Brand activation agency Arc London has created a campaign that sees London's graffiti get a spellcheck, in aid of tuition service The Tutor Crowd.
Spelling and grammatical mistakes in graffiti around London have inspired a new tongue-in-cheek campaign by Arc, a division of the Leo Burnett Group, for the online English tuition service The Tutor Crowd.
The campaign shows the offending graffiti on walls, toilet doors and public areas around London corrected with paint pens and stickers.The stickers direct children and their parents to The Tutor Crowd’s online service for a free English tuition trial.
As well as highlighting the need for English tuition, the work aims to debunk the myth that it’s stuffy, old-fashioned and expensive, repositioning it as online and available from expert tutors anytime and anywhere.
The campaign, called “Take The Classroom To The Streets”, is running outdoor across London, in areas including Shoreditch, Old Street, Brick Lane, South Bank and Camden and will appear online at thetutorcrowd.tumblr.com The work, which breaks online this week, and was written and art directed by Dan Kennard and Ben Smith.
Patrick Wilson, founder of The Tutor Crowd, said: “Good spelling and grammar is fundamentally important to young people. But teaching it doesn’t have to be old fashioned and stuffy. We wanted to engage parents and young people alike, and make them realise that online tuition is an option that’s available to try.”
Beri Cheetham, Executive Creative Director at Arc said: “To change the traditional perception of English tuition, we needed a non-traditional approach. It’s tongue-in-cheek, free and makes people smile. But most importantly, we hope it helps young people engage in grammar and spelling and get support they need.”
Press:(Toronto, ON) Two-minutes is all it takes...! Dempster’s English Muffins and Bagels is encouraging Canadians to indulge in a morning quickie… and make themselves a breakfast sandwich.
The concept stems from the insight that Canadians love breakfast sandwiches but, believe that they are difficult and time-consuming to prepare. The “Morning Quickie” is a social media video created for Demspter’s English Muffins and Bagels by Cundari that dispels this myth and demonstrates a simple and easy recipe to make a delicious breakfast sandwich with humour and wit.
“Dempster’s has a great breakfast sandwich solution but, consumers have a misconception about how easy they are to make and how little time it really takes,” said Tania Goecke, Marketing Director, Meal Occasions at Canada Bread. “We decided to have some fun and show the playful side of very practical and wholesome household mainstays like Dempster’s English Muffins and Bagels.”
Launching March 6th on the Dempster’s YouTube channel, the video demonstrates how to easily create a delicious breakfast sandwich in just two-minutes.
“At its core, this is an extremely hard-working recipe video,” said Andrew Simon, Chief Creative Officer at Cundari. “Through our use of innuendo, we’re able to connect with our target in a highly entertaining and informative way.”
Creative Credits: Advertising Agency: Cundari, Toronto Chief Creative Officer: Andrew Simon
In the sky over New York there were five inscriptions "cloud". About it newspaper The Daily Telegraph on October, 1st writes.
In the sky over New York
Inscriptions which could be seen from areas Brooklyn and Queens, have been left by plane. This trick was thought up by artist Ron English.
Shortly before realisation of the project the English has informed, that can sell those "clouds". Whether there were on these objects buyers, is not specified.
Abraham Obama
Most well-known of the previous projects of the English — a combination of portraits of two American presidents.
Teenagers in Croatia feel that local brands such as Kraš are old-fashioned, and they prefer imported chocolate brands, which they feel are more contemporary. The main creative idea of the campaign was to exploit the similar pronunciation of "Kraš" and the English word "crush" in the campaign headline: "I have a Kraš on you". The goal was to make an emotional connection between the person you have a crush on and the chocolate itself, presented as a gift from one user to another. To achieve this, we developed the ihaveakrasonyou.com microsite, where users could exchange 'love' messages with their Facebook friends.
We also developed and built a real chocolate-making machine, which produced real Kraš chocolates with the users' personalized messages printed on the packaging. Users were able to claim their sweet gifts from the machine in real time, inside a shopping mall.
Creative Credits: Advertised brand: Kraš Advert title: I have a Kraš on you Translation of headline to English:I have a crush on you Advertising Agency: Drap, Zagreb, Croatia Creative Director: Davor Runje Art Director: Ana Petak Copywriter: Ivan Durgutovski, Aleksa Tatalović Illustrator: Ivan Durgutovskiours Video production: Leptir.tv
Deutsch LA's first for 7UP since winning the account - “Light it Up,” features the DJ Tiësto as part of the #7 x 7UP campaign that features 7 electronic dance music artists. It’s also a product of our new DLAtino multicultural marketing practice and illustrates the way that marketing to Latinos has changed. The ad is in English, not Spanish. Increasingly, Latino consumers are watching their content in English, so marketing to them isn’t just about language, it’s about culture.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group is trying to reach Latinos through music they love. For example, Tiësto isn’t Hispanic, but our research found that he’s by far the most popular electronic dance music artist among our Latino audiences.
