Are a film critic's Tweets fair game for advertising blurbs?

On Twitter, Adland's @kidsleepy shared an interesting new phenomenon: Tweets as ads!

Pictured above, according to PFSK, is a full-page ad in the New York Times that consisted of nothing but NYT film critic A. O. Scott's Tweet about the soundtrack to the recent Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis.

While quoting critics from mainstream media is fair sport, PFSK points out that social media is different:

What makes this new reverse-engineered advertising so interesting is that if Scott did not give permission for his tweet to be included in the ad, CBS Films may have violated Twitter’s “Use of Content” guidelines. The guidelines stipulate that “without explicit permission of the original content creator, Twitter content may not be used in advertising.”

There's even more to it than that. It's actually modified from the original Tweet, which read "You all keep fighting about Wolf of Wall St. and Am Hustle. I'm gonna listen to the Llewyn Davis album again. Fare thee well, my honeys."

Now, it seems, this was not even a case of accidental violation. NYT Editor Margaret Sullivan revealed that when the movie’s publicist, Cynthia Swartz, contacted Mr. Scott directly to ask permission to use the quote in an ad, his e-mail response was:

Well this is a new one. I’d prefer though that my tweets not be used in advertisements. That seems like a slippery slope and contrary to the ad hoc and informal nature of the medium. 

And changing the tweet is basically manufacturing a quote, something I avoid. 

So I’m afraid the answer is no.

Nonetheless, the ad went ahead. One of the film’s producers, Scott Rudin, was the one who asked the publicist to use the Tweet. He told Ms. Sullivan, “If a critic is going to tweet it, we’re free to use it,” he said. “We’re free to edit any review. We pull out what we want.” Also,  “The paper running the ad is a tacit approval of the content of the ad... They took our money and they ran the ad." He also said the placement cost CBS Films $70, 000.

So who is at fault here? A spokeswoman for the newspaper said that its advertising staff were unaware of Mr. Scott’s objections and would have handled it differently had they known. The advertiser broke the rules of Twitter and trust of a critic. And the critic learned a lesson about unintended consequences of social media.

Ms. Sullivan concludes:

In the end, nothing terrible happened here. But it’s a moment that, at the very least, ought to cause some internal discussion at The Times and the establishing of clear rules and practices.

What do you think?

This fake hot sauce ad will make you cringe in so many ways

You can cringe at the stereotypes, you can cringe at the comedic sexual harassment, or you can just... cringe:



The  pervert is Rhys Ifans, a welsh actor known for his roles in The Replacements, Notting Hill, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as being the frontman for Super Furry Animals. The woman is Belgian/Spanish musician Bilonda Mfunyi Tshiabu. The film was written and directed by Marcus Kuhne.

Thanks to Perry for the tip.

Today's Inspiration — Lost Olympic Sports

Nowness featured this delightful collection of short films by photographer and filmmaker KT Auleta:

Lost Olympic Sports on Nowness.com.

She shot all three shorts on Super 8 — the medium of choice for yesterday's cheesy family movies and hirsute stag films.

Ms Auleta told Nowness, "With the grain of Super 8, there is a real visual depth, a sexiness... I wanted a carefree feel from the models, allowing playfulness and the interplay between the sexes to shine through."

Great stuff.

There's also a behind-the-scenes video on Facebook.

This movie poster fail probably helped ticket sales #FdAdFriday

The title of this Chinese movie is supposed to translate to "Love in the Buff," but that's not how I read it...

Via Buzzfeed

F'd Ad Fridays: The grossest film poster you'll come across today

According to the Anomalous Material blog (via Buzzfeed) this is a "banned" poster created for the Hungarian release of the well-received dirty Steve McQueen movie, Shame.

Eww.

Lisbon gay film festival reveals the closeted characters in your favourite movies

Marc put this Queer Lisboa campaign on Osocio, but I wanted to share it here too. Some of them are pretty funny (if only for the accents).







