Romania Gives Britain the Finger

MEMO: ATTN. BRITAIN
Xenophobia is not pretty. Stereotypes are ugly. Social exclusion of migrants and minorities make you look bad.
Sincerely, Romania

“James Madison” clarifies the American right to bear arms

Here’s an interesting example of un-sponsored, independent, comedic activism on a current issue. (The video itself is almost a year old, but the issue has recently heated up, post Sandy Hook.)

American comedian Mike Polk Jr. plays the part of James Madison, fourth President of the United States, “Father of the Constitution” and author of the Bill of Rights. In the short video, Polk resurrects the dead president to explain the historical context of the famous American “right to bear arms” and insist that assault weapons would never have been included in it.

Time to wake up! It’s International Anti-Corruption Day! How are you celebrating?

Corruption in various forms seems to be running rampant all over the world. Relatively new nations encounter it in their struggle to build a fair society. Long-established countries face it while trying to maintain a working society. Public servants helping out those who grease their palms, large companies doing everything to get ahead – even if it means ignoring laws and people’s lives - in the short run bribery just favours one over another. Deplorably it is always the wealthy over the poor. Over time society as a whole corrodes, creating a neo-feudal culture of distrust and hostility.
One NGO fighting corruption worldwide is Transparency International, whose campaign Time to Wake Up is now running in 17 countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe, reaching over three million people. From rallies to animated video contests, to public debates and petitions, Time to Wake Up has had real impact. (more after the video)

A beautiful video about… oil and gas pipelines?

This animated video is absolutely beautiful. The paper craft involved in creating it is delicate and haunting. But as a Canadian, I also watch it with suspicion.

Let’s see what you think:

ABOUTPIPELINES.COM from The Embassy on Vimeo.

Chris Rock urges Americans to #votewhite

I’m not a big fan of racialized humour, but this is a pretty good parody of the obsession with skin colour in the United States (and elsewhere). It’s an interesting point. The President of the United States is a “white” as he is “black” (with an Anglo-American mother and Kenyan father) and he faced criticism in 2008 that he wasn’t “black” enough.

Osocio’s top 5 American election posts

Tomorrow, Americans will decide the political direction of their country for the next four years. We’ve been keeping track of the social campaigns that have been trying to influence the vote. Here are our five most popular “decision 2012” posts:

#5 - Today’s adults speak for The Future Children

This campaign by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, using children as mouthpieces for left-wing political statements, was actually pulled from online circulation after complaints. But thanks to the magic of Adland, we still have a viewable copy.

#4 - “Buy Vice President Biden a Trans Am” is the most awesome indigogo ever

A completely tongue-in-cheek parody, but still incredibly entertaining.

#3 - Gum election: Share who sucks the most

A hilarious street art project by Stefan Haverkamp and James Cooper.

#2 - Sarah Silverman’s voter ID PSA will make you laugh out loud

My personal favourite. She is an amazing talent.

Cher and Kathy Griffin urge American women to vote against Romney

Sorry for all the U.S. political ads, but this Tuesday is kind of a big deal — even for those of us who are un-American.

This is a strange one, starring entertainment institution Cher and comedian Kathy Griffin:

[more after the break]

An outdoor campaign that costs almost nothing

Campaigns like this I love a lot. Gorgeous images aren’t necessary. All you need is a good idea, a copier, scissors and glue.

It is a campaign made for the 6th edition of the human rights film festival Ad Hoc: Inconvenient Films held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
“We screen. You decide: The festival that puts as much emphasis on discussion (with directors, human rights specialists etc.) after the film as the screening itself.”

The campaign only cost $5. And it is interactive too!

Great work from the the Lithuanian agency Nomoshiti.
See more work for the festival from them at their blog.

Click images to enlarge.
See all items after the break.

Design Rebels: Young Richmond

Students in Design Rebels, my socially conscious graphic design course in the Graphic Design department of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, are asked to create community projects that reach beyond the school walls and deal with the issues that we’ve discussed in class. Each student proposes a project and the class decides as a whole which one(s) to work on.

This semester half of the students have decided to work on a project about getting young people involved in local politics. They call it Young Richmond. They not only want to encourage voting in the upcoming presidential election, they also want people to know more about all of the candidates and proposals on the ballots and to stay involved once the election is over.

As part of the project they are producing a series of non-partisan zines to educate the public on the candidates and issues. You can read the first issue online HERE.

They’re also producing a series of posters that they are distributing in the second issue of the zine this week.

The project can be followed on Facebook,  Tumblr, and Twitter.

See more posters after the break…

Gum election: Share who sucks the most

Gum Election is a funny street art project by Stefan Haverkamp and James Cooper. The purpose of the idea was to encourage people to vote on Election Day in the USA as well as keeping the city a little cleaner.
The idea isn’t new. They did it before in 2011 with the two cell phone providers AT&T and Verizon.

Check the video below for tips on how to bring the Gum Election to your neighborhood or office.