Stars line up in PSAs against sex trafficking

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore launched a big PSA campaign Monday to fight sex slavery under the theme, "Real men don't buy girls." It's a star-studded affair starring everyone from Kutcher himself to Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Drake, Jamie Foxx, Jason Mraz, Justin Timberlake and the realest real man of all, Old Spice's Isaiah Mustafa. (Isaiah appears in the spot below—with Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, for some reason.) Salon.com craps on the effort for having "zero substance," though obviously the celebs' only real duty is deliver eyeballs. Thus the Funny Or Die-esque approach, which admittedly has little to do with sex trafficking—the whole concept is just a play on words. The spots are structured oddly, featuring narratives with particular celebs that cut to framed photos of different celebs who are also "real men." Over on Facebook, you can make your own video, where your image appears in one of the picture frames. As these things go, it's pretty run-of-the-mill. What is odd is that most of the YouTube videos are unlisted, making it difficult for people like me to show them to people like you. I did track down three more, posted after the jump.

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Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, PSAs, Sexual assault
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Man with multi-talented penis uses condom

TBWA Paris put together this amusing PSA for AIDES, the French AIDS awareness group, featuring probably the most gifted and accomplished penis depicted on film since John Holmes. The whole thing leads up to the tagline/punch line at the end. Possibly NFSW, I suppose. TBWA Paris has a history of doing fun AIDES spots. Previous efforts have included last year's freaky bathroom-graffiti spot and the truly epic "Baby Baby" cartoon from 2005. Via Osocio.

Filed under AIDES, AIDS, Europe, Nudd, PSAs, TBWA
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Protect yourself in a Smutley-like sex binge

Talk about the elephant in the room! We're talking about condom use— and, literally, a cartoon elephant that gets, er, waylaid by a horny cat. Confused? You won't be when you watch the video below from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for AIDES, the French non-profit that preaches safe sex. In vintage-style, black-and-white, Felix-the-cat-reminiscent animation, a character named Smutley can't keep it in his pants. The randy alley cat hits that, repeatedly, without concern for cross-species breeding. See, no condoms! A turtle, bunny, fish, pig and various sea mammals are defiled in his trot across town, set to the strains of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation." And in a nod to all-the-rage blow-job references in ads these days, there's not one but two oral-sex scenes. So, yeah, NSFW. But kind of hilarious. The video is part of a larger Goodby campaign for AIDES with the tagline "Protect yourself" that includes comic strips, Web sites, print and outdoor. I see a rising star here in Smutley, who, the video reminds us, has nine lives to our one, so he can afford to throw caution to the wind. This guy has Hollywood written all over him. Video below is NSFW.

Filed under AIDES, Animals, Goodby, Silverstein, PSAs, Safe sex, Stanley
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Just been fired? Good time to clean a beach

Using a clumsy mortician to promote cleaner beaches might seem gravely odd, but I kind of dig this Surfrider PSA from Young & Rubicam in Paris (and director Kristoffer Borgli). Our hapless hero works—exceedingly poorly—in a funeral parlor, where his transgressions include dropping an urn in a plume of ashes and painting a corpse's face to make him look like a cross between a mime and a hooker (as if there were any real difference between the two). He also drops the insides of a sandwich into a casket. At least he doesn't pluck the food out of a dead body and continuing eating, like a certain Boost Mobile coroner did a couple of years ago. After being fired, the klutzy creamator chances upon a Surfrider beach cleanup, where he meets other incompetents—a surgeon, cop, soccer player and chef—who for some reason are still wearing their work clothes after being sacked. The moral of the story: "Picking up trash is something anyone can do." True, but even compared to toiling in a mortuary, it's a dead-end job.

Filed under Death, Environment, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Timely ad: What to do in a nuclear accident

Here's a disturbingly topical new ad campaign from the Belgian government, explaining what to do (and not to do) in case of a nuclear accident. Apparently wrapping your family in aluminum foil is optional, though the recommended course of action is to stay in your home, leave the kids at school and stay off the cell phone. The campaign website gives only slightly more specific guidance on issues like evacuation and taking iodine tablets. Such an ad would have seemed farcically out of date just a month ago, but now the spot's biggest fault is seeming overly humorous on an issue that has become very real for the people of Japan. For a full transcript and more details on the campaign, be sure to visit Osocio.  

