Diversity recognised

Diversity is a hot topic at the moment. As it should be. And this spot from a few months back generated a lot of discussion at our office.

Of course we all love Omar from The Wire. But this challenging piece of work from W+K has Michael K Williams (and you) questioning whether or not the roles that made him famous may have been pre-determined for him due to his race and background.

This week the spot was awarded Ad of the Year at the 11th Annual ADCOLOR Awards – a US ad industry event that recognises work promoting diversity and multiculturalism.

That's a pretty impressive pat on the back for all involved. Fingers crossed one day we don't need awards of this type. Although I suspect that day is a way off as yet!

Would you wear these?

Sneaker brands have been doing collaborations with personalities since forever.

The Nike Jordan being the most well known although my personal fave is the classic Adidas Beckenbauer from the 70s.

What I never expected was a collab shoes with a social media personality. I'm talking Gary Vaynerchuck.

The man has no problem spruiking himself and his opinions. But can he get people to buy a shoe carrying his name?

He probably can if truth be told. And that makes me very very sad...

Logo or weapon?

Tom Galle is an internet artist and sometime art director.

His folio if packed with thought provoking ideas.

Like this set of logos as weapons.

Not sure that Nike, McDonalds or Facebook would approve but Tom's sure got me thinking.

Mission understood?

Who doesn't love a buzzword infested corporate mission statement?

Me. Obviously. And probably you too.

But if ever you're in the market for one then be sure and click here to use the Mission Statement Generator.

Sad but probably true

Sounds of trauma

I've been working my way through the recent Ken Burns & Lynn Novick doco The Vietnam War this week.

It's a must see if you haven't come across it.

One of my key takeaways from the series has been wondering how on earth people who have experienced the madness of war can go back to every day life as a civilian.

If this very clever spot for the David Lynch Foundation is anything to go by it would seem that living a so called 'normal life' is pretty much out of reach for battle scared people.

And that is a bloody disgrace...

Dogs keep on rockin'

Years ago I would've rolled my eyes at a campaign like this and cried scam.

But that was before I fell in love with a dog who has no shortage of stiff 'n sore limb problems.

And so now I regularly hand over more cash than I'd like to my local vet.

Whilst smiling at these posters from Ogilvy Sydney that I see when I visit him.

The original Dove ad

That Dove ad that caused all the fuss a week or two ago was rightly criticised. But I can't help thinking somewhere in the world an Exec CD was probably kicking back in his (and it's almost always a his) chair thinking "It's been done before!"

I love lost panda

Gorgeous (if a tad long) spot for Tile. Yes Tile.

The clever little device that helps you find lost things.

Directed by Mark Molloy with creative from Deutsch that was actually based on areal life customer story.

All together now... Awwwww! 

New Design Of Business

Very excited to discover a third series of this podcast hit the usual outlets a few weeks ago. Available at iTunes and Soundcloud.

Jason vs Neutrogena

Over the last week I've seen numerous bus-stop posters for an acne product by Neutrogena.

I've wanted to stop and grab a photo of the poster but traffic wouldn't allow it.

Visually the ad is weird. Real weird.

It's essentially a shot of a young women in a white face mask looking oddly reminiscent of Jason from the Friday 13th movies.

Today I found this video. It explains everything. 

No more black spots

Now this is clever. Possibly annoying. But definitely very clever.

To promote the clean up of black spots from their coverage Irish telco EIR changed every (and I do mean every) black spot or dot across an entire issue of Daily Mail Magazine.

The agency behind this insane idea was Rothco. Kudos to them and (of course) the poor typesetters who had to comb through an entire magazine looking for spots 'n dots.

Oh look an eDM!

Guns in America

The senseless murder of 59 people in Las Vegas last week has left me baffled.

I just don't know why a modern democracy has such a fascination with firearms.

Michael Murphy's 3D sculture from last year (I think) says so much about this problem.

But what will it take to solve it?

Cheers to FedEx

Very simple yet impactful thinking from BBDO Toronto.

There's an impossible to read line of copy at the base of the ad.

But truth be told the ad doesn't need it because without copy the ad becomes a little ambiguous.

Meaning different people see the message a little differently.

And I have to say I love that.

Toyota vs Canine

Yes it has dogs. Lots of them.

And everyone (well almost) loves dogs.

But this is a very very cute little product demo for Toyota from Saatchi+Saatchi Canada.

Worn Wear by Patagonia

Outdoor brand Patagonia is well known for its environmental and sustainability credentials.

So it's a no-brainer really that they have set up their version of an online second hand store.

They've done a few pop-up Worn Wear events here and there. Which have always been popular.

But now Patagonia lovers have the ability to buy, swap and sell pre-loved gear.

Check it out here.

Coca Cola Koinobori

Even if you haven't been to Japan you're probably familiar with  Koinobori.

They're those large colourful fish shaped banners you often see.

Coca Cola recently created a series of bottle wraps designed to look like Koinobori.

Check out the bottom pic and you'll get the picture.

This limited run was created to raise money for an earthquake charity.

Quite beautiful. Don't you think?

GPS on Cassette?

An idea so silly it's brilliant is something I talk about a lot with my creative team.

This week a great example of that found its way into my inbox.

The GPS on Cassette from KFC.

Truth be told is does have a small scent of scam about it. But what the heck I like it.

Wisdom of The Don

He may be a fictional TV show character but you can sure learn a lot from a man like Don Draper.

Solo NYC

Now here's a rarity - A piece of content that holds up as an actual short film.

I hope you enjoy this quite lovely look at living the freelance life in NYC as much as I did.

Bears vs Tigers

Using street artists to promote brands is nothing new.

So I was surprised to see this campaign for the Chicago Bears picking up a bit of media coverage.

Truth be told it's not a patch on the fan mural that appeared this week in Melbourne for the Richmond Tigers.

Then again that's the difference between fans who love something versus people being paid by brands.