These ads to promote video calling through google's Duo service make me wish I'd thought of them. They are very funny and cute. I especially like the lost sock talking to his partner.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Friday, 16 September 2016
Friday, 8 January 2016
Happy 2016. Christmas is over so what now?
Christmas was a blast but it's over now.
Soz.
But all is not lost! January can be a great month.
Here's what everyone seems to be picking themselves back up to do, think and talk about.
1) DRY JANUARY
Look I don't know why this seems like a fun thing to do because it's actually the opposite of fun. But I like to think of dry January a bit like a tricky computer game. You have to navigate the social calendar, avoiding the alcoholic beverages and find new tactics to be sociable without being forced to down a beer. See? Fun.
EVERYONE is doing dry January this year. My deskman Ludo reasons that it's because every year we are consuming more and more alcohol and we're scaring ourselves. Good theory. Mine is that the adverts for Cancer research in December have struck a real chord with people. See below.
Whether people would say this ad was the reason they were giving up alcohol or not I think that this ad planted the seeds of the thought in a lot of people's minds this Christmas and of course then there is a snowball effect. I said I was thinking of doing dry Jan after seeing this ad then my sister agreed and so did her bf Tim and my dad and then my friend Lisa. See what I mean?
2) MAKING A MURDERER
Who isn't watching this yet? You? Well mark my words, if you have Netflix then you may as well start this weekend because you'll watch it eventually. People are getting hooked by this real life story just as they did by Serial and the "is Adnan guilty" question. Don't be behind the curve peeps.
3) GYM WARS
Discontent with just giving up alcohol, many of my friends are embarking on punishing fitness routines. The problem is that the weather is not playing ball. Rain is not conducive to running and outdoor yoga sessions and so that's why gyms in January become unbearably packed places. Yes January is the season of gym wars when everyone moans about the fact that they couldn't even get on a running machine because they were all taken by tubby new gym members. The weights machines are all taken by people sitting the wrong way around and attempting to lift weights that are far too heavy. This is the season where regular gym members need to resort to stealth tactics like lunchtime sessions or attempting to cause a large proportion of other gym users get food poisoning by leaving contaminated protein balls at the front desk. No I haven't actually done that yet but it's an idea?
Also can I just say I got some boxing gloves for Christmas so you might want make way yeh?
4) YEAR AHEAD PREDICTIONS
Yes January is the month when everyone is making Mystic Meg year ahead predictions.
I've been doing a lot of reading recently about the power of the mind to shape reality. According to the law of attraction you can make whatever you choose to be a reality happen. So I've been telling everyone they're going to have an amazing year. I will be having an amazing one - I've decided.
Of course the interesting predictions for us Ad peeps are trend forecasts. Here are some of the forecasts I've read about so far for 2016, plus a few of my own predictions:
a) Brands asking consumers to prove their worth. A bit like clubs looking at how pretty you are and deciding whether to let you in. If it's exclusive the worth goes up.
b) Micro-moments - super targeted contextual ads will be big - meaning less spamming and more adverts that people actually want to see...in theory.
c) Virtual reality – Last year I was absolutely blown away by experiencing the Oculus Rift. This year brands will get in on the act, offering virtual reality experiences for their consumers.
d) The Internet of Things will continue to get bigger. On the Apprentice this year the winner was a guy who wanted to get into renewable energy. Instead energy firms said that he should be thinking about smart technology. Apps that can turn on your heating for example. If even Alan Sugar's getting his fingers in this pie then it's gotta be big news.
e) Ethical companies - Last year one of the nicest news stories was a boss who had taken a huge pay cut to ensure that his staff were all paid equally, a flat pay structure which meant huge pay increases for those at the bottom. This year brands will be trying to sort out their own houses, creating great PR in the process.
Other things people are talking about in brief:
Deutschland83 on Channel 4 - apparently very good.
Obama crying - def real. I'd vote for him.
The rain - for fuck's sake when will it end?
Books - I'm writing one, my desk mate's writing one, my friend Thomas is writing one, my friend Hollie has written one. How do we get publishers?
Cards Against Humanity - still the dinner party fav.
War and Peace - BBC's Downton replacement therapy with a bit of incest thrown in.
Sherlock - the last episode was shit tho wasn't it?
Soz.
But all is not lost! January can be a great month.
Here's what everyone seems to be picking themselves back up to do, think and talk about.
1) DRY JANUARY
Look I don't know why this seems like a fun thing to do because it's actually the opposite of fun. But I like to think of dry January a bit like a tricky computer game. You have to navigate the social calendar, avoiding the alcoholic beverages and find new tactics to be sociable without being forced to down a beer. See? Fun.
EVERYONE is doing dry January this year. My deskman Ludo reasons that it's because every year we are consuming more and more alcohol and we're scaring ourselves. Good theory. Mine is that the adverts for Cancer research in December have struck a real chord with people. See below.