Filed under Belgium, Europe, Griner, PSAs
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Charlie Sheen's girlfriend does condom PSA

Charlie Sheen isn't the only one benefiting, marketing wise, from his searing glimpse into the smoldering core of truth. One of his live-in girlfriends (aka goddesses), Bree Olson—porn actress and AVN Award winner for Best New Starlet of 2008—is raising her own advertising profile. She's beginning, appropriately enough, with a PSA for pro-condom campaign Get Rubber!, as seen in this video published by TMZ.com. It's not the most high-class affair, and it's sponsored by Brazzers, which is a porn site. But hey, she has to start somewhere. Though with only 168,016 followers on Twitter (compared to Sheen's 2.7 million), she's not likely to rake in a fortune off Ad.ly sponsored-tweet deals any time soon.

(Video is moderately NSFW, but no nudity.)

Filed under Condoms, Nudd, PSAs
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Daniel Craig does a pro-women PSA in drag

Daniel Craig dresses as Danielle Craig in this new PSA for International Women's Day on behalf of WeAreEquals.org. Actually, he's playing James Bond in the clip—with Judi Dench (who plays M in the recent Bond films) asking him in the narration if he really believes that men and women are equal. The spot was directed by Sam Taylor-Wood and penned by Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman. While Craig, 43, is doing his part for gender equality, he's been stymied in his efforts to advance gay rights. The actor, who is straight, has been lobbying for some time—so far without success—to have his James Bond appear in a gay scene.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Europe, James Bond, Nudd, PSAs
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Iñárritu's meth spots get return engagement

He came up short for best foreign-language film at the Oscars, but Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu is still getting some mainstream attention in the U.S. this week thanks to his grim anti-meth PSAs. The Idaho Meth Project recently said it will begin running Iñárritu's three meth ads, originally created in 2008 for the Montana Meth Project. The spots include typical meth fare: sibling prostitution, rampaging teen burglars and a writhing zombified overdose. Seeing these spots revived makes me think Iñárritu must be getting some mixed signals from America. His most recent film, Biutiful with Javier Bardem, took months to find a U.S. distributor because no one thought a bleak subtitled movie about guilt and cancer would sell in middle America. Meanwhile, his deeply depressing ads about teen drug abuse are being applauded by the governor of Idaho. Ours is a complicated country. Check out the spot "Sisters" below, followed by two more after the jump.

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Filed under Anti-drug, Griner, Movies, PSAs
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Human trafficking PSA too easy on the eyes

Young & Rubicam, MTV Exit, music collective Black Iris and others joined together for the video below, titled "Planet Better," designed to raise awareness and funds to combat human exploitation and trafficking. The animated clip, set to Bethany Cosentino's bittersweet pop-folky "When Will I Feel Love" and directed by Edouard Salier, tells the story of a girl who journeys to what she thinks will be an idyllic world, only to find herself enslaved in the sex trade. The effort boasts exceptional attention to detail, but veers too close to animé-style dark fantasy to be entirely effective. For example, the lipstick-tube rocketship with high-heeled shoes for fins (symbolizing the glamorous but ultimately empty promises used to lure victims) is memorable, but in an artsy, metaphorical way. More explicit, visceral imagery is needed to deliver this particular payload with maximum impact. And the pale, lanky, black-garbed villain, with his retro shades and serpentine fingers, isn't scary or imposing. He looks like an indie rocker or a refugee from a teen vampire flick: bad news for sure, but "cool" to hang out with just the same. Overall, "Planet Better," while well intentioned, is just too pretty. Human trafficking and slavery are ugly, degrading and devastating, and generally need PSAs that match in order to spur empathy and action.

