes as well as discuss routes in a forum, view run route images and listen to play lists people have created for those routes. The site is smarlt designed and allows for the traditional use of the back button unlike most overly designed Flash sites. They get points alone just for that. Check it out. We like.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 4-07    
Topic: Brands, Good, Online, Social