The spot was shot in a hillside village in Valparaiso, Chile, in part because the setting spoke to many Latinos’ memories of visiting their families. Our crew completely rewired the village to light up in the ad, and built a performance space that it later donated to the village as a park. They slept in the streets and used the bathrooms in the villagers’ homes.
When Chileans heard about about the concert Tiësto was giving, they came from all over Valparaiso to hear him. He played for three consecutive nights from dusk to dawn, performing even when the cameras weren’t rolling.
Creative Credits: Advertising Agency: Deutsch LA Chief Creative Officer: Pete Favat Executive Creative Director: Brett Craig Integrated Creative Director: Xavier Teo ACD, Art Director: Erick Mangali ACD, Copywriter: Ryan Lehr Copywriter: Armando Samuels Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo VP/Executive Producer: Lisa K. Johnson Senior Business Affairs Manager: Jill Durand Production Company: Smuggler, Los Angeles, California Editorial Company: Union Editorial / Circus, Santa Monica, CA Post: The Mill, Santa Monica, CA Music: Tiesto ft. Iconopop “All It Takes (Let’s Go)”
McCann Oslo has created a magical TV ad for Widerøe Airlines, perfectly soundtracked by the song 'Youth' by English duo Daughter.
Press: McCann Oslo continues its award-winning work for Norway's first airline, Widerøe Airlines, with the launch of a cross-media campaign, introducing a new creative concept and tagline for the brand. The new tagline “Hele Norge. Hele tiden” — which roughly translates as “All over Norway. All the time” — has been devised by McCann Oslo to celebrate and support Widerøe Airlines' frequent flights to small towns in every corner of Norway.
The TV ad leading the campaign is set in the middle of the Norwegian countryside, with mountains in the background and a traditional farmhouse and church in the fore, where an inquisitive young boy begs his grandad to show him a magic trick again and again. The grandad steadily refuses until, with his ears pricked, he prepares to perform the trick again, using his hands to seemingly magic out of thin air one of the small planes Widerøe is known for, much to the boy's amazement. The song 'Youth' by English duo Daughter plays as the Widerøe plane soars across the sky. The work follows on from McCann Oslo's popular branded content campaign “A Summer Without Rain” in which two students were challenged to travel around the country without encountering a single drop of rain, and promotional campaign “Change Flight and Airline”, in which Widerøe accepted tickets for other airlines on Widerøe frequent flights, as long as a seat was available. Credits: Agency: McCann Oslo Client: Widerøe Airlines Copywriter: Stein Simonsen Art director: Torstein Greni Agency producer: Beril Holte Rasmussen Account director: Janne Espevalen Project manager: Camilla von Borcke Planner: Svein Sælid Production Company: 4 ½ Director: Marius Holst Director of Photography: John Andreas Andersen Producer: Magnus Castracane Editing and Post Production Company: Storyline Music: Daughter
To launch the Mercedes-Benz 2012 C-Class Coupe, one was parked in front of a motion blurred wall, sidewalk, and billboard that read: “Looks fast. Even in park. The 450hp 2012 C-Class Coupe.” To complete the motion-blur illusion, real 3D models of a motion blurred fire hydrant, parking sign, and mailbox were created to be part of the street scene.
Credits: Advertised brand: Mercedes-Benz Advert title(s): Mercedes-Benz Blur Headline and copy text (in English): “Looks fast. Even in park. The 450hp 2012 C-Class Coupe.” Advertising Agency: BBDO Toronto, Canada Agency website: http://www.bbdo.ca SVP Executive Creative Directors: Peter Ignazi, Carlos Moreno Art Director: Jonathan Guy Copywriter: Frank Macera Agency Producer: Kathie Hintsa VP, Account Director: Steve Groh Account Director: Adam Lang Account Supervisor: Diana Nelson Photography: Philip Rostron, Instil Productions Inc. Production: Philip Rostron, Instil Productions Inc. / Hotsets Film Event Company: Newad Inc. Client: Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. / Marc Boderke, VP, Marketing / Jay Owen, National Marketing Communications Manager / William Hart, Classical Marketing Supervisor
All cultures throughout time have tried to honor and commemorate those they have lost. A new exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum will show how the living cared for the dead, and how the ancients conceptualized the idea of the human soul in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Israel/Palestine.
