Maybe I'm Gravy

A Very R&B Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. From one sexy pilgrim to another.

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Get Schooled PSAs

Here are a few Get Schooled PSA's that Marcus Livesay, Ben Hieger and I co-wrote at Radical Media. Get Schooled is a joint effort by Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reform America's education system, which is in desperate need of a makeover. At the rate we're going, the next generation of high school grads will be the first American generation to be less educated than their parents. Dropout rates are rising and fewer people are going to college, all while the rest of the world becomes more educated. Teachers are handcuffed to curriculums that prioritizes meeting quotas over molding young minds. They can't teach how or what they want, which leads to complacency on both sides of the classroom. School isn't inspiring a future generation of leaders. Students just want to get it over with. 

So it's a good thing when someone like Bill Gates decides to toss a few hundred million dollars at education reform. It's even better when he recruits Obama, LeBron and other A-Listers to get students excited about their future, convince the undereducated to go back to school and point the disillusioned towards a career they can fall in love with. It's a noble cause. One you can follow on Twitter.

The Office's Craig Robinson:

Lo Bosworth from MTV's The Hills: The Simpsons' Hank Azaria:

Advice from the Rock Star Within

A great campaign is a living organism that translates to every platform. Its message is clear and effective regardless of scale. It grows and evolves without forgetting its unique insight. And it’s born with long-term intentions. Unfortunately, as today’s brands lust after short-term sales and switch agencies like disposable contact lenses, respectable long-lasting campaigns have become an endangered species. With visions of immediate ROI dancing in their heads, brand managers lose sight of the power of consistency. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy to get a fresh-squeezed spot out of a campaign that's already been through the juicer. But no one ever said advertising was easy. (No one in advertising, anyway). Nothing triggers a creative’s gag reflex like the latest incarnation of a campaign that should have been dragged out to pasture and shot point blank.

That being said, I'm not sticking a gold star on Johnnie Walker’s Keep Walking campaign. It's more cringe-worthy than not, especially when a talking reflection and stage-frightened musician get thrown into the mix. But this spot has one thing going for it. It serves as a helpful reminder that a well-traveled concept can be reborn. The delayed reveal and poetic copy provide freshness to an idea that's not ready for pasture just yet. Who knows, maybe it's just the copywriter in me. Either that or the alcoholic.

Client: Johnnie Walker
Agency: BBH
Production Company: Infinity Productions Ltd.
Director: Tom Hooper
Executive Producer: Mark Stothert
Producers: Charlotte Woodhead, Darren O’Kelly and Liz Browne
Post Production: The Mill
Editor: Tim Thornton

Shiny Suds Show their True Colors

UPDATE 12/05/09: Method has been forced to pull their Shiny Suds video following complaints of sexism. Women compared talking bubbles to rape. Now, I'm very anti-rape, as everyone should be, but come on. People need to lighten up. This spot is very effective at making its point. Now every time I take a shower, I look around and wonder what chemicals are watching me. It's a sad state of affairs when people take a serious issue, like rape, and waste their time and energy forcing a good company like Method into a defensive position. For those keeping score at home, in one week the video garnered 700,000 views and a 5-star rating on YouTube, but was pulled due to 100 negative comments on one blog which called the spot an example of rape culture. While the official spot has been pulled, an unauthorized version is still online:

This is one of the better ads I've seen in a long time. Nice twist on an established premise, well-written and hilarious. Most importantly, the ad makes its point in an entertaining and effective way. You go, suds! Rub a dub dub.

The ad indirectly supports Method by calling for the passage of the Household Product Labeling Act of 2009, sponsored by Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota. The Act's mission is to require household cleaners to disclose their ingredients, something they don't have to do now. Forward-thinking Method, with products made from natural ingredients, understands that most people don't think about what's in their household cleaner. They think about the cleanliness and that's it. Method realizes how much there is to gain if people start questioning the ingredients in household cleaners. By spreading the word about the Act, they're empowering all consumers and strengthening their own consumer base at the same time. It's a real win-win for Method.

Visit People Against Dirty to learn more about the Household Product Labeling Act and take action.

CREDITS:

Agency: Droga5
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Executive Creative Director: Ted Royer
Head of Integrated Production: Sally-Ann Dale
Agency Producer: Cheri Anderson
Production Company: Oil Factory
Director: Tomorrow's Brightest Minds
Editorial: Beast
VFX Company: Buck
Post: Absolute Post
Music: Beacon Street Studios
Sound: Sound Lounge  

I Win at "New York Love"

Photography. I love it. Maybe you love it. It's amazing how the advent of digital photography has reinvented the photography landscape. remember having to wait until the film was developed to see how pictures had come out? Remember taking a limited number of pictures to save film and because developing it was so expensive? All those concerns, out the window overnight. Just grab a point-and-shoot and snap away. Didn't like how that last picture came out? Delete and and take another. Take 100 pictures on a Tuesday night out at dinner. A moment that never would have been visually documented before is now just another file on the computer.

But there's something about digital photography that's almost a little unnerving. But only if you really think about it. The picture quality isn't as good. The colors aren't as bright.Since there are so many pictures, each image loses value a little bit. none are as special as that one awesome perfect shot you manage to get back in the day.

Then I discovered Lomography. I had never heard of it. Lomography is old school, but new old school. It's not your daddy's camera. It's a modern day interpretation of a cheap plastic camera. And that's what makes it so great. There are no defects or flaws to the developed pictures - just unexpected surprises.

So, shortly after discovering Lomography, I entered a photo contest they were holding on their site. New York Love. Having just been given A Nikon D40 DSLR the previous Christmas, I had spent much of the past few months documenting New York City, the mecca of endless visual stimulation that it is. And I felt that I had a pretty tight grasp on exactly what New York Love is.

New York Love is fleeting. It's love at first sight, with second-guessing saved for tomorrow. It's asking "What do you want for breakfast?" the first night and meaning it. It's a one night stand that never ends. The city that never sleeps with the same person twice. The city of too many choices. Why settle for one love when you can you can take someone else's heart for a test drive? Call it "Seinfeld Syndrome" - finding the smallest flaw and ending a relationship over it. Ears too big? Gone. Soft talker? Sayonara. Eyes too close together? See you later. Love in New York is about 40-year-old woman looking for a man. 50-year-old men cheating on their wives. 20-year-olds sleeping with anything that moves. College kids turning into adults over night. Teenagers who dress like porn stars and porn stars who don't get a double take because they look like everyone else. In New York, they fit in.

New York Love is open about being trashy. There are no secrets. People are watching - on the streets, through your window, on your first date. You're never alone. 

When I took this image I knew it represented New York Love. In the end, it was the New York Love grand prize winner.

The runners-up for the contest can be seen here.