Filed under Gianatasio, MTV, PSAs, Y&R
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Canadian teens not smoking, are still farting

The drop in teenage smoking rates in Canada—down to just 15 percent, per this new ad campaign—has come at a steep price: No one ever has a lighter handy when you need to set your farts on fire. A Pyrrhic victory, indeed. The "15 and Falling" campaign, from Nova Scotia's health department, also has an interesting Web component, maintaining a list of people, bands, TV shows and more that also (like smoking) used to be cool but now suck. "This is where we celebrate their suckitude," says the site. This stuff will probably engage the audience a bit more than the usual anti-smoking work. Second spot after the jump. Via Osocio.

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Filed under Anti-smoking, Canada, Nudd, PSAs
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Creator of baby-rapist ad gets death threats

Can Super Bowl commercials—or any ads with violent content—make folks, particularly children, more angry and aggressive? Yes, they can, goddammit! So say the social advocates at the Riverview Center in Iowa, which prior to Sunday's game ran a Bingo-style newspaper ad asking readers to note violent (and/or anti-female) imagery in the ads. More notably, the print piece then brought attention to a year-old Riverview TV spot that's proven incendiary. In the ad, below, we're shown a white backdrop, as a voiceover and text begin: "He's tough. He's strong. He's aggressive. He's powerful. And ... he raped his girlfriend. But he wasn't always this way." The big reveal: a smiling baby, along with the question, "What are you teaching your son?" Riverview leader Josh Jasper says he's gotten death threats, including an e-mail suggesting he be "taken out and shot after a five-minute trial." Well, at least that shows respect for due process. Jasper wryly notes that the reaction to the spot seems to underscore the group's point. It's usually video games that have to deal with accusations that they promote real-world violence, but advertising is catching up. Oh baby, is it ever. Just ask HomeAway!

Filed under Controversy, Domestic violence, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Hire the blind, and misbehave more at work

Blind people are awesome to work with. You can behave badly at work—like fooling around with a colleague right in front of them—and they don't even realize it. That's the message of this odd Norwegian PSA campaign urging employers to hire blind people. (It's from the Norwegian Association for the Blind and Oslo ad agency Try.) A second spot, in the same video below, suggests you can be more efficient around blind co-workers, too—like changing your clothes in front of them without feeling embarrassed. The ads are pretty amusing. But imagine how mad blind people would be if they could see them!

Filed under Blindness, Europe, Nudd, PSAs, Try
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NYC fights soft drinks with another nasty ad

The same folks who warned us against drinking human fat (it was a metaphor—I hope) are back with a new commercial. Like that earlier spot, this latest one from New York City's health department targets sugary soft drinks. We're told that five such beverages equal 93 sugar packets, and that such daily consumption can lead to obesity, diabetes and cancer. To drive home the point, they show mega-fatties riding around on motorized carts, crusty disintegrating toes and a dude in a hospital gown looking sad because he's got the big C. There's so much wrong with these unsubtle scare tactics, it's hard to know where to start. First off, this is America, so no one stops at five sugary beverages. Ten is the minimum I need to perform my soul-crushing labors when AdFreak's editor makes the workday a living hell. As for cancer, well, if Mountain Dew caused it, maybe it can cure it. Also, the "threat" of driving motorized carts is a lame deterrent. Getting around that way looks pretty cool, and I'd especially appreciate such conveyances if I was a lard-ass whose decaying diabetic toes looked like they'd been deep-fried at Arby's. Zipping through the streets as a tubby king on a perpetual cola high? Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Filed under Gianatasio, Gross, Health, PSAs
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Russian drunk-driving billboard is awesome

Seriously, how awesome is this billboard? It's a holiday PSA (thus the guy's Santa hat) from Russia. According to Copyranter, the headline reads, "It could be your body." That's a bit of a stretch. It would take an impressive series of events to be propelled from one's car, thrown skyward and driven halfway through a billboard—while still holding the steering wheel. And yet, if anyone can accomplish it, it's a Russian driver, probably after having "one for the road." Via Adme.ru.

