Greenpeace ads predict Copenhagen regret

Greenpeace looks ahead to the year 2020 and (surprise!) concludes that the world will be sorry if it doesn't deal with climate control today. The ads, part of the broader TckTckTck initiative, are designed to raise awareness of the climate conference in Copenhagen, which begins today. They show President Obama and other world leaders as they might look 11 years from now, with the headline, "I'm sorry. We could have stopped catastrophic climate change ... We didn't." See more of the ads here. Sure, presidents can age in striking fashion after just a short time in office. But Barack will still be in his fifties in 2020. This billboard, via ad agency Arc, makes him look about 75. Maybe all that acid rain is to blame. France's Nicolas Sarkozy looks especially tired and decrepit. Carla Bruni must have left him. Germany's Angela Merkel looks pretty much like she does now. All jokes aside, Greenpeace is probably right: If changes aren't made, we'll regret it 11 years down the line. After all, hindsight is 2020. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on December 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Environment, Gianatasio, Greenpeace

Polar bears more screwed than you thought

The U.K. is on a roll with its climate-change PSAs. First, there were the dogs drowning in rising seas. Now, we get this gruesome spot from Mother (posted below) for PlaneStupid.com, in which polar bears fall from the sky to splattery deaths—to make some point about airplane emissions. "An average European flight produces over 400kg of greenhouse gases for every passenger … that's the weight of an adult polar bear," the spot says. There's plenty to find objectionable here—the nonsensical connection between that stat and the rain of bears, as well as the general airplane-skyscraper-death theme, complete with a pretty blatant 9/11 Falling Man reference, which will evoke extremely negative emotions for some. Why do environmental groups shoot themselves in the foot like this? Via Animal.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
'Dead pets' climate-change ad feels the heat

Published on November 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (10)
Filed under Environment, Europe, Mother, PSAs

Get naked, say the pervy scrubbing bubbles

What's really inside your household cleaning products? It could be a bunch of dirty-minded chemicals, who are all bright and bubbly and innocent in TV commercials but who indulge in debauchery off camera, hanging around long after cleaning time to watch you give your naked bod a good scrub in the shower. That's the warning in the video below from Droga5 and Method, the maker of environmentally friendly cleaning products. "When did clean become so dirty?" the company asks, and wants you to ask your elected officials. The goal is to require all cleaning products to list their ingredients on their labels, and to keep depraved bubble gangs out of your bathroom. UPDATE: Method has now pulled the video off YouTube after complaints that the spot is sexist.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (16)
Filed under Cleaning products, Droga5, Environment, Method, Nudd, Parody, Politics

Kids would prefer you not destroy the Earth

Zig's cinematic spot for Moms Against Climate Change pits child protesters (shouldn't they be in school?) against cops (don't they have parking tickets to write?) to illustrate that if kids knew what was at stake, they'd take action. There's no denying it packs a punch. That said, something feels off. I think I was expecting a boffo climax to really drive the point home. Why not have the sides embrace, each kid finding one of his or her parents among the riot squad, to symbolize that we're all in this together? Conversely, acid rain pouring from above and "frying" every last person? That would make a strong statement! Sure, it's easy for me to second-guess—that's why I enjoy it so much. Still, using children is a form of hot-button emotional manipulation. And to stretch a metaphor, failing to turn up that flame delivers a lukewarm message on a globally incendiary issue.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

See also:
'Dead pets' climate-change ad feels the heat

Published on November 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Canada, Environment, Gianatasio, PSAs, Zig

Garbage talks trash in French recycling ads

The giant trash heap in DDB Paris's campaign for French environmental agency Ademe seems like a decent enough fellow. Once you get past the stench of week-old cafeteria croissants and rotting Brie, he's got a certain joie de vivre, an offbeat je ne sais quoi that's irresistible. I think it's the accent. He sounds like Gerard Depardieu. In fact, there's a certain hulking, physical resemblance, though the pile of garbage is a better actor. He doesn't seem that much worse than most co-workers. Myself included. HR can't bully me into cleaning up my cube, but those memos sure come in handy for swatting away the flies.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on October 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under DDB, Environment, Europe, Gianatasio