Whether people would say this ad was the reason they were giving up alcohol or not I think that this ad planted the seeds of the thought in a lot of people's minds this Christmas and of course then there is a snowball effect. I said I was thinking of doing dry Jan after seeing this ad then my sister agreed and so did her bf Tim and my dad and then my friend Lisa. See what I mean?
2) MAKING A MURDERER
Who isn't watching this yet? You? Well mark my words, if you have Netflix then you may as well start this weekend because you'll watch it eventually. People are getting hooked by this real life story just as they did by Serial and the "is Adnan guilty" question. Don't be behind the curve peeps.
3) GYM WARS
Discontent with just giving up alcohol, many of my friends are embarking on punishing fitness routines. The problem is that the weather is not playing ball. Rain is not conducive to running and outdoor yoga sessions and so that's why gyms in January become unbearably packed places. Yes January is the season of gym wars when everyone moans about the fact that they couldn't even get on a running machine because they were all taken by tubby new gym members. The weights machines are all taken by people sitting the wrong way around and attempting to lift weights that are far too heavy. This is the season where regular gym members need to resort to stealth tactics like lunchtime sessions or attempting to cause a large proportion of other gym users get food poisoning by leaving contaminated protein balls at the front desk. No I haven't actually done that yet but it's an idea?
Also can I just say I got some boxing gloves for Christmas so you might want make way yeh?
4) YEAR AHEAD PREDICTIONS
Yes January is the month when everyone is making Mystic Meg year ahead predictions.
I've been doing a lot of reading recently about the power of the mind to shape reality. According to the law of attraction you can make whatever you choose to be a reality happen. So I've been telling everyone they're going to have an amazing year. I will be having an amazing one - I've decided.
Of course the interesting predictions for us Ad peeps are trend forecasts. Here are some of the forecasts I've read about so far for 2016, plus a few of my own predictions:
a) Brands asking consumers to prove their worth. A bit like clubs looking at how pretty you are and deciding whether to let you in. If it's exclusive the worth goes up.
b) Micro-moments - super targeted contextual ads will be big - meaning less spamming and more adverts that people actually want to see...in theory.
c) Virtual reality – Last year I was absolutely blown away by experiencing the Oculus Rift. This year brands will get in on the act, offering virtual reality experiences for their consumers.
d) The Internet of Things will continue to get bigger. On the Apprentice this year the winner was a guy who wanted to get into renewable energy. Instead energy firms said that he should be thinking about smart technology. Apps that can turn on your heating for example. If even Alan Sugar's getting his fingers in this pie then it's gotta be big news.
e) Ethical companies - Last year one of the nicest news stories was a boss who had taken a huge pay cut to ensure that his staff were all paid equally, a flat pay structure which meant huge pay increases for those at the bottom. This year brands will be trying to sort out their own houses, creating great PR in the process.
Other things people are talking about in brief:
Deutschland83 on Channel 4 - apparently very good.
Obama crying - def real. I'd vote for him.
The rain - for fuck's sake when will it end?
Books - I'm writing one, my desk mate's writing one, my friend Thomas is writing one, my friend Hollie has written one. How do we get publishers?
Cards Against Humanity - still the dinner party fav.
War and Peace - BBC's Downton replacement therapy with a bit of incest thrown in.
Sherlock - the last episode was shit tho wasn't it?
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Who wins my Cannes Lions?
Cannes is almost upon us and whilst some would argue the whole thing is an exercise in self-promotion and networking, it does provide us with the opportunity to stop and think about the last year of advertising.
This year is an important one because it is the first time that Cannes will give a special award, the Glass Lion, to a memorable campaign around gender and women's empowerment. This is obviously a hot topic in the advertising world. You can't walk through the tube or watch an episode of X Factor without getting some kind of positive girl power endorsement. I'm not complaining of course. I work in an industry where you constantly see sexism. Many a time I've seen campaigns where all the men featured were doctors, business men and architects and the women featured were mothers, cooks and nurses. So honestly, when I see an ad where a women is boxing or running a board room I cheer.
My bet for the winner of the Glass Lion is on the "#LikeAGirl" campaign for Always by Leo Burnett, Toronto, Chicago and London. It challenges people's use of the phrase "like a girl" turning the phrase into an expression of strength. Yeh let's fight like a girl and win like a girl! A mantra for us ladies still fighting the good fight in male led agencies.
And it's not just attitudes towards women that's receiving the attention of advertising and brands. Other entries tackle Nazi's in Germany, poverty and hunger and racial prejudices.
AMV BBDO, London's brilliant advert for Guinness, "Made Of Black" redefined the meaning of being black, claiming it isn't a skin colour but a strong, powerful and vibrant attitude. The use of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" created a powerful music video type piece that I just love.
