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Naked beauty queens against furPETA is up to it again, gaining easy publicity (yes, I get the irony that I’m posting it here) by convincing women to appear nude in their ads. This time, it’s Miss USA pageant winners Susie Castillo, Shandi Finnessey, Shanna Moakler, and Alyssa Campanella. “I was so disgusted that I…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: PETA
Category: Animal rights
Date: 14-06-2013 00:15
Bowie comeback inspires NHS blood donor campaignAccording to the campaign site: We are appealing for people to ‘come back’ and register to donate with a new celebrity poster campaign inspired by this year’s come-back king David Bowie. Three celebs have all re-created Bowie’s iconic Aladdin Sane album cover to encourage people to ‘come back’ and register.…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: National Blood Week (NHS)
Category: Health
Date: 12-06-2013 17:27
Crowdfunded “Turkish Democracy in Action” ad hits the New York TimesThey did it! Frustrated with the lack of in-depth international mainstream media coverage of their massive citizen protests against Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a group called Turkish Democracy in Action took to social media instead. They set up an indiegogo appeal to raise a budget for an ad campaign.…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Turkish Democracy in Action
Category: Activism
Date: 8-06-2013 14:05
Brazilian government drops positive sex worker outreach over “happy prostitute” ad[Image via Implicante] A campaign by the Brazilian Health Ministry has been dropped from their web site and social media after complaints about one of the ads (above) which says “I’m happy being a prostitute”. From The Christian Post: The ad, which was originally created to promote safe sex and…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Brazilian Health Ministry
Category: Health
Date: 6-06-2013 20:26
Road safety stunt is attention-getting, but does it help? #PublooshockerAh, shock tactics. They certainly are good PR for the agency, as well as for the brand advertised. But do they do more than get attention? A longtime friend of Osocio, Neil Hopkins, sent us this video via Twitter, asking for an opinion:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Think!
Agency: Leo Burnett
Category: Road safety
Date: 6-06-2013 16:50
Who is really behind these powerful “Gendercide” ads?Buzzfeed’s Copyranter calls them “Powerful” and “brutally honest”. We know that the ads are from O&M Vietnam. But who is “The Life Foundation”?
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: "The Life Foundation"
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Vietnam
Category: Women's Issues
Date: 5-06-2013 22:05
We are an African speciesThat’s the message of this celebratory ad put out by the State Government of Bahia, Brazil, to celebrate Africa Day (May 25).
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Governo da Bahia
Agency: Tempo Propaganda, Salvador, Brazil
Category: Government
Date: 4-06-2013 18:52
“Staring is Caring”: The ultimate objectification of women for a cause?We’ve written a lot, over the years, about how anti-cancer campaigns often use fundraising or awareness for then cause as an excuse to sexually objectify women. (Not to mention animal rights!) Well, here’s one for AIDS: “Staring is Caring,” sponsored by fashion label SuperTrash. On a site whose loading time…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Stop AIDS Now!