Help random babies crawl across the nation

"We cannot stand, but we stand for something." That's the theme of the Million Baby Crawl, an eco-awareness campaign from Seventh Generation, a maker of non-toxic household products. The Web site explains: "Babies everywhere are crawling to Washington to say no to toxic chemicals found in our homes." They're not literally crawling to D.C. They'd get cranky, particularly the ones from the West Coast, and their frequent naps would delay their arrival. Plus, the toxicity of those million diapers would be worse than the materials they're protesting. Instead, visitors to the site can "Create a Crawler" to spread the word. (There are more than 1,300 so far.) Videos by Carmichael Lynch (above and below) show babies crawling on city streets and along the sides of highways. The use of babies here seems apt and reinforces the message that this cause protects the most helpless among us. The spots with the babies babbling on soapboxes are like nails on a blackboard, however, and make me glad I never had kids.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on October 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Carmichael Lynch, Environment, Gianatasio, House and home, Seventh Generation

'Dead pets' climate-change ad feels the heat

This new British climate-change ad is drawing a large number of complaints. It shows a father reading his daughter a bedtime story in which puppies drown and rabbits are left without water to drink because of rising CO2 levels. More than 200 complaints have flooded in, wasting the precious resources of the Ad Standards Authority, whose time could be better spent looking at ice-cream ads featuring oversexed nuns. About half of the complaints about the climate-change ad involve the science presented in it. The rest of the people, according to an ASA rep, think the spot is simply too scary. Because of course, you don't want anyone feeling any sort of discomfort while considering the issue of global warming.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Global warming hits home in Brazilian PSA
Suicidal animals star in global-warming PSA

Published on October 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Animals, Controversy, Environment, Europe, Nudd, PSAs

Latest WWF spot not terribly offensive at all

This animated clip by Bostock and Pollitt for World Wildlife Fund U.K. illustrates the domino theory of taking personal action to help improve Earth's climate. The cityscape at the start thankfully has no Twin Towers, unlike that über-controversial WWF campaign from DDB Brazil. In fact, the clip's not really very offensive in the least. And I love the funky retro feel from the flute music! Still, I'm not sure if the results of such consumer activism, as depicted here, are all that compelling. I felt sorry for the overturned construction guy in the rainforest (he'll probably never walk again), and stifling that nuclear reactor would plunge millions into darkness. The panda mascot at the end even looks malevolent, like he's pissed about global warming and wouldn't mind tearing someone's head off in Copenhagen in December. Also, about halfway through the second viewing, I really started to hate that damn flute!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
DDB, WWF reeling from fallout over 9/11 ad

Published on October 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Bostock and Pollitt, Environment, Europe, WWF

Greenpeace ad tells Kevin Rudd to Rudd off

Kevin Rudd, the prime minister of Australia, is warned in this entertaining Greenpeace spot (created by Republic of Everyone) not to do a "dirty deal" at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, or his very name will become a dirty word. "Rudd" is a guttural-sounding four-letter word that works well as an expletive, particularly when uttered by the woman miserably reading the pregnancy test ("Oh, Rudd") and the unseen hotel patron happily frolicking in bed ("Rudd me hard!"). I think it'd be pretty cool if my name were tantamount to profanity, but "Gianatasio me hard!" might take too long to say. Oh, Rudd it all.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on September 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Australia, Environment, Gianatasio, Greenpeace

Omnicom is greener than IPG (by a shade)

Omnicom takes top honors in Newsweek's Green Rankings 2009 report—among ad holding companies, that is. It is quite a bit back in the pack, at No. 472, out of 500 companies ranked. And the list is composed only of U.S-based companies. (Thus, WPP and Publicis were not eligible.) Omnicom managed to land a full two spots ahead of No. 474 Interpublic Group, due largely to a stronger corporate reputation (see the Reputation Survey criterion). Omnicom clients, on the other hand, turned up among environmental leaders: with the greenest of the green including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Wells Fargo and Sprint Nextel, among others. Chrysler was absent. Presumably even the efforts of Omnicom's environmentally focused media shop PHD failed to impress.

—Posted by Jim English

Published on September 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under English, Environment, IPG, Omnicom

Adman wins solar account, won't eat shorts

So, this is what it takes to win new business nowadays. Back in March, Ted Page of Captains of Industry vowed to eat his shorts on camera if the Boston agency didn't win a solar-energy account by year's end. Well, he's off the hook! Alteris Renewables—a predictably low spender, with $75,000 in measured media spending in the past 18 months, per Nielsen—has come aboard. In the goofy video above, Ted barbecues his shorts and is about to devour them when Alteris calls. The client says: "You have to respect the level of passion for renewable energy that goes into a public commitment to eat your shorts on camera. It was very creative." Maybe Ted's onto something. Now that Volkswagen is out the door, Alex Bogusky should volunteer to eat his shorts if an automaker doesn't sign on by Dec. 31. GM would probably likewise construe the gesture as "very creative"—judging from that Ed Whitacre spot, they're not too tough to impress—and let Crispin Porter steer the next round of brand "Reinvention."

