Tylenol does a beautiful ad that says nothing about Tylenol #HowWeFamily

Sometimes, my industry makes me too cynical. I completely understand why brands want to associate themselves with progressive social issues. The inevitable blowback, from reactionary groups such as One Million Moms, get them oodles of positive earned media. But is it really moving product? Let's have a look:

Beautiful piece. It could have been produced by any one of dozens of human rights groups, if only they had the money. And there's a campaign microsite (of course) for online engagement.

But it's not a human rights PSA. It is an ad for a pain medicine. And the branding is stuck on so bluntly that it seems like more of a sponsored short film than an ad.

Don't get me wrong. I like the video and I agree with its sentiment. But at what point do we question whether consumer brands are manipulating us by piggy-backing on the important social issues of our day? And is that OK with us anyway?

I think it is, but only if we consume the media (and product) with the open-eyed awareness that we are being advertised to. Johnson &Johnson aren't just being nice. They're following a plotted brand strategy, after testing the market last Christmas with a similar ad.

Ad Age quotes Manoj Raghunandanan, senior director-marketing of J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare, saying that research conducted after the December campaign "brought significant improvement in brand-equity scores on such survey questions as 'this is a brand that understands me'," which translated into greater sales and market share for Tylenol, "despite the brand putting no other advertising support behind its Extra Strength Tylenol flagship products during that period."

Nothing about the product's efficacy, nor its price, nor even its safety. Just family-focussed branding that builds trust and positive associations.

Perhaps this is the future for brand advertising, and to be honest it feels pretty good. Just don't forget that you are always a customer.

Canadian Subway restaurant welcomes "screaming kids" after competition doesn't

Via CBC

As a parent, I love this.

It all started when a seafood restaurant in New Sydney, Nova Scotia, decided to let the town know that they are NOT child-friendly:

The local and social media outcry was immediate and effective, and the restaurant issued an apology. 

I'm sure not everyone will agree with me, but I feel very strongly that children have a right to be in public spaces. Their parents have a responsibility to keep them from unnecessarily disrupting other people's peace-of-mind, but the really young ones — especially babies — often cry. Deal with it. You were one once, too. 

It amazes me what a truly family-unfriendly society we are, when I visit countries where children are cherished by the society as a whole. It seems like a much healthier environment for them to grow up in.

Anyway, kudos to local Subway franchisee Kirk MacRae, who told CBC: "We've had a few [screaming kids] and hope to have a lot more, and don't have any issue with it whatsoever."

Let's hope this goes viral in the good way.

Mystery posters promote guns as an LGBT rights issue

Over the past few years, the LGBT rights movement in the United States has been phenomenally successful. So I guess it's not that surprising that another movement — the lobby against tightening gun control — would try to align itself with the equal marriage cause.

According to Buzzfeed staffer Sarah Karlan, these posters "have been popping up around the Washington State Capitol in the last several days" and the QR code leads to a pro-gun website called “A Human Right.”

According to MSN, however, the site's owner denies being behind the wild postings. Nashville commercial photographer Oleg Volk told James Eng:

"The photo poster is my design, the line drawing isn't. I encourage re-posting of my graphics, so I approve of the use in general. The specific use wasn't coordinated with me but that's just fine, pre-approval is not necessary. 

"I have no idea who posted them but they acted as my allies in the cause. I want everyone -— especially people who have been traditionally facing discrimination and danger — to be more secure and independent. Minorities of all kinds are in that exact predicament."

(I also wonder why there's what appears to be a Lebanese flag in the first one.)

This isn't a unique combination of positions. Libertarians, for example, support both LGBT and gun freedoms (among many others). But this particular positioning, at this particular time, seems mighty cynical to me.

Microsoft shows some love for equal marriage

More evidence of the sea-change in marriage rights for same-sex couples that has taken over the United States. Although I can't help but note that it's probably a lot easier for the "mainstream" to watch two beautiful women kiss each other than two men. But anyway, baby steps.