Others tackle local issues by using their products in a helpful way, like Samsung's "The Safety Truck" by Leo Burnett, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Argentina has a large number of single lane roads and many fatalities are caused by people trying to overtake large vehicles whilst unable to see the road ahead. Samsung fitted their screens to the back of their lorries which gave drivers behind a live feed of the road ahead. Who knows how many lives this creative idea could save. This surely is creativity put to the best use.
This year is an important one because it is the first time that Cannes will give a special award, the Glass Lion, to a memorable campaign around gender and women's empowerment. This is obviously a hot topic in the advertising world. You can't walk through the tube or watch an episode of X Factor without getting some kind of positive girl power endorsement. I'm not complaining of course. I work in an industry where you constantly see sexism. Many a time I've seen campaigns where all the men featured were doctors, business men and architects and the women featured were mothers, cooks and nurses. So honestly, when I see an ad where a women is boxing or running a board room I cheer.
My bet for the winner of the Glass Lion is on the "#LikeAGirl" campaign for Always by Leo Burnett, Toronto, Chicago and London. It challenges people's use of the phrase "like a girl" turning the phrase into an expression of strength. Yeh let's fight like a girl and win like a girl! A mantra for us ladies still fighting the good fight in male led agencies.
And it's not just attitudes towards women that's receiving the attention of advertising and brands. Other entries tackle Nazi's in Germany, poverty and hunger and racial prejudices.
AMV BBDO, London's brilliant advert for Guinness, "Made Of Black" redefined the meaning of being black, claiming it isn't a skin colour but a strong, powerful and vibrant attitude. The use of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" created a powerful music video type piece that I just love.
Others tackle local issues by using their products in a helpful way, like Samsung's "The Safety Truck" by Leo Burnett, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Argentina has a large number of single lane roads and many fatalities are caused by people trying to overtake large vehicles whilst unable to see the road ahead. Samsung fitted their screens to the back of their lorries which gave drivers behind a live feed of the road ahead. Who knows how many lives this creative idea could save. This surely is creativity put to the best use.
- Perhaps another life saver is this fun and lateral thinking idea from BBDO, Berlin, Germany for Smart - "The Dancing Traffic Light". The idea is simple one. If the red light man was more engaging, maybe people would stop and watch him rather than walking out into traffic. So they made him dance. Not only that, people could go into a dance booth and their movements would control the movements of the little red man. Fun, clever, interactive and life saving then.
- When I was a lowly student of advertising in Falmouth I once went to a party full of art students. One attractive dishevelled guy approached me and asked me what course I was on. When I said Advertising he launched into a 15 minute tirade against me and my nasty capitalist corporate sell out of the art world. He told me I'd rot in hell with all the other money grabbing pigs. Well here's a message for that guy and anyone else who thinks I'm destined for the flames. Adverts that make people smile, save lives and challenge stereotypes do more for the world than a painting ever will.
Pat on the back to all those who made these campaigns. Heaven awaits you
...unless you're also responsible for those protein world ads that is.
On the non-life saving side, other entries captured my imagination because they used technology in new ways. Nike's LED basketball court "House of Mamba" by AKQA, Shanghai and London, gave players a chance to train on a court that took them through motion tracked drills and provided a glimpse of what technology might do in the world of sport in the future.- Whilst not ground breaking one of the adverts I've liked most this year was the use of pre-roll skippable adverts for Geico by The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. The "Unskippable" videos made comical use of what is normally a limitation for advertisers and rewarded viewers who watched on with hilarious little freeze-frame scenes. Clever stuff.
- In itself "Unity", the advert for Assassin's Creed: Unity by Sid Lee, Paris, might not seem very special. Yeh it's epic, filmic and dramatic but whatever. But it's when you hear about how it was made and see the interactive online elements of the campaign that you really understand why this is a Cannes winner.Players of Assain's Creed were invited to design their own avatars for the game and the 1,400 highest ranking ones were used in the cast of the advert. Online players could then freeze frame the advert and find their own avatar, (and those of their friends) in the scenes. This generated a lot of comments and free publicity on social media too. Success!
Finally there's an old fashioned good old just great TV ad by Saatchi and Saatchi, Sao Paulo, Brazil for Leica called "100". To celebrate the fact that it's 100 years since Leica took the camera out of the studio and put it in people's hands where they could document the real world, the ad recreated 35 scenes from iconic photos. This is the type of ad you want to watch over and over to identify all the pictures. See how many you recognise.
- Visit adweek.com/cannes next week to find out who were the actual winners. Good luck creative angels.
Friday, 28 November 2014
Duhduhduhduhduhduhduh That's the news tune innit?)