This stela with hieroglyphic text asks the living to leave food or to say prayers evoking food for a deceased man and his wife. (Egypt, ca. 2219–1995 B.C. OIM E16955) [Credit: Anna R. Ressman/Oriental Institute Museum]The exhibit, “In Remembrance of Me: Feasting with the Dead in the Ancient Middle East,” opens to the public April 8. The show is built around two themes: the regular offering of food and drink to nourish the dead in the afterlife, and the use of two- or three-dimensional effigies of the dead, often made of stone, to preserve their memory and provide a means of interaction between the living and the dead.
The Oriental Institute’s Neubauer Expedition to Zincirli, Turkey in 2008, during which an inscribed funerary monument was discovered, inspired the exhibit. The monument, which dates to about 735 B.C, is carved with an image of a man named Katumuwa seated before a table heaped with offerings and with a lengthy inscription in Aramaic—a language widely used in the ancient Middle East. The text proved to be the longest-known memorial inscription of its type.
The original Katumuwa stela, discovered by University of Chicago archaeologists, dates to about 735 B.C. (Rendering and reconstruction by Travis Saul, 2014) [Credit: Oriental Institute Museum]Until the discovery of the stela, scholars did not know about the practice of enacting annual sacrifices for the soul of the deceased. The discovery also revealed that the people of Zincirli, located in the ancient Syro-Hittite region of southeastern Turkey, believed Katumuwa’s spirit resided in the monument.
“The text gave us a whole new understanding of the ancient belief system in eastern Turkey and northern Syria. Although Katumuwa knew that the realm of the dead could be a cruel and lonely place, the rituals he describes that his family would enact on his behalf would give him a happy afterlife,” said exhibit curator Virginia R. Herrmann, PhD’11. Herrmann, now a visiting professor at Dartmouth College, was part of the team that discovered the stela and co-curated “In Remembrance of Me.”
Archaeologists Virginia R. Herrmann and Ben Thomas examine the Katumuwa stela at Zincirli, Turkey, shortly after its discovery in 2008 during an Oriental Institute expedition [Credit: Eudora Struble/Oriental Institute Museum]Before the discovery of the stela, it was not understood that, in eastern Turkey and northern Syria, such banquet scenes depicted on other monuments were special pleas to the viewer to make annual offerings of animal sacrifices and grapes or wine. Those offerings were directed not only to the deceased, but also to local gods. The biblical commandment to “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long” (Exodus 20:12), is rooted in the tradition expressed by the Katumuwa text.
The text also revealed that the rituals took place not just at the grave or in the home, but in a private mortuary chapel next door to a temple—exactly the setting where the Katumuwa stela was discovered. The stela itself is in the Gaziantep Museum in eastern Turkey, but a precise facsimile of its front has been produced for the exhibit.
This door plaque contains a scene of ritual feasting. (Khafajeh, Iraq, ca. 2600–2350 B.C. OIM A12417) [Credit: Anna R. Ressman/Oriental Institute Museum]The exhibit also features a video produced by video artist Travis Saul, MFA’12, in collaboration with Herrmann and her colleague and exhibit co-curator, Oriental Institute Associate Professor David Schloen. It provides background on the site of Zincirli, the discovery of the stela, a recreation of the rituals enacted to commemorate the soul of Katumuwa, and a recitation of the text in Aramaic and English.
Rituals of remembrance
Other sections of the exhibit explore how commemoration and communication with the dead was enacted, the importance of banquet scenes, and how the concept of the soul differed in ancient Egypt, Iraq and Israel/Palestine.
These vessels were from a funerary ritual, enacted at the time of Tutankhamun’s funeral. (Luxor, Egypt, ca. 1327 B.C.) [Credit: Anna R. Ressman/Oriental Institute Museum]Artifacts include a stone plaque from Mesopotamia that shows a banquet, an Egyptian wooden model of men preparing food that was thought to provide food eternally for the deceased, and stone schematic human figures that living relatives thought to have contained the soul of the dead. Loaned objects were provided by the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and include a stela of a woman of a type similar to that of Katumuwa.
Rituals of remembrance of lost loved ones—from memorial services to Day of the Dead celebrations in Latin America and even the “funeral selfie” phenomenon—continue to be an important aspect of many cultures.
This stela shows a deceased man being attended by family members, part of an ancestor cult. (Luxor, Egypt, ca. 1295–1069 B.C. OIM E14287) [Credit: Anna R. Ressman/Oriental Institute Museum]Understanding how the ancients considered and prepared for mortality and worked to preserve the memories of their family members raises questions about how contemporary society contends with these same issues. An epilogue to the exhibit features modern objects of commemoration from many nations, reminding the visitor that rituals that link the living and the dead remain a part of our lives.
