Skater brands denounce gay-hating fans #toplovesall

A couple of young men from Western Quebec have drawn the ire of the social media shame machine for their violently anti-gay shirts and statements.

One of them (I won't repeat their names here) was photographed wearing a shirt with the name of his gamer group, along with the words "If you are gay, don't approch [sic] me I'll kill you," to a popular Halloween event in Ottawa. Once identified, the man and a friend spoke to media defending their group's message, even though it might be considered hate speech in Canada.

These guys don't deserve any more infamy than they're already getting, however local skater store Top Of The World's reaction is interesting from a branding point of view.

Recognizing RVCA and other subculture brands on the offenders, Top Of The World posted the above captioned picture with the words, "I'm sure you've seen these fellas in the news or on social media. If not check it out. We wanted to make ourselves clear when it comes to this kind of garbage. #ottawa #toplovesall"

In recent years, many brands have struggled with the polarizing issue of LGBT equality, such as in the pasta wars of 2013. But with gay rights in the mainstream consciousness, in more progressive parts of the world brands have more to gain (and less to lose) by being LGBT allies than in courting homophobic customers. 

Top Of The World and RVCA picked the smart side in this one.

Victoria's Secret wants your daughters to know what a "perfect body" looks like

I don't expect much from fashion advertising. I know that they're selling an idealized self-image, making people think that you can magically transform into an airbrushed beauty if you just buy their brand. It's a fantasy, like vacation advertising. I get it.

But this mall poster, at the new Victoria's Secret boutique in Ottawa's Rideau Centre, still irked me.

The Rideau Centre, at the nexus of Ottawa's bus routes and downtown business, shopping and tourism streets, is the favoured hangout of teens from across Canada's National Capital Region. This display faces the main escalators that hundreds of young people ride every day. And its implicit message, beneath the pun on the product name, is clear.

More than ever before, today's young women see the female body exposed, critiqued, and brutally shamed in the public and private media to which they are addicted. And the young men grow up in a time when viewing and judging women's bodies is a national pastime.

I'm not a prude. I think that nudity and healthy sexual interest are completely harmless. But setting up impossible visual standards for women (at least, those who don't spend four hours a day in the gym before being digitally smoothed and contoured) and emblazoning the words "the perfect body" over them is bound to cause insecurity in girls and impossible "standards" for the boys who will date them.

Add to this that the Ottawa VS includes the "Pink" sub brand — aimed at 15-to-22 year olds — and this gets even more creepy.

Do better, Victoria's Secret. We know you can.

A PSA for Ottawa Comiccon #OCC #consent

In the current conversation about consent and sexual harassment/assault, the subject of how people are dressed often comes up. Whether it's a police officer saying "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized" (the wotrds that launched Slutwalk) or questions about behaviour or reputation, victim-blaming contributes to a culture that enables rape.

At this weekend's Ottawa Comiccon, you can expect to see all kinds of attendees, men and women, getting their "cosplay" on as they dress up as their favourite comic book and sci-fi characters.

Via comicsthegathering.com

Unfortunately, some attendees see costumes as an excuse to harass and assault women at the Comicon. To address this issue, Hollaback! will be there, "to explore the issue of harassment in geek spaces and open up the floor to discussions on how we can make the community safer."

They are also participating in the "Cosplay =/= Consent" campaign by Geeks for CONsent, an organization started by Hollaback! Philly that encourages the organizers of comicons to adopt an anti-harassment policy and train their volunteers on how to appropriately deal with offences. They also encourage people share their stories of harassment, to hand out "Harasser Cards," learn how to be supportive bystanders, and to promote the Cosplay =/= Consent meme by posing with branded placards.

Have fun at the con, everyone. Just don't be a SuperAsshole.

Edgy restaurant branding, or terrible new euphemism for "vulva"?

Via skirtsteak.ca

The question is, of course, rhetorical. The web site's feature image shows a woman splayed over a butcher block, hanging an agonizingly vaginal steak by a meat hook. It's about the most awful advertising image I've seen in ages. (Apparently, it's also a billboard.)

The Ottawa Citizen reports that this upcoming suburban steakhouse is owned by the Rooney Group, who also own Tosh Steakhouse & Bar in Arnprior. The Rooney Group would not talk to reporters.

The work is featured in the portfolio of Ottawa's Light Switch Creative.

The restaurant's site is all about hiring right now. Here's how they describe themselves:

Skirt Steak is a steakhouse redefined. The sleek, contemporary atmosphere combined with unique menu selections and cuts of meat, leave guests with little to desire. [...] This sexy and edgy take on today’s steakhouse will keep you wanting more.

 Sexy, edgy... and almost literally dripping with misogyny.