—Posted by David Gianatasio

See also:
Adman will eat shorts for solar-energy work

Published on September 16, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Captains of Industry, Environment, Gianatasio

DDB, WWF reeling from fallout over 9/11 ad

UPDATE, Friday. In their joint apology for this now-infamous 9/11 ad, DDB Brazil and WWF Brazil mentioned their previous collaborations. Here's a sampling of ads they've done together since 2007.

UPDATE, Thursday evening. So, it appears the video version of the print ad was the work of DDB Brazil as well, and was entered into the Cannes festival this year. Meanwhile, over at Adweek.com, Barbara Lippert offers her view of the whole fiasco.

UPDATE, Thursday, 1 p.m. ET. The U.S. headquarters of the WWF has just updated its statement to acknowledge that someone at WWF Brazil may have indeed signed off on the 9/11 ad. See the full statement here.

UPDATE, Wednesday evening: DDB Brazil posted a statement on its Web site Wednesday, signed by both WWF Brazil and DDB Brazil, claiming shared responsibility for the creation and initial approval of this ad, which has caused a firestorm of controversy since Tuesday morning.
  The English version of the statement reads: "WWF Brasil and DDB Brasil would like to jointly express their regret for the unfortunate incident involving the 'Tsunami' ad for World Wildlife Fund Brasil. The ad does not convey either the philosophy of the client or that of its advertising agency. It was created and approved in late 2008, mistakenly, and was solely the result of lack of experience on the part of a few professionals from both parties involved. In no way was it done in bad faith or with disrespect to American suffering. WWF Brasil and DDB Brasil acknowledge that such an ad never should have been made, approved or published. We reiterate our apologies to all those who may have been offended by it. The two entities have worked together for three years to mobilize people, efforts and resources for the good of the environment. A single error should not obscure past successes, nor prevent future ones."
  Below is our original blog post from Tuesday morning, plus several updates made since then.

— — — — —

Just in time for the anniversary of 9/11 comes this tasteless, nightmarish print ad for the World Wildlife Fund, showing dozens of planes headed for lower Manhattan. See a larger version here. The copy reads: "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it." Unfortunately, respect is the main thing lacking here. Exploiting one tragedy to try to prevent another is just stupid and self-defeating, and will always backfire. Via Advertolog, which credits the ad to DDB Brazil.

UPDATE: It appears this ad actually managed to win a merit award for public service at The One Show this year. We spoke to a rep at the U.S. HQ of the WWF in Washington. She said the group "strongly condemns the messaging and the imagery" of the ad, and she added: "We can promise you this ad does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of this organization." WWF further says the ad was "never authorized or approved by any WWF person on the planet" and that the group is investigating the "unauthorized and illegal use of our logo." The group's official statement on the matter can be seen here.

UPDATE: DDB Brazil has apologized for the ad, and a rep there tells the New York Daily News that the creative team behind it "is no longer with the agency."

UPDATE: We've received an e-mailed statement from DDB Brazil in which the agency, while still apologizing for the ad's creation, claims it was approved for publication by the local branch of the WWF. The statement reads: "The 'Tsunami' ad for World Wildlife Fund Brasil was created by a team at DDB Brasil in December 2008, approved and ran. The team in question is no longer with the Agency. DDB Brasil apologizes to anyone who was offended or affected by the ad. It should never have been made and it does not portray the philosophy of the agency."
  We're told the ad ran just once, in a local newspaper in Brazil.
  This conflicts with the WWF's statement that it "did not authorize [the ad's] production or publication." Officials at the WWF in Washington tell us they are still looking into the chain of events and wouldn't comment further. If the agency's version of events is true, then the ad is not fake or "scam," the WWF would bear greater responsibility for it, and it would have been eligible for this year's One Show, where it somehow managed to win a merit award. (The ad has since been stripped from the One Show site.)
  A video version of the ad (posted below) has also been unearthed. DDB and WWF are denying any involvement in the video.