Here's the ad:



Ad by Deutsch NY. Tip via Business Insider.

Subway location in France offers "straights only" Valentine's deal

Opposing Views reports:

A branch of the Subway chain in Angers, France was forced to close recently after a Valentine’s Day special was offered to heterosexual couples only. 

The store’s owner put up a poster advertising a meal deal for couples that included a footlong Subway sandwich, a drink and a dessert each for 14 Euros. Bracketed next to the word “couples” were the letters “H/F,” indicating a couple was defined as a man and woman only. 

Also on the poster was an asterisk that read: “Discrimination (?) No, the marriage for all law has advanced, but has yet to be ratified by the Senate. Until then, I’ll use my freedom of expression.”

The special offer was apparently made by a rogue franchisee, and spent Subway France spinning on Twitter and Facebook.

On Saturday, when the news had gone global, they even posted in English on their Facebook page:

As we stated in response to many posts yesterday: The SUBWAY ® brand is strongly committed to maintain the values ​​of diversity and inclusiveness in its restaurants around the world and does not endorse in any discrimination of any kind . , we apologize to all the people being offended by individual initiative to promote Valentine's Day a restaurant in Angers, France. All SUBWAY ® restaurants are owned by franchisees and are managed independently. We work with the owner of the restaurant in order to strengthen our values ​​and company policy.

The French National Assembly recently approved a law that would legalize same-sex marriage and give the same rights to all married couples to adopt children. Although the legislation has met with organized protest, a recent poll indicated that 63% of French citizens support equal marriage.

But not, apparently, that one rogue sandwich artist who caused his brand a massive embarrassment.

TD Bank features same-sex couples in "mainstream" ads

The ad above was shared by my favourite Sicilian-Canadian reader, Jackie Di Caro. It appears in the Toronto Star.

Looking for background, I found that the "lifestyle" section of TD's web site also features a video with two men on the page about "becoming a couple".

What's cool about this isn't the fact that a major brand is targeting gay consumers. With their stereotyped double-income-no-kids lifestyle, committed same-sex couples are a marketer's dream. But instead of running a niche campaign in "gay" media, TD is simply adding same-sex couples to the rotation of its depictions of families. And it's not even a recent development. TD has  participated in, and sponsored, Pride parades for several years. The bank recently produced its own had-hitting It Gets Better video. And it walks the walk — it is recognized as one of "The Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality".

Via This Gay Relationship

What will all this gay-positiveness do to one of Canada's largest banks, and to society as a whole?

From a 2011 post in the blog "This Gay Relationship":

...if TD doesn't stop presenting all of these positive images in their newspaper ads, I might just get the idea being a gay male couple is as normal and natural in Canada in 2011 as has been the case for straight couples since the beginning of time (or at least since TD began advertising in big city newspapers). I'm not sure what would happen if the general population started to get that idea. Who knows where that could lead us. 

This is all awesome, from a progressiveness point-of-view, but it is also a great example of how traditional organizations are adapting to a changing social climate. In 2012, TD reported it had $1.6 billion of net income in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for year ended Oct. 31 to $6.47 billion.

Should we expect global brands to respect universal human rights?

Following the scorn heaped upon IKEA for deleting all adult women from the Saudi version of its catalogue, I think it's time to start talking about how we hold global brands accountable for how they operate in places without basic human rights.

This week, I noticed a picture going around that claimed to be from the door of a Pizza Hut in Jeddah:

Digging a little deeper, I found a 2007 blog post with more documentation of major brands giving in to sexist Saudi social and religious policy:

In this case, the policy of sex segregation is because women must expose their faces to eat, so no unmarried and unrelated man can be allowed to see them.

At McDonald's, the segregation is has created the "need" for restaurants to build parallel and non-communicating sections for (male) "singles" and "families".

Admittedly, this was five years ago. But has anything changed?