This last one I thought was already acknowledged as a "gay movie". But anyway...

Part ad, part film, all-Italian

Fellow Osocio blogger Tatjana Vukic shared this interesting piece of commercial cinema via Facebook.

It's a pretty steamy six-and-a-half minute romp starring Monica Bellucci, who moves effortlessly from saucy situation to saucy situation while showing off a number of underthings by Intimisssimi:



The copy at the opening says, "In the heart of very woman beats many hearts. This film is dedicated to every single one of them."

It's actually an ideal approach to branding a line of products with so much attachment to strong emotion and self-image. Like all fashion advertising, it plunges into a realm of fantasy rather than presenting the everyday reality of its target market, imbuing the brand with a mystery and allure.

What, you expected me to complain about the implicit sexism, or something? Naw, not this time.

I've lived in Italy, and sexuality and beauty in the media are perceived differently there. Advertising, especially fashion advertising, is understood to be artistic and surreal — not a template for living or a standard to live up to. (If the opposite were the case, they'd all look like they had just stepped out of the "I Hurt I am in fashion" photoblog.) This short-film-length ad is artistic enough to be watched as either.

Great! But what exactly are they selling?

I Believe in Advertising posted these two entertaining ads:





They're part of See Film Differently, an outgrowth of Volkswagen's sponsorship of independent cinema in the UK. They've now turned their attention to Hollywood and other big movie locations, and will be hosting a number of screenings and events in classic locations like those featured in the ads.

Of course, there are two things to consider here: Is this really helping build Volkswagen's brand? (Not to mention the irony of the Nazi-born company associating itself with an NYC deli.) And what do these two 1980s blockbuster movies have to do with supporting independent film?

Oh well, at least they were worth a watch.

life.turns. into something awesome

life.turns. is a project started for the 2010 Edinburgh Arts Festival by Blipfoto.com.

It incorporates 1205 photographs taken in 21 countries over 40 days, as one film.

Models were shot in a variety of "walking" poses, then the images were stitched together to create a continuous movement.

It's a digital version of the zoetrope, a Victorian-age machine that produced animation by rapidly cycling still images. With the invention of photography, Eadward Muybridge took the next step towards motion pictures with his rapid-fire photo montages. (Link contains lots of nudity - Muybridge was a bit of a pig.)

So, here's the digital zoetrope:

life.turns. from Blipfoto on Vimeo.

Music is "Turn" by Travis.

Greetings from 'ollywood Nord

We're on-set today, shooting another Federal Government ad. In the past few months, we've shot in locations such as government offices, an aviation school, and a steel mill. But this one is different. We're actually creating a world from scratch.



Welcome to the coolest market in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Don't look for it in Lonely Planet, because it's actually on a sound stage by the chilly banks of the mighty St. Lawrence River. But just for one day, we're transporting a bunch of actors to Sicily. Or maybe it's Cyprus. Or Greece? Turkey? Lebanon?

The point is not to be too specific. The scenario is a Canadian tourist abroad, drinking in the local culture. The market has a region, but not a nation. It should remind viewers of the coolest travel experiences they've ever had... anywhere in the world.



It's our own little exotic Sesame Street, complete with all the people in the neighbourhood... even chickens. We're in Mel's, a group of hangar-like buildings used for Quebec and Hollywood films alike. The posters on the walls of the corridors boast of some of the movies filmed here: 300, Catch Me if You Can, The Aviator, and others.



At Acart, we've long benefited from a tight relationship with the Montreal film industry. Just two hours from our agency's front door, we have access to world-class production resources and people driven by the passion of knowing they are at the epicentre of their own culture's creative expression. This is the real Hollywood North, even if they often drop the "H".

Our production house on this shoot is Traffik, with Director Dominique Laurence. I won't reveal the client, or give any plot spoilers right now. Stay tuned for a full look behind-the-scenes when the ad is done and approved in a few weeks. It's gonna be way cool.