Jack Green, chief curator of the Oriental Institute Museum, said, “In coordinating this exhibit, we found that although death can often be a taboo topic in Western society, there are plenty of examples today that commemorate the dead through festive and colorful celebrations—the Dia de Muertos being just one example.”
Source: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago [March 13, 2014]
Leo Burnett's TV ad for the French toilet-paper Le Trefle entitled "Emma" is a happy families ongoing battle between going digital or staying true to paper. Our hero husband determined to convert his wife and daughter to a paperless world in various ways, but sadly in the end our true hero, the patient Emma reminds him that no matter what there is at the very least one thing we will always need paper for. The tagline translates in English to "Paper has a big future", get it? Big...man...sitting on the toilet...ah forget it. Speaking of big things "Midtrafik — The Bus" is still one greatest ads ever created, see the epic-a-licious spot HERE.
Credits: Client: Le Trèfle Agency: Leo Burnett France Director: Bart Timmer Executive Creative Director: Xavier Beauregard Creative Director: Xavier Beauregard Art Director: Jérôme Gonfond Copywriter: Hadi Hassan-Helou Agency Producer: Elisabeth Boitte
A nudist and several plants....the makings for one rather disturbing commercial for VigorPlant, "Life of a Plant".
Credits: Ad Agency: ARMANDO TESTA SpA, Italy Creative Directors: Vincenzo Celli, Peppe Cirillo Soundtrack: "Open My Eyes" by THEMUSICBANK Copy: Stefano Castagnone, Federica Saraniti Lana Art: Laura Sironi Director: Jonathan Gurvit Actor: Fernando "Tuco" Richat Production Co.: Mercurio Cinematografica
To get women to make heart healthy choices and reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke, Becel and The Heart and Stroke Foundation invited moms to what they thought was a regular school play. Instead, each kid read their mom a personal, heartfelt letter explaining how well she takes care of them. Moms were then asked to take care of themselves too. Developed by DDB Canada's Toronto office, the integrated campaign encourages women to take better care of their health. Full press below.
Toronto, January 24, 2013 — Heart disease and stroke is a leading cause of death for women in Canada1, yet 80 per cent of the risks can be reduced through lifestyle changes. To encourage women to prioritize their own well-being, Becel® recently launched a heartwarming integrated advertising campaign encouraging moms to take action and take better care of their health.
Becel® is the founding sponsor of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s The Heart Truth™ campaign, which calls on women to put their own health first by assessing their risk for heart disease and stroke, talking to their doctor, and making heart healthy lifestyle choices in order to enjoy a long and healthy life with their loved ones.
“Heart disease and stroke take one in three Canadian women before their time2, resulting in too many children losing their mothers,” says Margaret McKellar, senior marketing manager – Spreads Canada. “Becel wants to drive home the relevance of heart disease and stroke with women and provide them with the tools necessary to make positive changes in their lives.”
With moms more likely to listen to their children than a marketing message, Becel® enlisted the help of elementary school students of an Ottawa public school to surprise their moms by reading aloud heartfelt letters explaining, in their own words, how well their mothers take care of them. The emotional live event created in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, was filmed for the campaign.
“Women put too much pressure on themselves and sometimes are so focused on the health and happiness of their family that their own health is sacrificed,” says Denise Rossetto, mother of twins and creative director at DDB Canada. “If a woman doesn’t look after herself, she may not be around for her family.”
Developed by DDB Canada’s Toronto office, the national integrated campaign, includes English and French versions of the spot “Love Letters,” an online video, entitled “It’s OK Mom” that people can personalize to encourage a mom and share with their social networks, and digital advertising, which is being supported with public relations and a blogger outreach program. To learn heart healthy tips, get a behind-the-scenes look of the commercial and read the children’s love letters, consumers can visit the campaign site: Becel.ca/EncourageAMom.
The campaign is the result of collaboration between Becel’s agency partners, with DDB Canada’s Toronto office responsible for the strategy, mass, digital and social executions, working closely with DDB Canada Montreal (French adaptation), Edelman (public relations and social media), Mindshare (media), Integrated (shopper marketing) and Ariad Communications (eblast), in partnership with Sapient who is responsible for Becel.ca.
The “Love Letters” TV spot launched on January 21, 2013, followed by cinema and digital campaign elements in market the first week in February for Heart Month.
DDB Canada has partnered with Unilever Canada as Becel’s agency of record since 2009.
M&M's newest commercial gets a little dangerous as Ms. Brown introduces Red to a chocolate loving beauty, things quickly get ugly as the red headed woman wants to "Devour" our little funny loving red M&M as she drives off with him.
Credits: Ad Agency: BBDO, New York.
M&M's 2013 Super Bowl Ad Watch News:
Today Mars Chocolate North America introduced M&M'S® Brand's new integrated marketing campaign called 'Better With M™,' which includes a new 30 second television commercial that will air during the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVII.