From 2009:

An American businesswoman was carted off to jail by religious police in Saudi Arabia for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks in Riyadh, the Times of London reported.
The woman, who spent a day behind bars, was strip-searched and forced to sign a false confession before being released, the newspaper said. The Times declined to publish her name at her request. 

The 37-year-old businesswoman works for a finance company in Riyadh. Her problem began when her office lost electricity. She and her male colleagues then went to a nearby Starbucks to use the coffee shop's Internet connection. 

She sat with a male colleague in the Starbucks' family area, the only place women are allowed to sit with men.  

"Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked 'Why are you here together?' I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin," she told the Times. 

Following her arrest and interrogation, the woman was hauled before a judge.
"He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell.' I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless," she told the Times. 

The newspaper said the woman had received a visit from officials at the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia. A U.S. official told The Times that it was being treated as "an internal Saudi matter" and refused to comment on her case.

And this year:

Western companies on Saudi land must comply with Saudi religious regulations. Fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and other US firms, for instance, maintain sex-segregated eating zones in their restaurants. The facilities in the women's section are usually lower in quality.

I will just flat out say it: I don't think brands that want to do business in a world that respects the equality and dignity of women should be doing business in places where women have no basic rights. Full stop.

Recently, I refused to work on a project for a North American educational institution (NDA prevents me from naming names) that wanted to recruit teachers for a Saudi school. They would happily accept applications from anyone, but in reality only wanted white males. Fuck that.

Everyone — EVERYONE — deserves the same rights and opportunities as everyone else, and cannot be denied them simply because of what's between their legs. Whether that is a major right such as education and voting, or more mundane things like being able to drive or buy junk food, the continued denial of this equality is an affront to anyone who believes women are free individuals.

IKEA, when they were called out by the media in their base of Sweden, issued this statement:

We should have reacted and realized that excluding women from the Saudi Arabian version of the catalogue is in conflict with the IKEA Group values. We are now reviewing our routines to safeguard a correct content presentation from a values point-of-view in the different versions of the IKEA Catalogue worldwide.

You may not like where I'm going with this post. After all, don't universal human rights guarantee freedom of religion? Isn't it the Saudis' business how they run their society?

Personally, I have no problem saying that the way women are treated in Saudia Arabia, and many other countries is wrong. I don't care whether the reason given is religion, tradition, or just fear of women's liberation. Human beings deserve better.

I cannot change Saudi Arabia. But I can let western brands know that we're watching them. If expansion into wealthy but oppressive countries is more important to them than respect for women's rights, then that belief should be seen as part of their global brand.

If you want a Starbucks coffee, go ahead and order one. What you have in your hand is a beverage that stands for sex segregation and arrest of women who dare order one without their husband or brother present. If you have a Big Mac attack, remember that somewhere a single woman has had to hire a taxi driver to take her through the drive-through to get one, because to walk into the restaurant would put her at risk of being beaten and arrested by so-called morality police. Same with your Pizza Hut hot dog stuffed greasewheel, or your Double Down.

When you support a brand, you are making its values part of your own. That's the way branding and identity work. Would you like fries with that misogyny?

Wendy's gets burned on Chick-fil-A Day

Business Insider reports that several Wendy's locations in North and South Carolina posted the message "We stand with Chick-fil-A" this morning. (It's Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day)

It was the work of one of the franchise's biggest restaurant owners, Jim Furman, CEO of Tarheel Capital.

Interestingly, Tarheel's corporate site has a Mission Statement that opens with:

We manage our business by the Golden Rule,treating others as we would like to be treated,holding ourselves to high ethical standards.

Hmmm.

The signs weren't up for long. While Mr. Furman told regional media that the signs were changed quickly because the company "felt it was time to go back to their marketing message."

This is what Wendy's Corporate Twitter-bot had to say:

Unfortunately, when the US national debate over equal marriage is this ugly, it's hard to get the stain of intolerance off your brand — even when it isn't deserved.

Umm... guys?

