MTLB For The Cure.

Jersey Mike’s has jumped on board the Susan G. Komen For The Cure cause blackmail partnership bandwagon. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE THE GIANT BAG TELLS THE WORLD. When I saw the sandwich sommelier bagging my tuna on wheat aircraft carrier, I couldn’t help but notice the logofest they were putting it into. When I went to eat later, I didn’t realize the logofest it was wrapped in also.

At this point I’m wondering where don’t they have a field of logos? (Cue sponsorship opportunity for Victoria’s Secret.) Soon as I walked out today, I felt like a jerk carrying a pink sub (literally).* Regular readers here know I’ve given the campaign big ups in the past for their infiltration of the public consciousness using this partnership strategy, but today it felt wrong, mostly because it assumed I support their cause.

Every diaper is precious.

Love the overall message in this Pampers effort, but it sure feels like they’re skating too close to the 800 lb right to life gorilla in the room. By not discussing it, your mind just automatically goes there. Then they mention the issue of race. Why go even go there?

Burberry ain’t complaining about Christmas.

Not with their stock heading to Pluto. Okay, I admit it, as long as it’s not that Train Coke shake thing I love this little short but sweet Christmas burst from Johnny Borrell of Razorlight for Burberry. One shot and done. The brand had been going through a reimagineering for some time, and I thought the band gives the brand too much of a down and dirty bohemian vibe, but it works. (Borrell didn’t charge for appearing and instead made a generous donation to the Burberry Foundation. VERY BOHEMIAN, again.)

Classic hit from guy with funny name gets makeover for worthy cause.

Yes, this is supporting a good cause in The Meningitis Trust (aren’t all causes good causes?), but this reworking of Engelbert Humperdinck’s hit Release Me by the Drybrook & District Male Voice Choir may have also just killed social media terminology for good. So yea collateral damage! Although, admit it, hostage videos look more comfortable. But they also have an app! (At this point even my dog has an app.)

“This is causing so much conversation, we have no intentions of pulling it.”

So says the Assistant Health Commissioner for the HIV/AIDS Bureau behind the commercial that has people squeemish – squeemish I say! (:24 for the graphicnicity!) All that matters is that people talk, right? Who cares if the spot is misguided and ignores non-gay HIV/AIDS victims. PEOPLE ARE TALKING! As usual, that’s the weak argument people fall back on to justify shock and awe. What needs to be addressed is the mindset of the younger generation (regardless of their sexual preference) that HIV is not a death sentence anymore and that it’s okay to get an STD because hey, at least it’s not AIDS! Sorry, but if AIDS or HIV is still very much a global threat, then don’t you have a responsibility to represent all the groups potentially affected? SO SAYS YOUTUBE:

“Hey world! Lets make a PSA video talking about poverty and only show black people! --- That won't be offensive or discriminatory at all!” – HenhousetheRed

Or not:

“Well coming from somebody living with AIDS, I believe this commercial is GREAT, NYC Health is realizing that HIV rates with young men are up, hence only young men in the commercial and yes it is fact that gay men are much more likely to get HIV/AIDS than straight men..Especially here in NYC ,and everything said in that commercial is based on fact. HIV /AIDS does cause effects on the body regardless of medications. The ad gets the a point across, Its never just HIV there is no cure for AIDS.” – NYC212010

Wouldn’t that be a myrrth?

New Jersey, I swear you do not disappoint. “Reasonable Since 1963.” What were they before? American Atheists are here to wish you Reason’s Greetings with a billboard sure to please just about anyone. Just what the hell are reasonble greetings, anyway? (I can still say hell with atheists, right?) I mean, “Hello” seems a reasonable greeting to me, or “Have a nice week off between December 25th and January 1st.” But seeing a Billboard Battle between them and the Catholic League might be enough to screw with the heads of kids everywhere. WHY MAKE THE LITTLE ONES WORK SO HARD FOR THEIR GIFTS.

Only you can prevent Matt Damon from appearing in another PSA.

I KID. Much love to Matt; he’s doing more than I have in the world. (HOW THE HELL DID HE GET WATER.ORG?)* As part of the Ad Council and Feed America’s hunger prevention campaign, Matt joins other celebrities (Ben Affleck, Miley Cyrus, Taye Diggs, Abigail Breslin, Aaron Eckhart and Ana Ortiz) to raise awareness about local food banks. Here, Damon, Ana and Taye play out stories of real people, which actually feels less somber than Ben’s pitch.