Everyone loves a topical comedy show right? Probably because if comedy isn't topical it often resorts to jokes about mother-in-laws, women nagging and men not picking up their socks from the floor. Yeh...more of them jokes, that's what we all want!
So here's the second instalment from my desk buddy Mark's comedy sketch news show "News 500".
In fact Mark actually makes an appearance. Yes. He is the gay guy with eczma. Love him!
As a side point eczema is hard to spell but I now know how to spell it.
Talking about spoof news shows here's my old favourite from The Barry Welsh Show. This show might only have made it on air in Wales. It became a bit of a cult but niche classic in Swansea. It was extremely low budget and advertisers obviously weren't impressed since I remember there being hardly any adverts during the breaks - and they were all for cheap brands like Poundland.
Enjoy.
MORE MORE MORE SPOOF NEWS!! Oh ok then. Maybe you'd like to listen to Mr Revolution himself Russel Brand PARKLIFE!
Here he is talking about Renee Zellweger's face. That was an important news story this year wasn't it!
And that concludes the news roundup for today.
(Shuffles her papers on her desk)
So here's the second instalment from my desk buddy Mark's comedy sketch news show "News 500".
In fact Mark actually makes an appearance. Yes. He is the gay guy with eczma. Love him!
As a side point eczema is hard to spell but I now know how to spell it.
Talking about spoof news shows here's my old favourite from The Barry Welsh Show. This show might only have made it on air in Wales. It became a bit of a cult but niche classic in Swansea. It was extremely low budget and advertisers obviously weren't impressed since I remember there being hardly any adverts during the breaks - and they were all for cheap brands like Poundland.
Enjoy.
MORE MORE MORE SPOOF NEWS!! Oh ok then. Maybe you'd like to listen to Mr Revolution himself Russel Brand PARKLIFE!
Here he is talking about Renee Zellweger's face. That was an important news story this year wasn't it!
And that concludes the news roundup for today.
(Shuffles her papers on her desk)
Friday, 10 January 2014
Old Spice Is Your Mum's Worst Enemy
My ex's mother was very clingy. She showered him in hugs and big kisses, nagged him constantly but affectionately and called him several times a day. Each call would last about an hour. One Christmas she sent us a card. It was addressed to us both but said, "To a wonderful Son" on the front and had a picture of a cartoon little boy. Another Christmas he announced he'd be spending the day with me.
"You can always change your mind", said his Mum grabbing his hands and staring at him earnestly. I was standing next to him. Any time the subject of us getting married would arise in conversation his Mum would say, "there's no rush, you have the rest of your life!"
She meant well. She loved her precious son and wanted to remain the main woman in his life. This is why I can see her as one of the Mums in this Old Spice Commercial.
Oh and Happy New Year!
Here's to new beginnings and new adventures.
I'm single again so I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell you about.
"You can always change your mind", said his Mum grabbing his hands and staring at him earnestly. I was standing next to him. Any time the subject of us getting married would arise in conversation his Mum would say, "there's no rush, you have the rest of your life!"
She meant well. She loved her precious son and wanted to remain the main woman in his life. This is why I can see her as one of the Mums in this Old Spice Commercial.
Oh and Happy New Year!
Here's to new beginnings and new adventures.
I'm single again so I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell you about.
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
There are bad things out there but they don't stop us.
This advert by insurance provider Allstate is rather cute. It has a simple message and a really beautiful voice over by a child. There are bad things in life, but rather than avoid them, people every day go about living their lives and enjoying them rather than being fearful. Accidents do happen. Be prepared but don't stop what you are doing. This ad is like a little bit of therapy isn't it?
Using a child VO I think is clever. We automatically listen to what kids have to say. We are ready to be charmed.
Nice work Leo Burnett Chicago.
Using a child VO I think is clever. We automatically listen to what kids have to say. We are ready to be charmed.
Nice work Leo Burnett Chicago.
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
I do believe he's making off with my Grey Poupon!!
When I tried to write the title of this post spellcheck turned the word "Poupon" into pompom three times. And that my friends would have been a whole 'nother story.
This advert by Crispin Porter and Bogusky is for Grey Poupon mustard which is so tres posh that it is made with white wine. The advert imagines what happened after the cameras stopped rolling on their old 1981 posh guy in a car advert. It really also shows how the times, tastes and the expectations of the buying public have changed. Once audiences could be impressed into buying a mustard just by seeing a toff eating it in a car. Now the toffs are comedy characters and a James Bond-esque car chase is required. Oh we are so demanding these days.
As a little bonus there is also another insider mustard fan joke - one of the guys from the original ad appears in a cameo role jumping out of the way on the golf course.
The ad has been nominated for Most Outstanding Commercial at the Emmy Awards.
Part 1 - the 1981 original.
Part 2 - The lost footage!