Julie Lalonde, director of Hollaback! Ottawa, told the Citizen, “I rolled my eyes. How unoriginal, you’re using women as a metaphor for meat. If you can’t advertise your business without objectifying women then you don’t have a good business model. It turns people off and it’s offensive.”

Barry Nabatian, director of market research for Shore-Tanner & Associates, added that the location — close to the hockey mecca, strip malls and technology businesses of Kanata — may be right for this kind of approach, saying “a lot of the people are engineers who go out looking for those things.”

Doesn't really say much about the profession, does it?

The women as food cliché is already tiresome. This one is gruesome as well. The woman with the cleaver offers us her "skirt steak," freshly butchered. Are we supposed to want to eat it or...? I don't intend to find out.


Thanks to Paul for the tip.

Wedding photographer claims her work was stolen for a "quickie marriage" radio contest

Ottawa wedding photographer Barbi Guild Cameron took to Facebook recently, claiming that local radio station HOT 89.9 took one of her photos, without permission or payment, for use in a partnership marketing kit:

The new Hot 89.9 out of Ottawa Canada runs a contest every spring where by couples get married in the span of 24 hours. I think it is a horrible, horrible contest and devalues marriage. It is certainly a contest I do NOT want my name or branding associated with. Imagine my shock when I see my image on their media/marketing kit info that entices potential advertisers to the contest to pay big bucks to be a part of it.

The image is from the blog of Barbara Ann Studios, where it appeared in a 2009 post about the wedding location of Strathmere.

Ms. Cameron continues:

I contacted the the radio station and they did not immediately get back to me. So then I contacted their owner, NewsCap Radio (who own ALOT radio stations across the country). They contacted me immediately expressing that they take copyright issue VERY SERIOUSLY. Well, everything was very serious until I mentioned that they were to compensate me for the illegal use of my image (AND ALTERED USE I MIGHT ADD). That is when the email tone turned negative. 

The Vice President of NewsCap Radio offered me $40. When I turned him down, he emailed me the following: 

"Barb you were kind enough to provide us with a few definitions. Here is one I just looked up:extortionNOUN The practice of obtaining something, esp. money through force or threatsSYNONYMS Blackmail-exaction
You are obviously a very talented photographer, I would stick with that. Extortion is not your thing.CheersSB" 

If they would have approached me to use the image, we would have had a chance to discuss the commercial use of it (IF I allowed the use of the image in the first place). However, once the image is used, I am at the disadvantage because the image is already out there. 

I no longer want money from them. I instead want this story to be shared and shared and shared and shared. Maybe, just maybe, some marketing person at a company will read it and it will educate them to not STEAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY just because Google barfed it up on their screen. 

 I can only imagine the horror that someone who counts on wedding business felt when her work — and her clients — were used to promote a contest that in her opinion "devalues marriage".

If all the above is true, it's quite conceivable that some graphic designer at HOT 89.9 figured nobody would ever know if they "borrowed" an image for a piece that was never supposed to be seen in public. But it's the alleged reaction from the Newcap VP that is really troubling.

Let's see how this plays out.

Thanks to Marc A for the tip.

My favourite Barbie photo in the history of ever

Copyright Julie Lauren. via julielaurin.com

No, it's not one of Mariel Clayton's psychotic Barbie shots. Or even this old Body Shop ad. It's a photo just published by a Facebook friend, Ottawa photographer Julie Lauren.

Julie's pictures tend to explore the awkwardness of human bodies, held in contorted poses or expressions by other people, duct tape, or plastic sheeting. Her new series on dolls, however, is particularly interesting. Laurie has been gleaming thrift shops for old Barbies and related dolls and accessories, then creating interesting compositions with them.

Of all of them this one struck me as particularly meaningful. It says so much about the spectre of body image that looms over young girls as they consume magazines, fashion ads, and of course gendered Barbie play.

The setup of this shot was dead simple, all done in camera with backlight, paper and toys. For those interested, Julie explains the "making of" on her blog. 

But I'm more interested in the final effect: the pudgy little girl casually glancing over her shoulder, but not yet fully aware of the impossible perfection forming in her subconsciousness, with special emphasis on her sexual parts. 

I could go on and on, but this picture is worth more than a thousand words. Well-done, Julie.

Women strip for Christmas toy donations, but one charity refuses to accept them

Via CBC

CBC reports that Ottawa "Gentlemen's Club" Barefax is letting its performers accept toy donations as payment for table dances.

It's hardly the first time this kind of charity drive has happened. The Admiral Theatre, in Chicago, has been doing it for years. But what was interesting about this story was the question of whether strippers are morally acceptable benefactors to kids.