Rebel propaganda from the US #waronwomen

by "Rain L." Source

MoveOn.org calls it, "The Most Disturbing Way To Encourage People To Vote That We've Seen This Year."

I think it's awesome.

As fringe American conservatives continue to restrict women's reproductive rights in the United States, this poster is an iconic reminder of the bad old days of back-alley abortions.

Awkward Headline of the Day #2 #FdAdFriday

Via Copyranter

Now that Rick Santorum is out of the race, it's nice to see some new political headline awkwardness.

Are they casting models, or snuff porn victims?

Bareface talent agency, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has chosen a weird way to promote its services. These ads, by Livingroom, appeared on Ads of The World over the weekend, and I'm still bothered enough by them to post here. 

Yes, I get the idea of the models being pulled every which way by fashion industry objects as representing being "in demand". But this is the freaking UAE. Women are already treated like chattel there. Accordig to Amnesty, "women in the United Arab Emirates continue to suffer the impact of discriminatory laws and practices which affect most aspectsof their life, including marriage and the choice of marriage partner, dissolution of marriage and child custody, and inheritance." Not to mention the threat of being arrested for adultery if they are victims of rape.

Not to mention the danger of foreign models being scammed and abused by unscrupulous recruiters. Or trafficked into prostitution.

So why have the models looking like they are being strangled? Even if unintentionally violent, these images are really not the best way to promote a more westernized fashion industry.

The Models are Revolting!

Well, not really. They're just organizing.


The Model Alliance Video Campaign from The Model Alliance on Vimeo.



Not quite a union, it seems, but a not-for-profit advocacy group that lets models report violations of labour laws and worse.

Here are The Model Alliance's goals:

1. Provide access to affordable health care.
2. Promote greater financial transparency.
3. Ensure that existing child labor laws are enforced.
4. Establish a grievance and enforcement system for issues of sexual harassment.
5. Draft a code of conduct that sets industry-wide standards for castings, shoots and shows.

They've even drafted a modelling bill of rights. It's a good idea. Even the minor-league models I've known over the years have been subject to poor working conditions and sexual harassment.

Sure, you might think of awful supermodels and be unmoved. But think of the thousands of anonymous men, women, boys and girls who are chewed up and spit out by an industry that is the very definition of superficiality. They could use a rescue network.

Via Jezebel

Homeschooled child is a puppet against equal marriage

What a bizarre thing this is. With no visual, and prompted by some creepy-sounding dude, a 14-year-old girl reads what seems to be a prepared statement (you can hear the paper script crinkling in her hands) asking Maryland legislators to vote against equal rights for same-sex couples.



Manipulating kids for political ends. Nice one.

Iranian actress banished for boobies

Golshifteh Farahani is an Iranian actress who has appeared in Western movies with Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Isabella Rossellini.

But most recently, she has become known as the latest woman from the Muslim world to be condemned for daring to bare her body for art.

Barely, that is.  She appeared partially nude in Jean-Baptiste Mondino's 'Corps et Âmes' (below) as well as in the French magazine Madame Le Figaro (above).




No big deal, right? Not in Iran.

From The Telegraph:

"The Paris-based actress left Iran last year in protest against restrictive Islamic codes that the Iranian cinema industry has to follow under Ahmadinejad's conservative cultural policies.

Now she said the government has sent a communication telling her not to travel back to her homeland.

"I was told by a Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guide official that Iran does not need any actors or artists. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else", Farahani said."

Following the Nude Photo Revolutionary scandal in Egypt,  I continue to wonder if these individual acts of protest are any indication of a simmering desire for sexual revolution among the women of the conservative Muslim world. If it is, I wish them well.

Amnesty goes on tour with Swedish death metal band

According to PRWeek, Amnesty International has partnered with Swedish band Arch Enemy (above) to promote the cause of freedom of expression throughout their Khaos Over Europe tour.

Via PRWeek

From the release:

Head of art for Amnesty Jo Metcalf explained that partnerships with acts that have strong relationships with fans are a growing focus for the charity. 