"'Better With M' showcases how M&M'S irresistible chocolate makes moments more fun and delicious," said Roy Benin, Chief Consumer Officer, Mars Chocolate North America. "The 'Better With M' story is delivered through our colorful spokescandies, whose irresistible chocolate always makes moments even better – be they watching the Super Bowl, baking cookies, gathering the family together for a movie or even tailgating." In addition to the Super Bowl ad, which was created by BBDO New York, highlights of the year-long 'Better With M' campaign include multiple English and Spanish television, print and digital ads, in-store displays, consumer promotions and multiple social initiatives focused on Facebook and the hashtag, #betterwithmms. The first television ad from the new campaign – starring Ms. Brown – will being airing today.
A cornerstone of the campaign is a new cause-related marketing effort designed to make 'America Better With M' by funding the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes across the nation. As part of the initiative, M&M'S is also encouraging, as well as incentivizing fans to help 'M-Prove America' by volunteering at Habitat job sites nationwide. "'Better With M' represents one of the largest marketing efforts in M&M'S history," added Benin. "We're confident our full range of communications and activities will excite consumers from the Super Bowl all the way through next winter's holiday season." via: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1ypL6)
Taking the bus has never been cooler than in this funny Danish TV commercial for Midttrafik. The idea behind the campaign by Danish agency M2Film was to make public transportation more attractive, fun and exciting. We think they did an excellent job, not only is this coolest bus ever but this could very be the greatest commercial ever created. English subtitles added for educational and entertainment purposes.
Credits: Created by the ad agency M2Film Kudos to the Copyranter for finding this gem.
A story that goes to the heart in the truest sense of the word. The TV spot of the Swiss Heart Foundation calls attention to the most common cause of death in Switzerland: heart disease and stroke. The spot tells the wonderful story of a great, undying love, and simply shows on how precious every minute of our lives.
Credits: Agency: Contexta AG, Bern, Switzerland (www.contexta.ch) Creative Director: Moritz Staehelin Copywriter: Annette Häcki/Raphael Gammenthaler Art Director: Stefanie Morgan/Moricz Nemeth Agency Producer: Ulysse Schnegg Account Supervisor: Nadine Borter Advertiser's Supervisor: Martin Zimmermann Account Manager: Alexandra Beyeler Production: stories AG, Zurich, Switzerland (www.stories.ch) Producer: Yves Bollag Director: Tobias Fueter D.O.P: Holger Diener Lighting: Attila Doczi Editor: Tobias Fueter/Beni Fueter/Wolfgang Weigl Editing Company: stories AG, Zurich, Switzerland (www.stories.ch) Music: Composer/Artist/Title: Adrian Frutiger Sound Designer: Gian Dolder Off-voice English: Harlan Hogan Post Production Supervisor: Denis Spycher Animation: Cloudscape Production Designer: Adrien Asztalos Special Effects/Computer Graphics: Cloudscape Colour Grading: Fabian Kimoto Line Producer: Nicole Spring Production Coordinator: Heike Schreyer
In some respects the business world has never been smaller. Globalization, mass communication and the internet have all put new markets within reach for businesses of all sizes. But linguistic and cultural barriers still remain, and marketers need to take care when venturing across these divides.
Lost in translation There are numerous instances of companies whose message has been lost in translation. When Pepsi took their slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” to Taiwan it was mistranslated as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead” — a claim that even the staunchest of Pepsi fans might have difficulty backing up. Not to be outdone, Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous “Finger lickin' good” was translated into Chinese as “Eat your fingers off.” Companies are advised to check that their actual brand and product names give the right impression abroad. Ikea, for example, brought out a mobile work desk for kids. The name 'Fartfull' suggested speed and mobility in Swedish, but caused more of a stink elsewhere. Good quality translation is clearly essential when taking your brand abroad. This ideally means working with native speaking translators. They will not only avoid linguistic errors, but can also identify any cultural issues and nuances that might otherwise be missed. Attention to detail is obviously important in a major international marketing campaign, but the same rule should also be applied even if you are just localizing your website. Automatic translation tools such as Google Translate can be useful for getting the gist of foreign texts. But they’re prone to misunderstandings, contextual errors, and do not deal well with colloquialisms, slang, linguistic variations or commonly used acronyms and abbreviations. English might remain the single most widely used language online, but it still represents only around a quarter of total usage. Studies have shown that customers place far more trust in websites in their own language. Localization can help you break into new markets, but a badly translated site can do as much harm as good. Cultural issues There can also be issues arising from a lack of cultural understanding or foresight. As well as translating the language, consider the use of images carefully. Sexually charged images and innuendo can end up being more risky than risqué, and even images that may be considered relatively innocuous in your home market can cause grave offence in another. Even the use of color can have different connotations within different cultures. In most of the western world, for example, white is associated with weddings and purity, while in India, Japan and China it is more likely to be associated with death and mourning. In Ireland, orange can have political and religious connotations. Using an inappropriate color scheme is unlikely to cause rioting in the streets but it can set the wrong tone and trigger a negative subconscious response in viewers.
