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Sophie Lancaster Video

Back in May we entered the DMA GRT Awards. The brief was a toughie, to change perceptions of young people to become more tolerant of one another - for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. Sophie Lancaster was a victim of hate crime - she was kicked to death by a gang of boys because she looked different. So the topic was very emotional.

We were shortlisted for the award and on the day we had a series of one to one feedback with the judges. It seemed that our work was not emotive enough and that we should have made more of Sophie's story - which was true.

And today on Creative Review I see the video Propaganda have made for the organisation, which will be played on MTV.

It's made beautifully, the music is perfect and it's a great cause with a great message, but is that enough?

For a story so horrendous, the scene where the couple are attacked is such a minor part. With using animation especially, it seems they could have made more of it.

The task is so huge, will it really make the MTV audience stop and think?

Return to the Doghouse

Possibly the best Christmas campaign I've ever seen, Saatchi & Saatchi's JC Penney ad is back for another year - Return to the Dog House.

From the insight of men not knowing what to by the women in their life at Christmas time, JC Penney brings you the answer - jewelery. Other wise you'll be in the doghouse. Simple and funny.

I'm sure last year there was a section on the website of people in the doghouse with photos of themselves but can't see it as of yet. Check out the Doghouse here

Works. Doesn't work.

 

Just came across the new Aol logo created by Wolff Ollins New York. At first i didn't really see anything special about it, seemed a bit of generic logo for a brand wanting to recreate there look. But then i came across the video idents. The way the logo just appears from the white is a simple technique but yet adds some kind of warmth to the brand. Any video footage could be used across this format which is what makes it so exciting and also fits the brief perfectly. Aol wanted to be seen as having a breadth of content which can be easily adapted using this format.

Although it works perfectly for the idents i am not so sure about the static logo, it almost seems like its from the stock photo library. Dull and generic. It will be interesting to see what this looks like when it is released. Time to order a free aol cd and pretend i'm interested in using them.

See the videos here
See the logo here

Battle of the Blogs

By the way, this week we are in battle of the blogs so please vote for us if you like our style: http://www.thebattleoftheblogs.com/

Tis the season to be jolly

It seems like the Christmas work keeps coming thick and fast in adland, saw these fantastic, simple lynx ads by BBH earlier today and they made me smile instantly. There is three that i have seen with the one above my pick of the bunch, i just like the bum cheek prints so much in that one. Another thing to note is the simple use of putting a Christmas glove on the hand of the model and also the way the type just wraps around the glove. Very nice, very nice indeed! view the rest here

Another that caught my eye is the Christmas McDonalds advert by Leo Burnett, check it out here. It looks like myself and Laura are looking forward to Christmas as there seems to be a lot of festive posting going, all this festive goodness surely secures Santa coming down my chimney.

On another note Charles Saatchi's version of the x-factor for artists is on tonight, BBC2 9pm. Will post thoughts tommorow.

Channel 4 1d week

So it was channel 4 3d week this week, where images would literally pop out of the screen at you and make you feel as if you could touch the queen (careful!) Unfortunately that didn't quite happen, the whole house suddenly found out we could see the footage better without the stupid glasses on.

After the wonderfully dull Queen in 3d programme came Derren Brown's magic show, something which everyone thought would embrace the world of 3d and take advantage of it. Or not. The one bit that even caught my attention was the card trick were the cards literally flew at you and you were told to choose a card, it was really neat but unfortuately it was already on the advert. Basically the whole show was a best of magic from around the world with 'so called' 3d imagery. To put it in advertising terms. 'Polishing a turd'

I have nothing against 3d but to label your week 3d week and show programmes that would be better in 2d makes no sense whatsover. None of the two mentioned above utilised 3d at all to it's full advantage. If utilised correctly the feature could be brilliant but obviously not right now.

Schweppes Christmas Idents

Another Christmas post I know, but these idents for Schweppes by Mother are great. Glowsticks is the winner for me but there's a whole bunch that are all quite funny (http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/bulletin/creativebulletin/article/966941/?DCMP=EMC-19November2009)

Nice to see a brand doing something different for their Christmas advertising and loving the style.

Agency Christmas Cards

Christmas is less than six weeks away and the agency christmas card is well on it's way. The brief got us talking about other agency christmas cards.

AKQA's microwave jingle bells video seems to be a favourite. Here if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgBUqJzgvBo

But for me, this is one of the best things I've seen. They were launched by Wieden and Kennedy a while ago but seem to be returning again this year. It's a different approach to a christmas card but they certainly make people smile.

Little White Lies

Just thought we'd let you know about a magazine we've recently subscribed to. It's an independent film magazine run in London, called Little White Lies. (http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/)
It's beautifully crafted and features some great writing and design. They've also started running creative competitions on the website which are great to get involved in. Some of the back issue covers are great and I wish I'd found it sooner. Anyone interested in film or design will appreciate this little gem. And their blog also features a lot of interesting stuff, so check them out.

Turning viewers into users

We watched this video in the session we attended yesterday and found it really interesting. It is part of the larger discussion about the way people watch TV. These days, people watch TV whilst doing other things, particularly whilst being on the internet.

So areacode created The Sopranos A&E Connection, a sync-to-broadcast game that makes watching the repeated series more engaging.

"When the episode of The Sopranos premieres on A&E, the players' online gameboards come to life and animate synchronously to the TV signal. As the characters, settings and objects of the Sopranos appear on TV, the corresponding pieces animate and score points. This represents the first time a game was ever designed wholly for synchronous two-screen entertainment." (http://www.areacodeinc.com/work/sopranos/)

We were told by a famous adman not so long ago that the way we watch television is about to change. With this idea of turning viewers into users, it definitely seems something to be excited about.

Baby Made on Board

In this weeks lunchtime training session we were joined by Patrick Collister, CEO of Creative Matters and ex Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather for 'Hot New Creative Work'. The session was really inspiring and featured a load of great work, some I'd seen before and some I hadn't. This 'Baby Made on Board' campaign by Proximity for Dodge in Belgium was one of the highlights for me.

The Dodge is positioned as the ultimate family car, spacious enough to make a baby in. Can't imagine pitching it but I think it's great.

Not so sure about the add-on bit aimed at men who don't want to make a baby as it kind of loses the whole idea. It's really just two people having sex in a car.

And to think, now there are (at least) 72 little people walking around thanks to this campaign!

Pop Life and Pornography

So this weekend i visited the Tate Modern to view the Pop Life exhibition and i have to say it is well worth the £12 entry fee. The exhibition includes pieces from Warhol all the way to Hirst showcasing some really nice pieces as well as a dead horse that's been impaled by a protest sign (a personal highlight). You have a room dedicated to Japanese pop art and a nice music video with Kirsten Dunst involved, my favourite part has to be the diamante pieces of everyday objects. A pepsi can, johnson's shower gel and a condom packet were all featured and made out of the wonderful, shiny diamantes. A lot of the exhibiton was fuelled by images of a sexual act something which i also found within the rest of the tate.

I can never hold my self back when i see a sign that reads: 'Contains images of an explicit nature which may be seen as offensive' So through the doors i go to be greeted with a giant canvas of a bum hole with penis. Penises were everywhere i turned along with a giant sculpture of two people making love. I do have an open mind when viewing these things but it was a bit full on and i think it was the number of old people around me that unnerved me, needles to say i was out of the room pretty quickly.

Oh and one final note, BEWARE when leaving the pop art exhibition for vomit landing on your head!

Mark