This advert by Crispin Porter and Bogusky is for Grey Poupon mustard which is so tres posh that it is made with white wine. The advert imagines what happened after the cameras stopped rolling on their old 1981 posh guy in a car advert. It really also shows how the times, tastes and the expectations of the buying public have changed. Once audiences could be impressed into buying a mustard just by seeing a toff eating it in a car. Now the toffs are comedy characters and a James Bond-esque car chase is required. Oh we are so demanding these days.
As a little bonus there is also another insider mustard fan joke - one of the guys from the original ad appears in a cameo role jumping out of the way on the golf course.
The ad has been nominated for Most Outstanding Commercial at the Emmy Awards.
Part 1 - the 1981 original.
Part 2 - The lost footage!
“It’s like, I’m Joan, and their vag is the ark.”
Tampon adverts have come a long way since rollerskating and riding ponies whilst enjoying a happy period. First we had the Bodyform advert taking the piss out of their own older advertising. Now we have this extremely funny advert for Hello Flo - a company who produce period packages.
In it we see a young teenage girl who is at summer camp when she gets her period. Since she is first she becomes Camp Gyno dealing tampons like they are drugs and bullying the other girls by controlling the supply chain.
This advert is not only surprising because it is really funny. But also because it's the first advert that features young girls who have just got their periods rather than beautiful model-like adults of about 25. It also has them using words like "vagina". Hooray! Why shouldn't girls talk about their bodies and tell it like it is? I am very impressed. What a step forward.
The advert was shot by marquis and Mccelland and produced at Hayden 5.
And here, if you still haven't seen it is the Bodyform advert.
In it we see a young teenage girl who is at summer camp when she gets her period. Since she is first she becomes Camp Gyno dealing tampons like they are drugs and bullying the other girls by controlling the supply chain.
This advert is not only surprising because it is really funny. But also because it's the first advert that features young girls who have just got their periods rather than beautiful model-like adults of about 25. It also has them using words like "vagina". Hooray! Why shouldn't girls talk about their bodies and tell it like it is? I am very impressed. What a step forward.
The advert was shot by marquis and Mccelland and produced at Hayden 5.
And here, if you still haven't seen it is the Bodyform advert.
Seen any other impressive modern tampon adverts? Send em my way.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Ikea you are crazy like a coconut.
Awww so sad, look at this lamp. Tell me you don't feel sorry for it...
But you feel silly now huh? This advert was from 2002 and directed by Spike Jonze. Thank you to the Production department at work for reminding me of this one.
And while we are about it, here are some other really nice Ikea ads. Those crazy Scandinavians!
In this one its a poor naked man I am feeling sorry for. Get thee to Ikea naked homeless man!
In this Swedish one, you have to feel sorry for the man in the thong at the end. Poor man, he's gonna have to stay in that draw for a really long time.
In this one I am feeling sorry for myself. WHHHHYYY couldn't I have made this advert??? It's cool and I LOVE cats.
In this one there is simply no way to feel sorry for anyone. It's so happy!
Happy Friday xxx
But you feel silly now huh? This advert was from 2002 and directed by Spike Jonze. Thank you to the Production department at work for reminding me of this one.
And while we are about it, here are some other really nice Ikea ads. Those crazy Scandinavians!
In this one its a poor naked man I am feeling sorry for. Get thee to Ikea naked homeless man!
In this Swedish one, you have to feel sorry for the man in the thong at the end. Poor man, he's gonna have to stay in that draw for a really long time.
In this one I am feeling sorry for myself. WHHHHYYY couldn't I have made this advert??? It's cool and I LOVE cats.
In this one there is simply no way to feel sorry for anyone. It's so happy!
Happy Friday xxx
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Dads in pants
When the weather gets warm (yes I know that doesn't happen much around these isles) there is every danger that your dad might cool down by wearing only his pants around the house. Or worse still, a friend's dad - even more awkward. Never fear here is the solution in this funny advert from BGH Argentina (I imagine this scenario is more of a risk there).
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Adverts like soap operas.
There is a dream that copywriters and art directors and even clients share. And that dream is to create an advert that will not only sell the product in question, but be enjoyable to watch too. An advert that people are interested in seeing again, or look forward to the next.
Clever girl - who needs to choose anyway?
One technique is the soap opera.
Daz tried it in their very low brow Eastenders type way - "who's been starching Sandy's draws? OH its the Milkman with his box of Daz". Kenco tried it with their boring love story. And BT tried it in their modern fuzzy family - taking on the step children way. But no one has done it like Prada darling.
Prada's new advert for their scent Prada Candy is directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola. So of course it's good. Plus it's French - très chic. It tells the story of Candy who is courted by two men whom she can't choose between - after all they are very similar looking. The men are so smitten (she looks and smells divine) that neither will give up. Get your popcorn ready.
Part 1.