A knowledge of slang, colloquialisms and naughty words in particular can also come in handy. Like many other companies, Swedish medical suppliers Locum sent Christmas cards to their customers. It's a little touch that can mean a lot — but their seasonally loved up logo took on a different meaning in North America and the UK. The above example might have been no more than a faux pas that raised a chuckle and provided a few red faces, but some mistakes are far more serious. They can also occur not just when dealing with foreign markets but also within a single multicultural market. In 2002 the British sportswear company Umbro (which would later be bought out by Nike) was forced to withdraw its Zyklon range of running shoes and issue a hasty apology. 'Zyklon' means 'cyclone' in German, which may have been an appropriate name for a running shoe if not for some unfortunate and horrible connotations. Zyklon B was the trade name of the poison used by Nazis to murder Jews and other concentration camp victims during World War II. Dr Stephen Smith, co-founder of the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire, said: "Commercial appropriation of words carrying connotations of mass murder is utterly unacceptable.” It’s important to give careful thought to potential cultural oversights and misunderstandings. Native-speaking translators can again help avoid mistakes and faux pas and, at the very least, material should be tested with a sample group from the target market. Without a little attention to detail it can be relatively easy for a company to either make itself a laughing stock or, even worse, to cause serious offence and alienate a huge swathe of potential customers. About the author Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, a top translation service in the USA. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over forty million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV, World Bank and American Express. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.
For the first time in its 20-year history, G Adventures will communicate and engage with people around the world through one unified question: “What will you do today for tomorrow?”
This is the first video of the series. Shot from the perspective of a G Adventures traveler, these films express a shared hope for a better world. They tap into the power of an international and interconnected G Adventures community to spark change and create positive action unrestricted by geographic barriers. Grouped thematically around four ideas — freedom, beauty, knowledge and community — the films serve to associate these compelling and creative ideas with the G Adventures brand. These films demonstrate, through inspiring scenes of G Adventures travelers captured around the world, from Morocco to Brazil—how people are seizing the day, and in so doing, are creating positive change. They hope to inspire people to join with G Adventures and serve as a rallying cry to create positive change in the world today. As people from different backgrounds work for positive change and progress and take advantage of opportunities, G Adventures will be there to serve as the company that brings them together, challenging them to leave the world better than we found it. By harnessing the power of its global group of travelers, the G Adventures brand hopes to raise awareness and support for a diverse range of thought leaders around the globe who embody the ideals of the G Adventures brand. The G-Project is powered by G Adventures.
Credits: Advertised brand: G Adventures Advert title(s): What will you do today, for tomorrow? Advertising Agency: G Adventures Brand Team (in-house) Creative Director: Jaymie Bachiu Art Director: Leonardo Tamburri Copywriters: Steve English & Daniel Sendecki Videographers: Kyle Jordan & Joe DiBenedetto
All around the hull of the longest Viking warship ever found there are swords and battle axes, many bearing the scars of long and bloody use, in an exhibition opening in Copenhagen that will smash decades of good public relations for the Vikings as mild-mannered traders and farmers.
A violent animated backdrop to a reconstructed Viking warship [Credit: Guardian]"Some of my colleagues thought surely one sword is enough," archaeologist and co-curator Anne Pedersen said, "but I said no, one can never have too many swords."
The exhibition, simply called Viking, which will be opened at the National Museum by Queen Margrethe of Denmark on Thursday, and to the public on Saturday, will sail on to to London next year to launch the British Museum's new exhibition space.
In contrast to recent exhibitions, which have concentrated on the Vikings as brilliant seafarers, highly gifted wood- and metal-workers, and builders of towns including York and Dublin, this returns to the more traditional image of ferocious raiders, spreading terror wherever the shallow keels of the best and fastest ships in Europe could reach, armed with magnificent swords, spears, battleaxes and lozenge-shaped arrows. "The arrow shape did more damage," Pedersen explained, "the wounds were bigger and more difficult to heal than a straight-edged slit."
Other powers employed the fearless warriors as mercenaries, including Byzantium and Jerusalem, but some were anxious to keep weapons of mass destruction out of their hands: a Frankish law forbade selling swords to Vikings. They got them anyway, as the exhibits prove.