—Posted by Tim Nudd and David Gianatasio

Published on September 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (199)
Filed under 9/11, Brazil, DDB, Environment, Gianatasio, WWF

Listen to the Big-Oil CEO on climate change

This anti-Big-Oil spot from environmental group Avaaz.org pushes all the right buttons and succeeds by being rather restrained and good-natured where others would go too far with the name-calling and hyperbole. The guy in the faux-oil-company commercial really does look like a smooth-talkin' corporate CEO as he reminisces about the good old days before the economic meltdown, when politicians followed the oil companies' lead and "we bought bigger and bigger corporate jets." Yet, he never seems crass and comes across as more self-serving than outright evil. He's a villain you can almost love, just like that real-life Sprint CEO who's been in his company's ads. Kidding. Consider: We should probably root for Mr. Phony Exec and his cronies to get their Learjets out of storage soon. When they do, that'll mean the recession's passed and we'll all be better off.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on April 29, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Avaaz.org, Environment, Gianatasio, Parody

Philly wraps recycling trucks for Earth Day

Sometimes, art is where you find it. At Philadelphia's Earth Day parade today, locals need look no further than 10 recycling trucks newly wrapped with colorful floral, aquatic, avian and other pro-environmental designs. Students in the city's Mural Arts Program created the wraps, earning valuable experience for their future as starving artists scrounging through refuse bins for food and clothing. Kidding, kidding. They'll all get jobs—maybe they'll work at big ad agencies and create wraps for trains and buses. Of course, wrapping sanitation vehicles in ads is unlikely. Client products and services would be too closely aligned with—what's the word?—ah, yes ... trash. Such ironic illustrations of truth in advertising would be a bit too much to bear.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on April 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Earth Day, Environment, Gianatasio, Philadelphia

AT&T spot introduces nation to Toms Shoes

When you buy a pair of shoes from Toms, another pair is donated to a child in need. This "One for One" business model has sparked a lot of well-deserved Web buzz for the e-retailer, but Toms got a healthy heaping of national attention this weekend from this new AT&T ad, which debuted during Masters Tournament coverage. "Two months ago AT&T approached us wanting to feature Toms in an ad campaign," founder Blake Mycoskie writes on the company's blog. "We could not have been more excited and grateful, but to find out weeks later that the ad would premiere as part of the Masters telecast was truly an honor." By the end of the weekend, the company was already saying that thousands of new shoes orders were coming in, which means thousands of shoes for impoverished children worldwide. Mycoskie is optimistic that the publicity boost could also result in expanding the donation concept beyond shoes. "Our debut on the Masters telecast," he predicts on the blog, "will prove to be a landmark moment for our One for One movement."

—Posted by David Griner

Published on April 13, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under AT&T, Environment, Golf, Griner, Toms Shoes

Wieden and Honda try headlight animation

Here's another logistical wonder for Honda from "Cog" masterminds Wieden + Kennedy. This time around, the agency's Amsterdam office arranged a massive grid of cars and coordinated the headlights to create animation. While specifically an ad for the Insight Hybrid, the spot also launched Honda's environmental brand initiative when it debuted yesterday. Check out Eleftheria Parpis's writeup on the campaign at Adweek.com for details, and watch this behind-the-scenes video to see how it was done.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Environment, Griner, Honda, Wieden + Kennedy

Global warming hits home in Brazilian PSA

Brazilian ad agency Ponto de Criacao put together this environmental PSA, which quietly and skillfully dramatizes the problem of climate change. "When you feel it, it's already too late," says the line at the end. As global-warming PSAs go, it's as good as anything Noah Wylie's done.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Environment, Nudd, Ponto de Criacao, PSAs, South America

Giant Joey Lawrence photos help the planet

TDA Advertising & Design paints a bizarre picture of nature in three print ads aimed at driving traffic to 1% for the Planet's online store. (The client is a non-profit that gets companies to donate 1 percent of sales to the environment, and now it has its own "1% FTP" branded stuff to sell.) Unless I'm mistaken, the first two ads warn you that manatees devour children and keep their dolls as trophies, and that butterflies wield medieval weapons of doom. The third is even more frightening, showing an estuary that keeps a giant photo of Joey Lawrence on hand to ward off intruders. OK, the rather convoluted actual message of the ads is that nature would like to shop online (for novelty items, mostly), but can't, so you should instead. Whatever that means. Sadly, 1%'s online shop doesn't even have the complete series of either Gimme a Break or Blossom for sale.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under 1% for the Planet, Environment, Gianatasio, TDA

No one dies horribly in Coens' clean-coal ad

It surprised us to learn that the Coen Brothers directed this anti-coal spot, mostly because there's no swearing or violent, gratuitous death in it. But it's pretty effective otherwise, and it is funny how clean-coal advocates will bitch and gripe about ethanol when clean coal is even less tenable at this point. The group behind the ad also has a Web site, This Is Reality, which focuses on coal-industry marketing and lobbying efforts, perhaps in response to President Obama's brief mention of clean coal in his address to Congress. Either that, or coal-industry hotshots beat them up in high school. Via Osocio, which also has a behind-the-scenes video posted with those crazy Coens.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on February 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Environment, Kiefaber