The Debra Dynes Family House, which provides support to low-income families in Ottawa, pulled out of the program after being contacted by a reporter. The CBC article states that the Ottawa Salvation Army did not reply to questions about their involvement. (The Sally Ann runs the biggest local toy drive, Toy Mountain.)

But what is the real problem here? It might be the uncomfortable connection it makes between the sex industry and young children. Or perhaps its a distaste for the perceived exploitation of the stripping business. Or they might just be grossed out by the idea of the toys having been handled by naked women and the men who pay them to give informal gynaecology classes.

While the PR opportunity for the club is obvious, I think the individual dancers really do just want to help kids. Many of them, inevitably, are moms themselves. And offstage, they are just members of the community who want to feel the spirit of Christmas.

A Barefax dancer with the stage name Melina told the CBC, "When they asked me to do this I thought it was a really good idea because there’s a lot of children who have nothing. Just because it’s a strip club doesn’t mean that we’re mean people and we can’t do any good."

Here's the CBC TV report:

Whoever did this, I think I love you.

Spotted in Sandy Hill, Ottawa.

I guess defacement of public property isn't exactly ethical, but I do love things that make you think so many things.

"Feminist" Nirvana ends up on sexist radio billboards

I've been observing the latest campaign by Ottawa classic rock radio station The Bear for a few months now. Originally, it showed billboards with two bare-backed women and a hairy bare-backed man, the women with band names tattooed on their skin and the guy with one shaved in. It was stupid, but mostly harmless.

Then I guess they decided to drop the humour, and go straight to the sex:

You can't really expect sensitivity and brilliance from ads aimed at aging Gen-X and Boomer male wannabe rockers. I'm in that market, after all. But I still found it pretty primitive of them.

The use of the Nirvana "brand" however, made me think of the late Kurt Cobain. Wasn't he supposed to have been a feminist hero?

From The Daily Beast:

Female fans detected a humanistic view of women in the lyrics and certainly in Cobain’s public pro-feminist persona. Cobain was an early advocate of Sassy magazine, the late '80s through mid-'90s magazine aimed at teenage girls that had a definite feminist bent. He also enjoyed provoking and mocking American gender anxieties, engaging in previously unheard of behavior in a major rock star—glam rock aside—such as wearing women’s clothes and making out with male bandmates in public, just daring people to have a problem with it. “I really picked up on the sensitivity and girl-positive nature of Nirvana,” explained Kate, a 30-year-old from Toronto, “it was important to me to see a famous, attractive man share some ideas about feminism with me and be unapologetic and forthright about it.”

And then there are Cobain's own troubled words:

“Yeah, all Isms (sic) feed off one another but at the top of the food chain is still the white, corporate, macho, strong ox male. Not redeemable as far as I’m concerned. I mean, classism is determined by sexism because the male decides whether all other isms still exists (sic). Its up to men. I’m just saying that people can’t deny any ism or think that some are more or less subordinate except for sexism… I still think that in order to expand on all other isms, sexism has to be blown wide open…but there are thousands of green minds, young gullable (sic) 15 year old boys out there just starting to fall into the grain of what they’ve been told of what a man is supposed to be and there are plenty of tools to use. The most effective tool is entertainment” 

And now, 18 years after he killed himself, the band he founded is being used as part of a campaign telling the new generation what a woman is "supposed to be": pure T&A, sexually available and enjoying his gaze.

It's only rock and roll, right? Except it's not the '70s anymore. Unironic, unartistic, sexually exploitative  marketing. Weren't we supposed to grow out of this?

Local burger joint offers to fight anorexia

CBC Ottawa has a story about this food court ad, for local burgerjoint Manhattan Burgers, that caught the eye of psychology student Genevieve Hayden.

"That's not the kind advertising that anorexia and mental health illnesses need to get," she told the media. "They need to get positive advertising about how it is a real issue and not 'eat this burger and you'll be okay.'"

She's absolutely right, but the controversy that followed highlights the difficulties of using humour in advertising in a more sensitive age.

The restaurant owner, Fauzy Kaddoura, responded, "That's where I think the disease starts out, doesn't it? Most people worry about their figure. They think they're too big and they stop eating. And I was just thinking this is sort of the opposite."

It was an honest mistake, born of ignorance about the disease. And to his credit, Mr. Kaddoura decided to change it anyway, suggesting "Help us fight the diet craze."

Much better—it's actually what he was trying to say in the first place. And another potentially acrimonious conflict gets settled Canadian-style.

Sibling rivalry: Identical twin ADs square off on beer label design contest

Duelling Wantucks at the National Art Gallery

Okay, so this is fun.