A skull from a grave in Gotland bears the marks of many healed sword cuts, but also decorative parallel lines filed into the warrior's teeth, like those recently found on teeth from a pit of decapitated bodies in Dorset, in what must have been an excruciating display of macho bravado.
"Probably only a small percentage of the Vikings ever went to sea on raiding parties, but I think those who stayed home would have told stories of great warriors, great ships and great swords they had known," Pedersen said. "It was very much part of the culture."
Some of the objects assembled from collections in 12 countries, such as a heap of walnut-sized pieces of amber, or jewellery made to incorporate Islamic and Byzantine coins, probably did come through trade. Others, such as a pair of brooches from the grave of a Viking woman made from gold intricately twisted into tiny animals, originally panels chopped up from a shrine made in Ireland to hold the relics of a saint, certainly were not.
One magnificent silver collar found in Norway has an inscription in runes saying the Vikings came to Frisia and "exchanged war garments with them" – but that may be a black joke. Iron slave collars from Dublin confirm that the wealth they sought wasn't always gold and silver.
This is the largest Viking exhibition in more than 20 years, bringing together loans from across Europe, including hoards from Yorkshire, Norway and Russia, a silver cross and a diminutive figure of a Valkyrie, a mythological battlefield figure, both found in Denmark only a few months ago. Loans from Britain include some of the famous Lewis chessmen carved as fierce Viking warriors, biting on the edge of their shields in an ecstasy of rage.
The most spectacular object, fitting into the gallery with just 1.7 metres (5ft6in) to spare – the new space in Bloomsbury has already been measured carefully – is the sleek, narrow hull of the longest Viking warship ever found, specially conserved for the exhibition and on display for the first time. Just over 36m in length, it was built to hold at least 100 men on 39 pairs of oars.
The ship was found by accident at Roskilde, home of the famous Viking ship museum. The museum was built 50 years ago to hold a small fleet of Viking boats that were deliberately sunk 1,000 years ago to narrow and protect the approach to the harbour. In the 1990s, workers building an extension chopped through the massive timbers of what turned out to be nine more ships, including the awesome length of the warship, estimated to have taken around 30,000 hours of skilled labour to build: only a king could have afforded such a vessel.
Recent scientific tests show it was built from oak felled in 1025 near Oslo, probably for King Cnut the Great – the sea-defying Canute to the English – who conquered England in 1016, and Norway in 1028. Only a quarter of the timbers survived, but they included the entire length of the keel.
Although the exhibition includes sections on Viking politics, strategic alliances through marriage and trade, and beliefs including the contents of the grave of a sorceress with her iron magic wand and little pots of narcotic drugs, the warlike tone was dictated by the ship, which was itself a weapon of war. Vikings sang about ships – one refers to a new ship as "a dragon" – played as children with toy ships and, if rich enough, were eventually buried in ships.
The displays and some of the contents will change in London, but in Copenhagen the ship is spectacularly displayed against an animated backdrop of stormy seas and a ferocious raid that leaves the target settlement in flames.
The animation was made in the United States and the Danish team was initially dismayed as it appeared to show raiders attacking a much later medieval walled town. Eventually, curator Peter Pentz said, a Hampshire site saved the film: they agreed it was plausible that the towers and curtain walls could represent the ruins of a Roman shoreline fort, such as Portchester castle near Portsmouth.
As well as the swords, some bent like a folded belt to destroy their earthly use as they went into a warrior's grave, there is one unique weapon, a battleaxe with an intricately decorated golden shaft. Such golden axes are described in the sagas, but this, from a settlement in Norway, is the only real example ever found.
"I think the main point was to impress, not to kill somebody," Pedersen said, adding with satisfaction: "but you can kill somebody with it if you want.
Viking, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, until November 17 2013
Author: Maev Kennedy | Source: The Guardian [June 19, 2013]
This new 10 second TV commercial from Amsterdam for the McDonald's McFlurry Magnum White is just another TV spot for the Dutch, but for this English speaking Canadian the first seconds of the voice over are absolutely priceless.