Agency: Achtung! (Netherlands)
Category: Corporate Social Responsibility
Date: 31-05-2013 03:12
Saudis go social against domestic violence #اضربها@ItsLoosh: “I just fell down the stairs” @Anoufenani “I wish I could tell her” A very important consideration about social change is that it must come from within the society. That’s why this social media campaign from Saudi Arabia is so powerful. According to Aljazeera, this is a grassroots movement…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: حقي كرامتي دعوة للتضامن مع حقوق المرأة السعودية (Facebook group)
Agency: Libra Productions
Category: Violence
Date: 29-05-2013 20:43
David Cross’s PETA ad is actually pretty awesomeFor those of you who haven’t followed the American TV comedy Arrested Development, Cross plays former analyst/therapist Tobias Fünke, a member of the tragicomic Bluth family by marriage. His total lack of self-awareness, including the implication that he is homosexual, is played for awkward laughs, as is his rare psychological…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: PETA
Category: Animal rights
Date: 26-05-2013 17:20
PSA installation literally stops youth from driving drunkNow here’s a publicity stunt that gets attention: The very first parking barrier that doesn’t work with a ticket or chip, but with an alcohol test. You actually have to blow safe for it to open. If you drank too much alcohol the barrier stays closed and you can’t leave…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Responsible Young Drivers
Agency: Publicis Brussels
Category: Road safety
Date: 23-05-2013 15:56
Facebook and advertisers called out for misogynist content (trigger warning) #FBrapeIn a recent post on my Ethical Adman blog, I talked about the problem Facebook is having with branded social ads showing up on pages and posts that are misogynistic and violent: Facebook’s problem with pages that promote rape culture is well known. The social network that has the sensibilities…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Women, Action & the Media
Category: Women's Issues
Date: 21-05-2013 15:37
Victim-blaming sexual harassment “PSAs” from IranTranslation: “Veil is Security” We talk a lot, in the west, about victim-blaming in sexual assault and harassment ads. In Iran, however, deliberate victim-blaming is apparently the preferred strategy. This collection, put together by Buzzfeed’s Copyranter, provides translations which I have included below the images.
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Category: Women's Issues
Date: 17-05-2013 20:01
Is #FitchTheHomeless really a good thing?On the surface, it seems like the perfect activist social media stunt. After seven-year-old comments by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, in which he claimed the brand was only suitable for “cool, good-looking” (and thin) people, resurfaced online to great protest, filmmaker Greg Karber decided to mess with the…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Greg Karber
Category: Activism
Date: 16-05-2013 02:24
Kristin signs up for the lactivist causeIt’s difficult not to develop an internet crush on Kristin Henson. The pixie-ish 26-year-old from Philadelphia has made a name for herself on social media with her YouTube series, “Dirty Signs With Kristin”. In each episode, Ms. Henson teaches viewers a new obscene phrase or term — from “hey, you’re…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Dirty Signs with Kristin
Category: Activism
Date: 16-05-2013 00:43
Super simple texting PSAs drive the point homeThe premise of this 25-second PSA is so visually simple, it could have been a print ad. But the storytelling capability of video is put to good use building anticipation:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: The Norwegian Council for Road Safety
Agency: Try/Apt
Category: Road safety
Date: 15-05-2013 20:31
“Buycott” app reads the corporate DNA of things you buyAre you comfortable doing business with the Koch Brothers, and giving them more money for their right wing political lobbying? Do you want to buy in to Monsanto’s efforts to modify and aggressively patent the genetics of staple food crops? Those are personal decisions in a free market economy. But…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Buycott (app)
Category: Consumerism
Date: 15-05-2013 19:31
Commander Chris Hadfield: Making space (and Canada) cool againThis evening (Eastern Standard Time), Canadian Space Agency astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield will return to Earth after five months orbiting our planet in the International Space Station — eventually serving as commander of the mission. At 53, Commander Hadfield is a veteran astronaut, having been in space previously to work…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Academy
Category: Social Media
Date: 13-05-2013 15:15
“Lift your skirt” for cancer prevention?We’re used to seeing sexualized approaches to breast cancer and testicular cancer. This one, for the Singapore Cancer Society, uses the famous Marilyn Monroe “upskirt” scene from the movie The Seven Year Itch to promote regular pap smears.
