Yesterday I read an article on JAMZ about Mad Men and how diversity advocates might threaten the show's authenticity. The author called Mad Men un-nostalgic and a "world where white men were kings." In what appears to be a reasonable justification to crystallize Mad Men as its own white male ecosystem, the author concludes:
Everyone is smoking, drinking, closeted, desperately unhappy. Choices and options are limited. That's the fabric that holds 'Mad Men' together. To suddenly throw in a little diversity would rip it to shreds.
I get the dude. It would be unrealistic to pepper those executive suits with black and brown faces for the sake of the PC police.
But it's also dangerous to use Mad Men as an excuse to shut diversity out -- something agencies are still too good at. That's gratuitous and unrealistically romantic. There's plenty of room to broaden Mad Men's scope without harming its precious and purported authenticity.
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- Bayer roasts babies over a fire but, of course, they, like those famous Puma ads, are not real and the brand has stated they, nor JWT, had anything to do with their creation.
- That Churchill pet insurance dog, in a recent commercial, seems to say, rather than his usual cathphrase "Oh yes," "Oh yes, fuck!" You decide.
- A mustached George Clooney does the goofy European commercial thing.
- In the UK, Nike has stopped selling its Mike Air Stab trainer after an upswing in knife murders.
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Get Your War On, the satirical anti-war comic series by David Rees, is turning into an online video series. See the preview at 236.com, where it will air exclusively.
The "video strip" will be put together by Flat Black Films, which did Waking Life and those Charles Schwab ads that I liked but everyone else hated.
Saatchi & Saatchi's The Breakfast Club campaign for JCPenney has been crapped by everyone on since it launched. Today, it's Rebecca Cullers' turn. On AdFreak, Rebecca does the math, writing, "I was 3 years old when The Breakfast Club came out in 1985. I didn't know the film existed until I was in college, where it was included in a class on culturally significant movies for Gen X. Now, there's more or less a decade separating me from today's incoming high-school students. Does anyone really think they will get the reference?"
She is absolutely correct in her analysis of the problem and for anyone at Saatchi or JCPenney not to have realized this is further confirmation far too many advertisers and their agencies, despite believing the contrary, are completely out of touch with reality.
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A couple years ago, we covered Glamour's Stiletto Run, a promotional event highlighting the launch of Dutch Glamour at which hundreds of women wearing heels ran a 75 meter sprint to win $10,000 Euros.
Last year the event was held in Amsterdam. We missed it but this year, just this week, it was held in Moscow and while a member of our vast Adrants reporting staff wasn't in attendance to capture the event first hand, thanks to Flickr, we can share all the glamorous, high heeled hotness with you today.
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Hoping to expand your nuptial smorgasbord? Add Shaadi to your list -- which, if you've been paying attention, should already include Russians, Filipinos and good white-bread Christian girls.
Shaadi is a conservative Indian "matrimonial" site, which I guess is less obnoxious than Filipina Heart's more overt cattle call. I found the ad alongside an article titled "Ad campaign promoting Islam angers NY lawmaker." Dude, that is some seriously misguided contextual action.
Here's a really long trailer for Sons of Anarchy, a gritty FX man-drama about motorcycle clubs and the families that send the burly soldiers yonder.
What you can expect: emotional outbursts, a Molotov cocktail or two, some girl-punches and a swastika. And you thought Mad Men was real!
The ad was built in-house, with a heightened sense of melodrama brought to you by PrimalScream Music, which composed The Dream We Left Behind especially for the show.
Subject Line: How Sex with Brad Garrett Can Save Puppies!
Body: This is hilarious! You got to see it. Regina Russell partners with us at The Humane Society of the United States from time to time and oh man is the video a riot! She is one creative gal producing this video!
Homegirl's not that funny. Though I can see how the scene with the bear and the cigarette might elicit a hoarse guffaw.
During Advertising Week, Adrants and the Business Development Institute will be hosting its second annual ADEx: The Advertising Industry Experienced Hire Diversity Recruiting Program. Yes, we know it's a mouthful but its purpose is really simple: to bring recruiters and and experience advertising professionals together. Although all, of course, are welcome to apply, our focus is on diverse candidates including those with minority backgrounds, women, and GLBT.
There's lots of opportunities for job seekers as well as employers (remember how poorly you were represented a couple weeks ago. Here's a chance to rectify that a bit. Check out all the details here.
On Sunday I moderated an ad agency panel for Shoot! the Day, a day-long photographer conference put together by PhotoShelter.
A few things I picked up amidst coleslaw mountains and sassy stock:
- ADs and art buyers depend pretty heavily on stock photography, but feel like they've seen everything the industry has to offer -- including its paltry selection of models. "It's become a running joke," said Molly Aaker of Unit7. "'There's that same girl, except with her hair up!'"
- Diversity is an issue, but it can't be solved just by changing the color of people's faces. Belinda Lopez of StrawberryFrog wants to see more "documentary-style" imagery -- people in natural poses, expressing real emotions, and doing things a person in that situation and/or of that ethnicity is likely to do.
- Everybody seems crazy about PhotoShelter -- which is probably why they attended the first annual Shoot! the Day in the first place.
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