Credits: Produced by Caramel Pictures Amsterdam Director / DP: Ronald Koetzier Executive Producer: Peter Zeven
Work It Kitty, a great multi-phase campaign for the Temptations cat treat full press and credits below: TEMPTATIONS TREATS LAUNCHES THE PURRFECT CAT WORKOUT: WORK IT KITTY
The cat’s out of the bag! The makers of TEMPTATIONS® treats, the irresistible snack cats love, is shaking up the feline fitness world in order to encourage Canadians to get more active with their cats. The leading Canadian cat treat brand quietly soft-launched its WORK IT KITTY™ campaign with the release of a cat workout/music video and www.workitkitty.com microsite. The WORK IT KITTY™ video is the exclusive meowzercise workout for cats and features fictional characters Kate and George— cat hotel owners and premier cat workout professionals. Reminiscent of a 1980s workout, sweatbands included, cathletes Banjo, Fritz, Harley, Pumpkin and Tom, demonstrate the hottest feline fitness moves, including ‘paw rotations’; ‘jumping box squats’; and ‘paw extensions’. “The TEMPTATIONS® All Natural treats brand wants to encourage Canadians to find simple ways to keep their cats active in a fun way,” says Brittany Compton, Senior Brand Manager, TEMPTATIONS®, Mars Canada Inc. “The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign video and microsite have generated great consumer response, and we’re thrilled that the campaign is gaining so much organic attention. The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign, created by the TEMPTATIONS® treats’ creative agency DDB Chicago, officially supports the TEMPTATIONS® All Natural treats product portfolio.
Created in partnership with Ultra Music and produced by Biscuit Filmworks, the WORK IT KITTY™ video features the song I Don’t Wanna Dance by Alex Gaudino ft. Taboo. The video was seeded out to consumers through Ultra Music’s YouTube channel and encourages viewers to visit www.workitkitty.com. The video and microsite are currently supported with public and media relations by Fleishman-Hillard Toronto, and Proximity Canada is communicating the campaign through the TEMPTATIONS® treats Canada Facebook page. The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign officially launches mid-July 2013 and targets Canadian cat owners and lovers, ages 18-49 years old. It will feature the video repurposed into a national, English and French 15 second ad by DDB Chicago that will run on a national television and pre-roll media buy co-ordinated by MediaCom. Match Ignite developed and will execute an in-store UPC collection and redemption promotion and in-store display tools as well as mass direct-to-target consumer sampling. Agency Credits: Title: WORK IT KITTY™ Client: Mars Canada Inc. TEMPTATIONS® All Natural Treats Creative Ad Agency: DDB, Chicago Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks Director: Andreas Nilsson Managing Director: Shawn Lacy Music Video Seeding: Ultra Music Public Relations: Fleishman-Hillard Toronto Media Buy: MediaCom In-Store Marketing / Direct-to-Consumer Sampling: MatchIgnite Facebook: Proximity, Canada
The movie Alma (in English, “Soul”) – made by Brazilian production company Sentimental Filme – has just won two awards at the prestigious D&AD competition, in London. This brings the tally of international prizes to 12 for this short film conceived by advertising agency F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi.
The first Leica brand campaign in Brazil, the film is part of the launch activities for the German camera maker’s unique concept store in the country – in São Paulo – and features the new M Monochrom digital camera designed to produce stunning photos in black and white.
Alma won for Best Direction and for Cinematography in the Film Advertising Crafts' category with accolades for Vellas and André Faccioli respectively. "The D&AD is possibly one of the hardest prizes to win. The level is very high and the festival showcases many films from all around the world made by influential production companies and filmed by top directors. Just being nominated for a D&AD was something incredible for us, but to win two golden pencils [the statues based on the British awards symbol] was really beyond our expectations and very gratifying. Really amazing", said the director Vellas. This year Brazilian productions bagged four of the coveted D&AD pencil trophies.
Between wars and loves, this is an engaging story of a photographer narrated from the unusual point of view of his own camera. In black and white, the movie sports unconventional angles and, sometimes, deliberately blurred images, as if the camera was held in the actual hand or slung round the neck of the photographer himself.
Hopes are now high that following the film’s success at D&AD Alma will be in the running at the prestigious Cannes Lions 2013, which take place from 16 to 22 June.
The production company... In 11 years of creative activity, Sentimental Filme has become one of the most important advertising film producers from Brazil. Winner of several national and international awards, including a Bronze Lion at Cannes, three Clio Awards, and two One Show prizes, the company also has a division that produces content for TV, internet, entertainment, interactive advertising, corporate communications and new media. Its major clients include Fiat, Ford, Panasonic, Volkswagen, Visa, Procter & Gamble and AB Imbev.
Credits: Production company: Sentimental Filme Director: Vellas Director of Photography: André Faccioli Executive Producers: Marcos Araújo, Marcelo Altschuler Production Director: Eduardo Venturi Editing: Talles Martins Sound: Satélite Áudio Voiceover: Christine Behm Post-production: Sindicato VFX Agency: F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi Creative Directors: Fabio Fernandes | Eduardo Lima Art Director: João Linneu Creative team: Bruno Oppido | Thiago Carvalho | João Linneu RTVC: Victor Alloza Accounts: Marcello Penna | Melanie Zmetek Planning: José Porto | Rafael Paes Approval | Client: Luiz Marinho