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Singapore Cancer Society
Category: Health
Date: 9-05-2013 15:40
PETA claims vegans are sex animalsThe science is questionable. I’m pretty sure that carnivorous animals have lots of intercourse, too, and most animal sex (with exceptions such as bonobos and their uptight primate cousins, humans) is pretty nasty, brutish and short. However, I’ll still commend PETA for producing a “sexy vegan” PSA that doesn’t denigrate…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: PETA
Agency: Fallon, London, UK
Category: Animal rights
Date: 8-05-2013 04:23
Australia will never have an #IndigenousPM… or will it?According to The Inspiration Room, this digital poster, painted by Archibald Finalist and celebrated portrait artist Mathew Lynn, was shared widely as a teaser campaign. Today, the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation revealed (AIEF) the campaign message: Our campaign launches as Newspoll research reveals that two thirds of Australians believe they’ll…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF)
Agency: Host Sydney
Category: Discrimination
Date: 7-05-2013 16:26
Where do you draw the line on rape culture?I was recently introduced to this campaign by its project manager, Julie Lalonde. According to the campaign site, its purpose is to challenge “common myths about sexual violence” and to equip bystanders with “information on how to intervene safely and effectively.” The campaign, run by Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Draw The Line
Agency: Public Inc.
Category: Abuse
Date: 6-05-2013 19:50
Sharks vs. Humans: Guess who is winning? [infographic]Above is only a tiny slice of this brutally simple infographic by Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing at Kinvey and Robin Richards, the head of design firm ripetungi. Rob says, “The great irony is that the shark is arguably the most feared animal on the planet, yet whereas they killed…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Joe Chernov
Agency: Robin Richards
Category: Animal rights
Date: 2-05-2013 20:53
Help find missing kids each time you mail a letterQuebec’s Missing Children’s Network and Lowe Roche, Toronto, have come up with an interesting idea to spread the word about kids who have disappeared. Using Canada Post’s longtime option to create personalized stamps with user-generated pictures, the campaign asks Canadians to donate the customizable medium to a missing child: The…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Missing Children’s Network
Agency: Lowe Roche, Toronto
Category: Activism
Date: 2-05-2013 03:58
Is there such a thing as feel-good porn?“Let’s fight hypocrisy with ethics, Let’s start the new sexual revolution together!” states Come4.org, billing itself as “the first user-generated, no-profit porn site finalized at funding charitable and ethically driven project”. The organization, apparently based in Italy, asks people to register as users, then purchase and download proprietary, sexually explicit,…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Come4.org
Agency: Being Paris
Category: Fundraising
Date: 30-04-2013 16:39
An infographic about online sexual abuse and harassment[see full infographic below] According to the campaign page, “Digitizing Abuse is an Urban Institute project studying the role of technology in teen dating abuse and harassment.” They share these worrying statistics: - 25 percent of dating teens report they’ve been digitally victimized by their partners. (Only 9…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: The Urban Institute
Category: Abuse
Date: 29-04-2013 20:30
A Saudi ad uncovers domestic violenceThe King Khalid Foundation hired Ogilvy to create this ad to raise awareness and action against “the phenomenon of battered women in Saudi Arabia”. The campaign page encourages citizen reporting.
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: King Khalid Foundation
Agency: Memac Ogilvy, Riyadh
Category: Abuse
Date: 25-04-2013 19:40
Changing the conversation about sexual assault in the “rape capital of America”This campaign launched last year, but I just stumbled upon it today when Slutwalk Toronto shared one of the ads from Everyday Feminism’s Facebook page. Make Your Move Missoula is “a group of community organizations dedicated to ending sexual violence” in Montana, USA. The positive message of standing up against…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Make Your Move Missoula
Category: Violence
Date: 20-04-2013 21:52
The reality of Barbie’s proportions — now in handy infographic formAs much as I am concerned with distorted body images in the media, I’m often suspicious about attempts to compare Mattel’s Barbie doll’s proportions to real life. Partly because she is a doll, and dolls are not exactly expected to be anatomically correct. But also because these things tend to…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Rehabs.com
Category: Health
Date: 18-04-2013 02:36
Do creepy anti-child-abuse ads like this work?Child sexual abuse is a horrible and disturbing thing. But that awfulness is just compounded by ad campaigns that sexualize the very children they are supposed to be protecting. These ones are from Herezie, Paris, for Innocence In Danger. They may have the intended effect of shocking the viewer, but…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Innocence in Danger
Agency: Herezie, Paris
Category: Abuse
Date: 18-04-2013 01:14
Dove hires a sketch artist to show women how they see themselvesDove’s Canadian agency, Ogilvy Toronto, just keeps setting the standard for “virtuous” brand advertising. After pranking Art Directors with a Photoshop Action that undid their work on women’s bodies, and a powerful outdoor installation about girls’ body image, they’ve now hired a forensic sketch artist to show women just how…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Dove (Unilever)
Agency: Ogilvy Toronto
Category: Corporate Social Responsibility
Date: 16-04-2013 17:04
Film fest promo is “maybe a little too Canadian”Ads of The World recently shared this fun promo film for the 2013 Canadian Film Fest: (Includes some swear words, FYI.)