Filed under Alcohol, Nudd, PSAs, Russia
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Montana ad verifies you can drink and horse

This spot from the Montana Department of Transportation is having some unintended consequences among that state's drunk population. The ad, by Partners Creative in Missoula, urges bar patrons to get a "sober friend" to drive them home—like, metaphorically speaking, a horse. But Montanans are taking it literally. Helena police chief Troy McGee knew there would be trouble when his station was flooded with calls about whether drunk horseback riding is actually legal. Guess what? In Montana, it is! (Under state law, you can't be arrested for DUI if your vehicle is moved by "animal power." You also can't get a DUI on a bicycle or in a wheelchair.) MDT director Jim Lynch is giving viewers the benefit of the doubt, telling the Helena Independent Record: "They absorbed the message. They got it." No, Jim. No, they did not.

Filed under Animals, Kiefaber, Partners Creative, PSAs, Road safety
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Please grab your junk and check for cancer

A picture of Iggy Pop on stage with his hand down his pants inspired the visuals for this pro-bono campaign for Self Chec from Arnold. Carrying the message "Love yourself first," the ads for the non-profit promote the practice of checking your body for signs of masses for early detection of breast or testicular cancer. The posters are going up in Manhattan and Chicago. Agency chief creative officer Pete Favat assures us the provocative images will not be placed near schools or churches. "You don't want little kids seeing some of these," he says. "It might freak them out." See four more executions from the campaign after the jump.

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Filed under Arnold, Cancer, Parpis, PSAs
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Salvation Army expanding reach in new ads

The Salvation Army is busting out with bus-stop ads in Canada that feature homeless people reaching for necessities—a blanket, a bottle for a baby, a load of bread—placed atop the shelters. It's part of what's being called The Dignity Project, and it includes TV spots like the one below. See a bunch more of the bus-shelter ads after the jump, including versions in which the homeless people are reaching for food and clothing shown in adjacent ads.

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1980s video games preach safe sex to teens

This British teen safe-sex campaign might overestimate its target audience's familiarity with 8-bit video games, but it does offer a surprisingly charming combination of Mega Man (the character sprites and map layout) and Super Mario Bros. (the beer bottles are based on the Mushroom Kingdom's ridiculous warp pipe system). I can't tell you how often a condom power-up would have been useful in my life. Unfortunately, as The Escapist points out, convincing teenagers not to be stupid is usually a waste of money, and this might not be a tactic that speaks to them as much as it does nostalgic twentysomethings like myself. I never trusted Mario's intentions with Peach, anyway.

Filed under Europe, Kiefaber, PSAs, Safe sex, Video games
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Kindness brings cancer patients back to life

Belgium's Foundation Mimi uses the duality of mannequins—they're both familiar and outre—to devastating effect in this simple yet stirring spot from Leo Burnett in France. The group provides advice on mental health, beauty and style to cancer patients, who often feel dehumanized by the disease. Such a connection—the human interaction as much as the actual services provided—makes the patients feel like "real" people again. Here, a mannequin tearfully comes to life as a woman helps her with her hair, makeup and lipstick. You're made of plastic if you're unmoved by the final transformation, which surely ranks among the most evocative scenes in advertising all year. Via Osocio.

Filed under Cancer, Europe, Gianatasio, Leo Burnett, PSAs
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Drive drunk, have romance with jail inmates

Ad agency FoxP2 takes an unexpected tack in this South African anti-drunk-driving campaign. This isn't your typical category PSA. There are no blood-splattered operating theaters, mangled bodies or ghosts of crash victims haunting those responsible for their deaths. Instead, a bunch of middle-aged guys film dating messages. The punch line is memorably chilling. Look, if you want to go out with these guys, you'll have to wear stripes and get into the bar scene, OK? They'll capture your heart. There's really no escape. Via Ads of the World.