*Yeah, I know, he’s Matt Damon.

Merry Switchmas.

Normally, the wordplay punishment would be reason alone to post this, but agency Switch is doing some good by donating their old equipment to charity. A little twist on the traditional “We’re Moving!” agency announcement, The 12 Days of Switchmas lets people grab, bid or give an item which benefits the Independence Center in St. Louis. Hit them up on the T and the F too.

Go with Go... wait, on second thought.

So check out what the kids these days at the Illini Secular Student Alliance are doing. A new bus campaign in Illinois features prominent philanthropy’s own Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as examples of doing good in the world – sans religion. The group could only afford two action figures apparently, but begs another question: Why indirectly associate money with religion? Why not feature someone areligious and maybe not that well off who also does good in the world? I always found the pro-secular position funny. Not, lol funny, but, funny, hmm. Yes, the conservative, religious right hates heathens, so maybe you feel picked on. They open fire whenever they can (and yes, they’d lump in your little after school group with the sinners, because in their eyes, you’re either with God or agin him). But if as a secularist you advocate a lifestyle free from organized religion, why not just live your life without mentioning it in the first place? Those you oppose get to live their life – you get to live yours. Smells like win-win. Otherwise, you just draw attention to the very thing you’re fighting in the first place.

Swallow fail.

It’s a long way for Actionaid to go here in making the point about poverty and companies like Grolsch owner SABMiller who allegedly avoid their tax burdens. The pitch I received actually sums up the whole point that the video was aiming for:

“They’re the world’s second biggest brewer, making profits of £2 billion, with headquarters just off Park Lane. The taxes they dodge in Africa could put an extra 250,000 children in school there. When big companies dodge their taxes, ordinary people end up paying more. That’s why ActionAid is committing itself to schtop tax dodging.”

Stunts outside corporate help though, no?

(Agency: Buzzfilms.)

Cue mall flashmob in 3... 2...

You can sense it in much the same way animals sense danger ahead of time. You’re in a public space and things just start happening around you for no reason. Heads start turning... bodies start lining up as group dance routine is imminent – SEEK COVER IMMEDIATELY. As much as the cringe meter peaked within :05 seconds of watching this clip, I was presently pleasantly surprised with the outcome after finding out the group behind it. Redefine Christmas has more than enough celebs on its roster, but what it’s about is giving charitable donations to others instead of another Old Navy gift certificate. (Which, I’m okay with, really.) So a group of 130+ volunteer performers on three hours of preparation invaded the food court of the Connecticut Post Mall (two towns over from me ), and after their 3-minute routine finished, ended up giving away 200 donations to random shoppers. See? Flashmobs don’t have to suck. That deserves a like on Facebook. IT DOESN’T COST ANYTHING.

Help Joey stop Pets Gone Wild.

Pet abstinence until marriage, ftw. After recently seeing what are arguably the saddest bunch of pet PSAs late one night from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) – these are similar but not even close for the near-tear factor – I came across another effort of theirs. Help Joey is all about spaying and neutering pets by targeting their animal urges, while also taking a shot at the pledge (item) craze. While the sad angle usually works when pleading the case, it’s nice to see they’re taking more than just a one-dimensional approach compared to some fanatical organizations. The site features a series of moc clips, and while humorous, it should remind people to take care of their pets. (Not to get preachy, but there’s also room for another campaign to raise awareness about thinking long and hard before giving a pet as a Christmas gift.) But this is about Pets Gone Wild, so remember: “My flower is my treasure.” (Catch Joey on The Twitter and The Facebook too.)

Do some good – Change your underwear.

In my rant on a brand’s responsibility to change advertising, I noted that there are a few more now who care about every step in the life cycle of a product they make, from the origin of its ingredients, to how its marketed, to who the audience is. Cause marketing apparel brand PACT is one of them. Billing itself as a child of many parents, it produces responsibly grown and manufactured organic cotton covered by freshtastic designs. Underwear, in other words. So, working with EarthSpark and Citizen Effect, they’ll donate a solar-powered LED light to a Haitian family for every item ordered from their Winter Lights collection. Buy some drawers, light a family, feel better. What’s wrong with that?