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Canadian Film Fest
Agency: JWT Toronto
Category: Culture
Date: 15-04-2013 17:18
A point-blank gun control adAs Buzzfeed’s Copyranter quips, “The commercial is via Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, who are attempting to become the Mothers Against Drunk Driving group for gun control.” The ad is certainly a low-budget shocker, like many anti-drunk-driving ads. But is the approach equally problematic? I’m not…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Agency: Grey Canada
Category: Violence
Date: 12-04-2013 18:40
Are these anti-smoking ads too silly to work?What can be said in an anti-smoking ad that hasn’t been said before? Although I’ve seen a few great new ideas lately, I’m not sure this campaign is one of them. Created by Sukle Advertising & Design for the Wyoming Department of Health, these three PSAs use the absurdist…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Wyoming Department of Health
Agency: Sukle Advertising & Design
Category: Drugs
Date: 11-04-2013 03:33
What would you rather do than confront mental health issues?According to this Canadian campaign by Partners for Mental Health, pretty much anything:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Partners for Mental Health (Canada)
Agency: Capital C, Toronto
Category: Health
Date: 7-04-2013 17:00
Feminism, Islamophobia, and the complicated politics of global human rightsEarlier this week, I wrote about Femen’s “Topless Jihad”. It was an international day of semi-nude protest against the oppression of Tunisian activist Amina Tyler, as well as a statement against conservative Muslim institutionalized misogyny in general. At the same time, a counter-protest Facebook event emerged. Calling itself Muslim…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Academy
Category: Ethics
Date: 6-04-2013 15:11
Femen’s “Topless Jihad” against misogyny in Tunisia (nudity)[via Femen.org] Today, April 4, is “Topless Jihad Day” for the international feminist group Femen. It is support of Amina Tyler, a woman belonging to their Tunisian chapter who was committed to a psychiatric hospital by her family after posting topless pictures of herself online, her body decorated with feminist…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Femen
Category: Women's Issues
Date: 4-04-2013 19:25
Greenpeace and Shatner attempt to personalize habitat destruction in the Bering SeaIt’s an interesting approach, comparing wild habitat destruction to an attack on the viewer’s pets. And who doesn’t love an irony-laced William Shatner performance? But I wonder if this is too silly to be effective:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Greenpeace USA
Category: Environment
Date: 4-04-2013 15:15
Canada’s top-level domain is migrating from .ca to .eh?Byron Holland, president and CEO of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (cira.ca) took to the internet today to announce a change to the .ca top-level domain (TLD). Explaining that it didn’t seem “Canadian enough,” he outlined a plan to migrate all the .ca TLDs to .eh:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Canadian Internet Registration Authority (cira.ca)
Category: Media
Date: 1-04-2013 16:27
Help BBC and WaterAid ship a well to AfricaCharlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh of BBC TV’s Ground Force gardening show have teamed up to build a well and ship it to Africa for WaterAid. Watch the video here:
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: WaterAid
Category: Developing World
Date: 1-04-2013 15:17
Imagine a world without hate“What if” games — imagining how history would have changed if key events had unfolded differently — have always been interesting to me. So this new campaign by the Anti-Defamation League (for their centenary) was bound to get my attention. It features several prominent victims of deadly hate crimes from…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Anti-Defamation League
Agency: Publicis Kaplan Thaler
Category: Violence
Date: 26-03-2013 21:39
The Journey of Nishiyuu: The polar opposite of slacktivismYesterday, a group of Canadian Aboriginal people arrived in Ottawa, the capital. On foot. It was the completion on a 1500+ kilometre journey that started in January, when six youths and a guide left Whapmagoostui, on James Bay in Northern Quebec, in the dead of the -40 degree northern winter,…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: The Journey of Nishiyuu