‘Working with bands who have loyal supporters who listen when they say something is far more beneficial than talking to them in a general way,’ said Metcalf. ‘When Arch Enemy say something about freedom of expression it has a resonance with fans. That goes for bands from Arch Enemy to U2.’

That's a fairly wide range, wouldn't you say? But a great outreach for Amnesty.



Thanks to Jenn F. for sharing.

F'd Ad Fridays: Human rights for sale... cheap

George Takei's equal rights group shared a link that led me to this:

That's right. All you have to do is get five of your fellow citizens to throw gay people under the bus in the next election, and you'll be entered in a draw for a $100 Visa card!

According to Minnesota for Marriage:

"Recently, a bi-partisan majority of the legislature voted to place the Minnesota Marriage Amendment on the 2012 statewide ballot to ensure that the people of Minnesota have a voice on this important issue. Please join us today to preserve marriage!"

But the Minnesota Independent points out:

"Bribery, advancing money, and treating prohibited. A person who willfully, directly or indirectly, advances, pays, gives, promises, or lends any money, food, liquor, clothing, entertainment, or other thing of monetary value, or who offers, promises, or endeavors to obtain any money, position, appointment, employment, or other valuable consideration, to or for a person, in order to induce a voter to refrain from voting, or to vote in a particular way, at an election, is guilty of a felony."

So in this case, perhaps the "F" for this campaign could also stand for "felonious"...

Hannah Montana and the ring finger of equality

I've really been enjoying watching onetime pop-culture-commodity Miley Cyrus become a woman. And not for the perverted reasons you may be rushing to accuse me of.

No, it's this:

The 18-year-old has  a cause, and that's marriage equality. And sadly, this is controversial.

I'm just happy to see her stand for something. Kids today... they have a shot at creating a much better world.

Test your B.Q. (Brotherhood Quotient)

click to read

Via Reddit/imgur comes this awkward attempt at teaching equality to kids in a 45-year-old comic book ad.

Amusing aside: "long-hair music" actually referred to classical composers back then. I recall a joke about it being compared to hippie music in a 1970s Jesus-freak Archie comic.

The best (accidental) equal rights PSA you will see today

This refreshingly cool video, shared by It's ok to be Takei, works as a spontaneously-generated PSA:



It's a great answer to those who believe evolving social norms, particularly when it comes to equal marriage rights, will somehow corrupt the young.

That's just not how kids' minds work. As each new generation faces the new social reality, they learn the new "normal" effortlessly, while the rest of us struggle to unlearn our prejudices.

For example, my son has a friend at school with two dads. When I first met him in the schoolyard, and I was trying to make arrangements with his parents for a playdate, I gave him a note and told him to give it to his mom.

"I don't have a mom," he said matter-of-factly. "I have two dads."

"...well, give it to one of your dads, then."

"OK!"

Sadly, this is also a reminder of why significant social change takes decades to achieve. It requires generational turnover to fully reset perceptions.

FEMEN go after Saudi Arabia

FEMEN's latest protest targets the Saudi kingdom for prohibiting women from driving.

So of course they gave their signature topless protest a more modest apparel:

Press Release (via Google Translate):

"Today, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia blocked the protest FEMEN-tuple. Thus, FEMEN expressed solidarity with the women of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who will leave June 17 to protest against the prohibition for women to drive cars. Topless activists wearing head scarves unfurled banners from the car, "Women - machine men - Camels!" Women they rule! »,« Let's drive »," Wild morals ". At the end of the campaign activists pelted the embassy with whips that the official government of Saudi Arabia urges men to beat their women for trying to get behind the wheel.
The women's movement FEMEN consistently opposed the near-eastern male tyranny and the liberation of women requires the Muslim world. The motion calls on the entire civilized FEMEN democratic world to help Muslim women to leave the position of slavery, giving them organizational, financial and political support."

Video here