So how will this relationship progress? Find out in part 2!
Who will she choose? The guy who took her out or the one with great cake choosing skills? Find out in Part 3.
Clever girl - who needs to choose anyway?
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Cry laughing
Picking on kids is kinda unfair. But Jimmy Kimmel doesn't care. He asked American parents to video the reactions of their children when given a special- early Christmas present. This Christmas present would have to be something the kids didn't want. It is a mean experiment but also hilarious. I challenge you not to laugh. Especially when you get to the potato kid in the second video. A lot of the kids are understandably angry. A few are just so precious. The girl with the deodorant for example - what a sweetie. Anyway watch this somewhere you can laugh out loud. I literally cried. My work colleagues were concerned.
Jimmy also did a version for Halloween where Mums told their children that they had eaten all their candy. I just love the children who are forgiving - so adorable.
Jimmy also did a version for Halloween where Mums told their children that they had eaten all their candy. I just love the children who are forgiving - so adorable.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
This week I have been mostly....
Anyone remember the Fast Show sketch where each week a farmer came out of his shed and said "this week I have been mostly eating broccoli/ baked beans/ flans"?
Well here's what I've been mostly doing this week:
This week I have been mostly reading about Jimmy Saville being a kiddy fiddler.
For my American readers benefit Jimmy Saville was a TV presenter and radio DJ who presented two very popular and influential children's programs: "Top of the Pops" and "Jim' ll fix it" - a wish fulfilment program. Here is a clip of him in Jim'll Fix it:
When I worked on UK TV Gold a few years ago my partner and I had an idea for an advert featuring Jimmy Saville. "Wouldn't it be great if we got Jimmy Saville and fixed today's children's wishes on our adverts?", said we, all smiles and innocence. "Errrr...no....you can't have children in a room with Jimmy", came the reply. People in the BBC have since admitted that Jimmy's taste for sexually assaulting teenagers was an "open secret". It certainly seems that way which is a shocking failing on the part of our beloved BBC.
You can see Jimmy's exposure in this ITV documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fka6l2X0j-Y
This week I have been mostly giving up alcohol
This was after three successive drunken nights and awful hangovers. One saw me forgetting my pin number, crying because I'd forgotten it, and getting taken all the way to Essex in a cab because I didn't notice the taxi driver had mistaken my slurring for a different address. I then slumped on the doorstep unable to fit my key in the lock and had to be rescued by a sleepy boyfriend. After these experiences I am forsaking alcohol for a month. When I announced this on Facebook my friends were dismayed. Turns out they might like drunk Aimee better than the sober me.
Yes, sober me is a bore.
This week I have been mostly enjoying having purple hair.
I'm rather unadventurous - or so my boyfriend told me last night. Dying a purple streak in my hair was an act of rebellion and fun. And now I have it I want more. MORE PURPLE! MORE MORE! And it makes me feel different - cooler, more kick-ass, stronger. When I wore my black halter neck dress on saturday the purple hair made me look like a goth. It's like being 17 again. I love it.
This week I have been mostly watching The Paradise on BBC1.
I love a good gentle costume drama. The Paradise is in the same vein as Downton Abbey. Surprisingly even my boyfriend liked it.
Next week who knows. I could mostly be in LA.
Well here's what I've been mostly doing this week:
This week I have been mostly reading about Jimmy Saville being a kiddy fiddler.
For my American readers benefit Jimmy Saville was a TV presenter and radio DJ who presented two very popular and influential children's programs: "Top of the Pops" and "Jim' ll fix it" - a wish fulfilment program. Here is a clip of him in Jim'll Fix it:
When I worked on UK TV Gold a few years ago my partner and I had an idea for an advert featuring Jimmy Saville. "Wouldn't it be great if we got Jimmy Saville and fixed today's children's wishes on our adverts?", said we, all smiles and innocence. "Errrr...no....you can't have children in a room with Jimmy", came the reply. People in the BBC have since admitted that Jimmy's taste for sexually assaulting teenagers was an "open secret". It certainly seems that way which is a shocking failing on the part of our beloved BBC.
You can see Jimmy's exposure in this ITV documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fka6l2X0j-Y
This week I have been mostly giving up alcohol
This was after three successive drunken nights and awful hangovers. One saw me forgetting my pin number, crying because I'd forgotten it, and getting taken all the way to Essex in a cab because I didn't notice the taxi driver had mistaken my slurring for a different address. I then slumped on the doorstep unable to fit my key in the lock and had to be rescued by a sleepy boyfriend. After these experiences I am forsaking alcohol for a month. When I announced this on Facebook my friends were dismayed. Turns out they might like drunk Aimee better than the sober me.
Yes, sober me is a bore.
This week I have been mostly enjoying having purple hair.
This week I have been mostly watching The Paradise on BBC1.