Will Ferrell gets sunstroked.

GET A SEXY HOT TAN as Ron Burgundy joins 7-Eleven with his design for Coffee Cup With A Cause. Started by Craig Pollard, a two-time cancer survivor, the cause helps donate funds to cancer survivors for college. Buy some lotion – they donate. Yeah, it costs way more than you’d pay at CVS, but that’s why it’s for charity. Facebook you some.

Dad, can I borrow the condoms?

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is set to release a spot that *breaks* the condom ban on TV – they say – when it runs this spot on Oprah and Family Guy. It’s not the first as they imply, but okay, anything to raise awareness for the importance of safe sex practices among the younger generation is good, yes? Thing is, This is Real Talk feels anything but. The only connection with her show may be the markets the spot will run in (Los Angeles and Washington, DC), but it sure feels like something she would produce. Campy, awkward and full of the type of acting at home in a PSA from the 1950s. Is it by design? While I want to give them credit for running the spot during a Family Guy episode – this is just the sort of ad the show skewers, thus extending its life online – that would be giving them too much credit.

The tone is ironic given how she positions herself as someone able to discuss frank issues with her audience – frankly. The dad though comes off as too earnest in his attempt to do what he *thinks* is helping his son. Except, the thing you should do for your kids first is to have a discussion, however brief, on being careful and protection – not throwing a condom their way as they’re running out and *hoping* they’re careful? O’s audience though will likely eat it this up. Can’t wait for the mother-daughter version.

NOH8 or It Gets Better – you decide.

At the risk of coming off like a bully for having more issues with the It Gets Better campaign, here goes. NOH8, the protest started in response to the passing of Proposition 8, now jumps into the fray here. The clip features a fair mount of celebs talking about bullying of LGBT teens, not a bad thing in and of itself. Putting aside my issue of only making this a LGBT problem, from a branding POV, NOH8 seems like it adds another rallying cry into a mix that doesn’t need two different messages. Maybe organizers felt they needed something catchy that flowed better and fit nicely on an avatar, or even looks good on some merch? It comes off as confusing. Too bad these kids won’t be seeing it.

Pretty windmills WILL save villages.

It takes a village to raise an issue. Do animations make you feel all warm and fuzzy about the world’s problems? Or can you get past that if the story is compelling enough? Do the people most impacted by it think about it in those terms, or do they just want clean water and other basic necessities essential to life? Oxfam’s climate change initiative thinks so.

(Agency: th1ng.)

“Malaria, cancer and AIDS walk into a bar...”

Oh, have you heard this one? Malaria No More is the latest cause celebré that takes a humorous approach to the problem of malaria. A range of celebrities discuss their dreams growing up which stand in stark contrast to the ones kids dying from Malaria will never have. It’s not the first cause to use humor. Comic Relief dealt with helping the homeless, even though it was typically: comic came out, did a 5-minute routine then threw an add-on at the end saying something like “Help the homeless and donate.” Here, you still get hit up for a donation, but they’re at least being self-effacing about it. (Text “NET” to 85944 and $10 is donated to provide, well, a net.) Whenever one of these efforts launches though, I ask if we’re all caused out. Is the $10 barrier too high? Would they get better results by lowering it to just $1? WILL A TWITTER OR FACEBOOK SAVE THE CHILDREN? What sayeth you?

Not on George Takei’s watch, er, countdown clock.

“Clint McCance needs to be killed by Imperial King Onis...” – moksheebs

Well that might be a bit harsh. It actually contradicts the message in George Takei’s smackdown of disgraced teacher Clint McCance’s incendiary comments. Everyone though seems to love George saying *douchebag* – he could read instructions on how to assemble a grill and people would listen to that voice – but the seriousness of the comments merit something more than the D-bag label. It’s just an odd video. It’s meant to mock and also raise awareness of the issue, but I’m not seeing how those two vibes work together.

Beware the share.

I don’t mind the approach to privacy education here from the Ad Council and the Internet Safety Coalition. Sure many adults are just as clueless when it comes to thinking nobody is actually watching what they post, but teens have an added level of invincibility to them which seems to extend to their social networks. They perceive a level of complete privacy exists, not always realizing though that not only do their own words come back to haunt them, but friends of friends in their network can do even more damage. (One more after the jump.)