Message in A Bottle(s) Calls Attention to Plight of Lake Huron

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This past Canada Day weekend, john st. teamed up with a new not-for-profit, Stop the Drop, to help raise awareness for the drop in Lake Huron's water levels and drive government action. The result was a stunt that called attention to the plight of Lake Huron's lowering water levels by placing hundreds of messages in bottles on the beach giving voice to a lake that can't ask for help on its own.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-10-13    
Topic: Cause



A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste But A Wonderful to Invest In

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The iconic "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" PSA has, 40 years later, been reimagined with a new tagline and a new purpose. The new tagline is "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste but a Wonderful Thing to Invest In." The new PSAs, created by Y&R which has handled the account for 40 years, center around a stock market-style metaphor urging people to invest in social change.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-10-13    
Topic: Cause



Shocking Drunk Driving Stunt Pranks Unsuspecting Bar Patrons

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After you have watched this prank created by Leo Burnett London for the UK's Department of Transportation THINK campaign and have regained your senses and maybe your heart is back inside your chest, we can safely report no innocent bystanders were harmed in the administration of this stunt.

After all, there's only so much scaring the shit out of people you can do before they begin to sue your ass. Hence, those pranked in this stunt are actors.

Still, even to actors, this stunt drives home the point. It ain't pretty getting into a car accident because you had too much to drink.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 6-13    
Topic: Cause



Don't Text And Die Campaign Fueled With Pompous Pontification

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Here's the problem with this don't text and drive campaign from Belgium-based Happiness Brussels for Parents of Road Victims which employed New York artist Andres Serrano as photographer. The campaign, entitled Don't Text and Die is, of course, designed to call attention to the dangers of texting while driving. And the campaign's title harkens the death texting while driving can cause the driver and those around him.

Now we understand this is one of those artsy fartsy approaches to advertising that attempts to lend some cachet to an otherwise mundan cause campaign but if all you are going to talk about in the campaign's documentary is how the subjects in these photographs look like they are dead while texting, they should probably be texting while they are being photographed.

Yes, we know, we know. It's a metaphor. And we get that Serrano is big on shooting death. But do you think your average, uncultured 17-year-old is going to make any kind of connection? This is the kind of campaign that is designed to appeal not to the actual target audience but to peers and critics.

Kind of like most the entires you see at Cannes.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 6-13    
Topic: Cause



Expedia's Moving Same-Sex Marriage Video to Air on TV

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Timed to coincide with the Supreme Court's pending decision on DOMA and Proposition 8, Expedia is releasing "Find Your Understanding," a video about same-sex marriage created by 180LA, on television for the first time starting today. The online video, which debuted last October has been viewed 2,533,874 times on YouTube and has been featured in major media news outlets.

The film follows a father's journey, both literal and figurative as he confronts his conflicting emotions around his lesbian daughter's same-sex marriage. Through his trip to her wedding, he ultimately finds his understanding.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 6-13    
Topic: Brands, Cause



Hot Surfer Girl Attacked by Plastic Sea Monster

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Working with Surfrider Fundation, Australia's Arnold Furnace has created a campaign to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the world's oceans. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of waves and beaches.

The ads themselves are beautiful surfer shots married with shots of actual trash.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 4-13    
Topic: Cause, Racy



It Takes More Than A 'Like' to Prevent Murder in Puerto Rico

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A YouTube campaign created by DDB Latina Puerto Rico for at-risk youth program Jovenes de Puerto Rico en Riesgo aims, like other brands have, to illustrate social media "likes" do not solve real world problems. In one video, we see a couple of boys get into an argument over a blocked jump shot. One boy grabs a gun and points it at the other. The viewer is supposed to click a "like" button to stop the shooting. This, of course, does not work and the boy gets shot.

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by Steve Hall    May-30-13    
Topic: Cause



Does Objectifying Women For A Good Cause Make It OK?

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Three models, Olcay Gulsen, Tess Milne and Anna Nooshin have lent their gams and bootys to Stop Aids Now for a campaign created by Achtung!

On a site which is painfully slow to load, you can admire these three women's legs from high-heeled feet to mini-skirted ass. It's all about...ahem...raising awareness of women in Africa affected by HIV. The deal is you stare -- because staring is caring -- until you are so tantalized that you can't take it any longer and you whip out your -- no, not that -- wallet to buy the skirt the three ladies are wearing, proceeds of which go to the cause.

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by Steve Hall    May-30-13    
Topic: Cause, Racy



Suicide Prevention Effort Makes Interesting Use of 'Skip Ad' Function

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Publicis Brussels has created an ad for the Belgian suicide prevention line, Centre du Prevention de Suicide, that makes creative use of the pre-roll skip ad feature. The work aims to recruit good listeners for the prevention line.

Those who don't listen to the woman in the ad and hit "skip ad" are shown a scene that results in suicide. Those who don't click "skip ad" and listen to the woman's story get thanked by the woman and are shown the recruitment message.

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by Steve Hall    May-24-13    
Topic: Cause



Happy Memorial Day Weekend. Don't Text And Drive

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In a new BBDO New York-created PSA for the It Can Wait campaign, we meet Xzavier, a boy who, while in a crosswalk, was hit by a driver who was texting. His mother explains what happened to her son and wonders whether the text, "Im on my way," sent by the girl who struck her son was really that important.

The It Can Wait campaign is a partnership between AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile which aims to educate the public on the dangers (and illegality) of texting while driving.

Don't do it this weekend. Or ever for that matter.

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by Steve Hall    May-24-13    
Topic: Cause