Filed under Africa, FoxP2, Gianatasio, PSAs, Road safety
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Drunk squirrel warning Russians off alcohol

This Russian anti-alcoholism PSA is very ... well, Russian, in its handling of the subject. But unlike most tragic Russian humor, people actually seem to enjoy this ad—to the tune of 1.5 million views on YouTube so far. Evidently, the drunken jabbering of a psychotic, red-eyed squirrel is more entertaining than I'd assumed. (The squirrel apparently yammers on about chasing spiders up a wall and a friend's wife who died because she is a devil. He is not voiced by Mel Gibson.) The ad was commissioned by Russia's health and social development ministry because alcoholism kills around half a million Russians every year. Indeed, it's such a problem there that they finally got around to banning drunk driving. It figures they'd be late to that party if they're only now catching up to the angry-squirrel craze we've long since discarded.

Filed under Alcohol, Animals, Kiefaber, PSAs, Russia
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French anti-abuse spot not quite a knockout

This anti-domestic-violence slugfest from France probably would've made our 30 Freakiest Ads of 2010 list had it smashed onto the Web a week or two earlier. It's pretty violent and upsetting. The mayhem, for the most part, is sudden and horrific, and makes for an effective juxtaposition with the quiet, middle-class, suburban locales. For this particular category, that's good. But the PSA's reach exceeds its grasp. The changing-room molestation scene and kitchen catfight, both between two women, are a bit of a disconnect—at least in the U.S., where we don't see same-sex couples interacting on TV at all, violently or otherwise. Some folks might even find them hot—or the stuff of parody. And for this category, that's bad. The copy at the end reads: "Domestic violence: To remain silent is to participate," a message that itself is controversial, as it assigns culpability to the abused. UPDATE: Commenters point out that the abusers here are meant to be friends and neighbors, not partners—and the message is aimed at them. Fair enough, though it seems easily misconstrued.

Filed under Domestic violence, Europe, Gianatasio, PSAs
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1974 fire-safety PSA: the creepiest ad ever?

Here's some seriously freaky stuff: a 1974 horror-movie-ish fire-safety PSA from England called "Searchers," by director John Krish. The spot is collected on a new DVD called Stop! Look! Listen! from the British Film Institute, featuring classic British PSAs aimed (according to the BFI's own blurb) at preventing you from being "killed on the road; burnt to death; abducted by strangers; crushed by tractors; drowned at sea, and so on." Sounds like a barrel of laughs. Of the "Searchers" spot, the BFI recently tweeted: "John Krish's notorious fire safety film traumatized a generation of viewers. Approach with caution!" Wise advice indeed! This definitely would have made AdFreak's Freakiest Ads of 1974 list.

Filed under Fire safety, Nudd, PSAs, Vintage
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Desperate houseplants in save-water PSAs

Two grown women dress up in leaves and petals to portray "desperate houseplants" in this trippy Australian water-conservation campaign from ad agency MWC. In what are surely the best commercial performances ever delivered by actresses sitting in giant flowerpots, the gals get their roots in a royal twist. Jivey "Rose" steals the show with her rant on overwatering: "Girl, I mean, it was nice to begin with, but puh-lease, I be drownin! … He ain't gettin' my flower!" Thorny words. The guy must've been a real prick. These ladies have nothing on Denver Water's drunk flowers, though. Those plants know how to party. Three more spots after the jump. Via Ads of the World.

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Filed under Australia, Gianatasio, MWC, PSAs, Water
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YouTube ad of the year: Sussex driving spot

The inaugural YouTube Ad of the Year, honored at the Campaign Media Awards last week, is an old favorite of ours: the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership's famous 90-second road-safety PSA, released last January. See the ad below. (You can also watch a more widescreen version here.) The award is given to "the most creative and engaging ad on YouTube in the past 18 months." As we mentioned in our original writeup, the Sussex spot is fairly unique in the safe-driving category, in that it avoids shock tactics like mangled bodies, piercing screams and heart-wrenching sobs in favor of a life-affirming message. The damn thing doesn't even show a car. Yet it's a quite beautiful piece of film, and packs an emotional wallop all its own.

Filed under Europe, Nudd, PSAs, Road safety
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