Category: Activism
Date: 26-03-2013 15:32
“Free Pussy Riot” lingerie campaign: Appropriate, or appropriation?We’ve been covering the saga of Russian protest punk group Pussy Riot for over a year now. The feminist collective performed guerrilla musical protests around Russia against Vladimir Putin. One in particular, in a church, ended with members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina sentenced to two years imprisonment for “hooliganism…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Blush Lingerie
Agency: glow communication, Berlin, Germany
Category: Corporate Social Responsibility
Date: 24-03-2013 14:41
This year, Earth Hour will be celebrated in spaceChris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut who is currently in command of the International Space Station. But he is even more famous as the astronaut who has most successfully brought social media to orbit. Commander Hadfield has over half a million Twitter followers, and almost a hundren thousand Facebook fans.…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Commander Chris Hadfield
Category: Activism
Date: 23-03-2013 14:26
Mysterious “photo a day” domestic violence video goes viralPosted by an anonymous YouTube account, with the simple explanation “Godina u kojoj sam bila zlostavljana. Molim vas pomozite mi” (“A year in which I was abused. Please help me,” according to Google) this video just hit mainstream online media after being posted on Reddit, where the sign at the…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Category: Abuse
Date: 21-03-2013 03:35
“I shared a photo”: Good social marketing or victim blaming?I’m not sure how I feel about this video. Both the talent and the format are designed to bring to mind the chilling video cry for help made last year on YouTube by Amanda Todd. The Canadian tenth grader from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, committed suicide shortly afterwards. She…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Children of the Street
Agency: Cossette, Vancouver
Category: Abuse
Date: 18-03-2013 17:40
Gisele Bündchen’s smokin’ new PSANo, it’s not **that** kind of “smokin’”. The supermodel and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme appears to be overcome by smoke inhalation in this PSA from Practical Action. According to the campaign page: Nearly two million people die each year as a result of inhaling lethal…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Practical Action
Category: Poverty
Date: 15-03-2013 22:08
This weekend, you probably won’t have time for Amnesty InternationalGuilt is a powerful emotion. But will it work on you? Cossette Montreal bet on it with this December, 2012 work for Amnesty International’s Write for Rights. Titled “Saturday”, it contrasts all of the mundane things we do on the weekend with the desperate needs, of prisoners of conscience, for…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Amnistie Internationale Canada (Quebec)
Agency: Cossette, Montreal
Category: Human rights
Date: 14-03-2013 21:10
Papal Conclave “smokejacked” to demand women’s rights to be priestsAs the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church meet to decide on a new Pope, the world watches for smoke signals from the Vatican to indicate that they have made their decision. So the Women’s Ordination Conference smokejacked the Papal Conclave yesterday with pink smoke to protest the church’s refusal…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Women's Ordination Conference
Category: Religion
Date: 13-03-2013 16:34
80’s Muppetesque anti-drug ad: “We’re not candy” #vintagePSAIt’s like Jim Henson’s Muppets and The Hamburger Patch from McDonaldland had babies, and those babies were some parent’s prescription meds: What the hell? From Laughing Squid: This 1983 public service announcement from the Long Island Regional Poison Control Center stars high-pitched talking and singing blue puppet pills who…
Author: Tom Megginson
Where: Osocio Weblog
Advertiser: Long Island Regional Poison Control Center
Category: Vintage
Date: 8-03-2013 04:32
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