I love a good gentle costume drama. The Paradise is in the same vein as Downton Abbey. Surprisingly even my boyfriend liked it.
Next week who knows. I could mostly be in LA.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Getty made good
Getty isn't the coolest. Stock imagery never is. But its pretty damn helpful to a creative like me. So I'm quite chuffed to see that they have a new clever advert by Almap BBDO. Poor Almap BBDO. They must have had to trawl Getty for weeks, perhaps months to put the images together to build this fun little film. Take a lookie.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Big nose?...yes that's me. Thanks for making me feel shitter about it
BGH in Argentina is promoting its new line of silent Air conditioners with the campaign "Big nose". People with a big nose, who need air filtered more due to their capacity to take in more at one time, get a discount of 25% on their air conditioners. All you have to do is to measure your noses in the Nose-o-meter which flashes and sets off an alarm if you touch a sensor with your over-sized honker.
I would rather die frankly. I have been blessed with a rather big nose and if a store assistant or anyone pointed it out, let alone an alarm going off to tell the whole shop, I would burst into tears. Yes I'm vain, yes I'm sensitive, yes I have no sense of humour about my physical appearance. But seriously. Only a boy creative team would come up with an idea like this (a boy team at Saatchi and Saatchi). And I assume only men will venture into the shops to pick up their discounts. This is a perfect example of the creative idea which makes you male creative boss laugh and every stupid dumb arse male in your agency really excited, only to go out and be totally inappropriate. Sorry for my rant...its just that I'm rather sensitive about this issue. In fact I feel a little upset. Excuse me. I've got to go and...sniff...blow my 25% discount giving asset.
I would rather die frankly. I have been blessed with a rather big nose and if a store assistant or anyone pointed it out, let alone an alarm going off to tell the whole shop, I would burst into tears. Yes I'm vain, yes I'm sensitive, yes I have no sense of humour about my physical appearance. But seriously. Only a boy creative team would come up with an idea like this (a boy team at Saatchi and Saatchi). And I assume only men will venture into the shops to pick up their discounts. This is a perfect example of the creative idea which makes you male creative boss laugh and every stupid dumb arse male in your agency really excited, only to go out and be totally inappropriate. Sorry for my rant...its just that I'm rather sensitive about this issue. In fact I feel a little upset. Excuse me. I've got to go and...sniff...blow my 25% discount giving asset.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Wooden Phone commercial - most longwinded ever
The video is for the Touch Wood SH-08C, a phone with an encasement made from discarded wood. It will be released by NTT Docomo in Japan later this year. The commercial was filmed in Kama City in Kyushu, Japan.
Morihiro Harano, creative director at Japanese ad agency Drill, said of the ad (via the New York Times) “We did not add any artificial music at all”. Hmmm...surely it's impossible that that ball wouldn't have even fallen off once? I guess there was a lot of editing involved.
In any case it takes ages to get to the product at the end. Beautiful piece of film but could have been half the length to get the point made. Smacks a little of art directors wanking...
Friday, 11 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Gypsies: the most discriminated against ethnic group on earth.
Recently everyone has been enjoying watching a programme called "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding". I myself have watched a couple of episodes. First to laugh at the huge dresses, secondly to marvel at the children's dancing. But the last episode I watched really got me thinking. It showed scenes of gypsy homes being torn down after a community of gypsies who actually OWNED the land were denied planning permission after a lengthly court fight. Yes, that's right. They OWNED the land. What's more is that they were now homeless and were forced to take their caravans with their toddlers to stay at the side of a motorway. How unsafe. The gypsies complained that this would mean that they were separated from their neighbours and family members and that they didn't want to be offered housing in council estates by the government for this very reason.
I looked at this human rights site and found the following report:
http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/rights-of-gypsies-and-travellers/index.html
Planning Permission for Caravan Sites
As has been said, (see Introduction) before the enactment of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994(CJPOA), local authorities had a statutory duty to provide caravan sites for Gypsies and Travellers under the Caravan Sites Act 1968 (CSA). However, the CJPOA 1994 removed that duty and gave local authorities and the police draconian powers to evict Gypsies and Travellers from unauthorised sites.
At the same time that the CJPOA 1994 was passed, the government introduced planning policy which favoured the private provision of sites for Gypsies and Travellers. Circular 1/94 Gypsy Sites and Planning (Circular 1/94-in Wales, Welsh Office Circular 2/94) stated that Gypsies and Travellers should be ‘encouraged’ to purchase land themselves and apply to legitimise their own sites through the planning system.