Hit 'print' and you'll kill a cute leaf turtle

Hill, Holliday enters the popular "stuff that resembles other stuff" sub-genre by touting a corporate recycling program to all U.S. employees of healthcare giant Covidien. The posters were wisely printed on recycled stock to avoid snarky blog comments from people like me. There are screen savers too, just in case Covidien staffers are allowed to use computers in their eco-friendly wonderworld. The campaign shows leaves grouped to resemble fish, butterflies and turtles. Mullen used a similar turtle gag — with a leaf, no less! — in an ad last year for the New England Aquarium. I dunno, this kind of campaign just leaves me flat. I'm sorry, that line was my only reason for writing this post, and I'm not taking it back. Hat tip to Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on February 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Environment, Gianatasio, Hill Holliday

Anti-coal group rolls out its poster child

Cute babies in ads are a dime a dozen. Cute babies who are somehow in imminent danger of being contaminated by the coal industry are less common, which is why this ad for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance will get some attention. TheDirtyLie.com is a Web site the group has established to rebut the idea that coal can ever by used cleanly. The appeal of campaigns like this, incidentally, helps explain why talk of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil is likely to remain just talk.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Published on February 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Babies, Dolliver, Environment

Pet Rocks announce a 2009 comeback tour

Guess which 1970s fad items are back, with a promotional tie-in for Earth Week in April? No, not bongs. Those never went out of fashion, and have enjoyed Olympic-size publicity of late. We're talking Pet Rocks! The press release from I-Star Entertainment promises "Pet Rocks scavenger hunts in six major markets—New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C." So, what was annoying and pointless during the Ford administration will be annoying and eco-conscious in the Obama era. Figures. This time around, the rocks have names: Avalanche, Boulder, Chip, Fracture, Granite, Hard Luck, Mica, Pebbles, Rocky, Roller, Stink and Stoner. Click here to see a larger image. (No, Stoner does not come with little gold medals and swimming trunks.) The client plans an ad campaign, and LS Public Relations is leading a publicity push that includes TV appearances, so we'll finally find out if viewers can distinguish between Matt Lauer and a stone. Joking, joking. Actually, I-Star says the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation will benefit from Pet Rock sales, so I guess I'm a cynical jerk for poking fun. That's the kind of guy I am. Just look at my mood ring.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on February 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Earth Day, Environment, Gianatasio, Pet Rocks, Vintage

Shepard Fairey's WWF poster not ripped off

Talk about great timing! The World Wildlife Fund unveiled this new Earth Hour 2009 poster yesterday. See a larger version here. Created by "Obama Hope" artist Shepard Fairey, the ad would have gotten about zero publicity under normal circumstances. Except, of course, Fairey's in hot water with the Associated Press, which claims the artist infringed its copyright by using one of its photographs as the basis of the famous Obama image. So, Shep's Google hits are through the roof, and the WWF goes along for the ride. You can't blame the AP for wanting compensation—the dying newspaper industry's not exactly a reliable source of revenue these days. You can, however, blame Fairey for this somewhat ugly Earth Hour poster. No one else would likely want to claim it as their own. On March 28, you're supposed to turn your off your lights between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. to express concern about climate change. I'm hitting the light right now so I don't have to see that poster anymore.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on February 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Controversy, Environment, Gianatasio, Shepard Fairey, World Wildlife Fund

The cuddly critters that prowl the rainforest

I hadn't realized quite how insect-like modern machinery could be until I saw this clever poster by Ogilvy Frankfurt for German environmental agency OroVerde. (See the full ad here.) I even had to Google one or two of these industrial behemoths to make sure they exist—which they do. "The destruction of the rainforest comes in many shapes," the copy states. "And there are all kinds of animal and plant species which suffer as a result. Every hour three different types of animal and plant life are made extinct." Hat tip to nonprofit über-blog Osocio.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on January 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Environment, Europe, Griner, Ogilvy

Draftfcb casts a global problem in miniature

This Canadian World Wildlife Foundation spot by Draftfcb Toronto, directed by OPC's Woods + Low, is filled with plastic performances. But that's the idea. No actual humans appear, and most of the machinery and vehicles are models. The commercial shows these detailed miniatures in real locations, and has a hauntingly childlike theme and hypnotic pacing, with soft yet eye-catching visual cues. The resulting clip is slightly surreal and makes a quietly compelling statement about pollution and conservation. The bright pink "product" seen throughout is the only element that's not grimy, dreary or soot-smeared. See if you can guess why. Maybe the light bulb will come on above your head before the final frame.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on January 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Canada, Draftfcb, Environment, Gianatasio, WWF