In theory, requiring Gypsies and Travellers to use the planning system would seem an equitable approach but for this policy to be credible there had to be some real prospect of obtaining planning consent for private sites. The House of Lords cast doubt on the effectiveness of this policy in South Bucks v Porter, Wrexham CBC v Berry, and Chichester DC v Keet and Searle. The judges observed that Gypsies’ and Travellers’ attempts to obtain planning permission almost always met with failure: statistics given to the court found that 90 percent of applications made by Gypsies and Travellers had been refused and that the number of sites that had been authorised had fallen far short of what was needed.
Circular 1/94 suggested that local planning authorities should assess the need for Gypsies’ and Travellers’ caravan sites in their administrative areas and identify locations where the land use requirements of Gypsies and Travellers can be met. If suitable locations could not be found, then local authorities were required to set clear and realistic criteria for establishing caravan sites.
However, very few local authorities complied with the policy in Circular 1/94. Little attempt was made to quantify the needs of Gypsies and Travellers and few, if any, local authorities identified suitable locations for such sites, preferring instead to adopt criteria-based policies which often included unrealistic and unclear requirements that had to be met before planning permission could be granted.
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It seems that local governments are doing little to help the problems of this group of people.
[Before we go on let me just explain the term "gypsy". Gypsy refers to the Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe, who trace their origins to the Indian Subcontinent. The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Greek word for "Egyptian" (which is where people thought this group came from). ]
The site also details many other cases where gypsies were discriminated against. In fact in one of the episodes in "My big fat Gypsy wedding" gypsies talk about the fact that when venues find out that a wedding is a gypsy one, they suddenly are told they cannot have the venue. Sometimes meaning much-dreamed of weddings have to be reorganised at the last moment.
I also looked into Gypsy history and found a horrible catalogue of human rights violations. Please excuse the copy paste but here's what I found:
The Romani were enslaved for five centuries in Wallachia and Moldavia, until abolition in 1856. Elsewhere in Europe, they were subject to ethnic cleansing, abduction of their children, and forced labor. In England, Romani were sometimes hung or expelled from small communities; in France, they were branded and their heads were shaved; in Moravia and Bohemia, the women were marked by their ears being severed.
In Norway, where a law was passed in 1896 permitting the state to remove children from their parents and place them in state institutions. This resulted in some 1,500 Romani children being taken from their parents in the 20th century.
During World War II, the Nazis embarked on a systematic attempt at genocide of the Romanies, a process known in Romani as the Porajmos. Romanies were marked for extermination and sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment in concentration camps.They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) on the Eastern Front. The total number of victims has been variously estimated at between 220,000 to 1,500,000; even the lowest number would make the Porajmos one of the largest mass murders in history.
In Czechoslovakia, they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum," and Romani women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future welfare payments, with misinformation, or after administering drugs (Silverman 1995; Helsinki Watch 1991).
An official inquiry from the Czech Republic, reported: "the problem of sexual sterilization carried out in the Czech Republic, either with improper motivation or illegally, exists" with new revealed cases up until 2004, in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
I'm pretty shocked. It seems to me that the mockery inherent in this new programme "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" which is currently airing in the Uk is just another example of a group being targeted for discrimination. The title is mocking, the music is mocking. The narrator is mocking. Even the children are mocked, My friend who works in a Secondary School in East London says that she has taught some traveller (Gypsy) children and is shocked by the amount of abuse and discrimination against them that she has seen.
And oh lookie- The Guardian (classy left wing paper) agrees with me:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/30/gypsies-david-cameron-george-osborne
Oh and, surprise, surprise, the decidedly down-market, right wing, hate-filled Daily Mail decides to stick their boot in instead:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1350903/My-Big-Fat-Gypsy-Wedding-makes-Katie-Price-look-classy.html
What can we do to help? Im not sure really. But I've written a post of Facebook bringing these issues to light. I've written this post on my lowly blog. And I'm posting the link of a support and campaigning organisation. If I hear of any petitions in my local area against Gypsies I will not sign them. If I hear of any demos in support of their sites being given planning permission I hope to be able to support them.
Please think about doing the same.
http://www.dosta.org/en/content-10
Monday, 31 January 2011
Doodododo This is Hugh Pugh reporting from Fishguard
When I was a little girl in Wales, Mummy, daddy, Kate my little sister and a small number of other people in Wales sat down to watch the most unheard of comedy sketch show ever. It only ever aired in Wales and no brands would pay for adverts during it. But it was immense. I promise you. It has a lot of Welsh jokes - like Joking about how backward Wales is and our lack of technology. But us Welsh love a good laugh at ourselves so it was all gravy munn. It's pretty rude in places, but I was allowed to watch it coz my Mum went to college with the guy who wrote and acts in the show (John Sparks).
Here's some clips of the zany "Barry Welsh is Coming" for your enjoyment. I esp love the black and white reports by Hugh Pugh.
Here's some clips of the zany "Barry Welsh is Coming" for your enjoyment. I esp love the black and white reports by Hugh Pugh.
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