My good friends Tim Wantuck and Daryn Wantuck are identical twins. And they don't just have looks in common — they're both accomplished designers, illustrators and art directors at Ottawa agency The Bytown Group. And if you know them, you're already aware that they never saw a logo or packaging design contest they could walk away from.

So, predictably, when Kichesippi Beer Co. decided to crowdsource a label for its newest brew, Heller High Water, both Daryn and Tim got in on the action. And what do you know? They both made the Top 4:

Daryn's is on the right.

Tim's is on the right.

Sibling rivalry? Oh, yeah! If you'd like to weigh in on either twin's design, or even vote for one of the other, non monozygotic-clone-designed, ones, go to the Kichesippi Beer page and "Like" your favourite(s) to vote them up.

Christian church ditches "Christmas", goes with pagan holiday instead

It's Halloween, sure, but The Bay put up their Christmas decorations in September. And when I was out for a walk near my office, I saw this banner on the side of Dominion-Chalmers United Church:

I belong to the United Church of Canada, even though I no longer attend. And I had never heard of anyone being afraid of calling "Christmas" by name.

Sure, there are places where name-checking a religious holiday is considered inconsiderate to those who do not follow the same gods and/or prophets. But I would have thought a Christian church, even a very liberal one, would be okay with putting the "Christ" in the whole thing.

Even stranger is the use of "Yule". I like the term, but it's a religious holiday too. It just happens to be a pagan German one that few today observe.

I'm not at all offended that a church I sort-of belong to (and Canada's largest Protestant denomination) decided to go this way. All I can figure is that they are trying to be welcoming to the diverse community of Centretown Ottawa. The UCC, after all, is the affirming church that welcomes people of all sexual orientations, and often holds religious weddings for people from other churches and religions that are no longer accepted in their own places of worship. It is also the church responsible for this ad:

But it still made me go "hmmmmm..." You?

Sleeveface: the greatest photo meme lives on in radio station ads

Long before today's trend of stupid photo memes, there was Sleeveface. Although earlier examples exist, the fad was named and made famous in 2007 by proud Welshman Carl Morris.

Following the success of his user-generated site, in 2008 Morris and his friend John Rostron published a book of Sleeveface pictures. Having fallen in love with the concept from the start, a bunch of us at Acart Communications had submitted our own, photographed by our colleague Rob Wilson. Most of them made it into the book.

So sliiiiide over here, and give me a moment...

I've always wanted to find a way to use Sleeveface in a campaign. So I was a little bummed out when I passed this billboard in Ottawa last week:

It's a little obvious to do it for a classic rock station, but I guess I'm glad that the meme lives on.

Close-ups below:

Jammin' in the cubicle

Sisters are doin' it for themselves?

F'd Ad Fridays: Winababy

Not much to see here. It's just the latest publicity stunt by Ottawa radio station HOT 89.9.

It's still in the teaser stage (I spotted this yesterday) but the copy on their web site already has me groaning:

Be listening to The Morning Hot Tub with Mauler, Rush, Jenni and Josie at 7:15am to find out what we've CONCEIVED!

It may RATTLE the city!

We're still in the INFANT stages of planning...

Ok, just listen Monday Morning.

This is going to be SPECIAL!

Any guesses on the contest theme? A free sample of DJ semen? An all-expenses-paid trip to a secret cloning lab? Human trafficking?

F'd Ad Fridays: Kate's silly Canada Day hat

Via

And with that, I'm off to enjoy the day with friends and family.

Have a happy, safe, and responsibly intoxicated Canada Day, folks!

Cardboard Will and Kate, on an Ottawa date

When I made fun of this year's Outaouais tourism campaign, I may have spoken too soon. Apparently the weirdness has spread to my side of the river, in Ottawa:



This video, shared by Nick Iannitti on the Adrants FB page, anticipates the visit to Ottawa by royal newlyweds William and Kate this week for Canada Day.

Fairly harmless, really, until you look at where it's hosted: on the Ottawa Tourism YouTube account.

Yep, it's an official (or at least officially sanctioned) tourism video. Will it offend the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, or perhaps the handful of old people in Canada who still view our Monarch's family with some sort of superhuman reverence?

Whatever. I like to see authorities break out a little bit. Besides which, the cutouts look like they had a much better time than the real Will & Kate can possibly have here.

This IS Flint after all...

Remember when Newcap Radio (owners of HOT 89.9) and Alphabet Creative pissed off the residents of Flint, Michigan with their self-promo campaign "This Ain't Flint"? It was supposed to rouse mid-recession Ottawans into realizing that they didn't have it as bad as the seemingly post-apocalyptic rust belt subject of Roger and Me. Instead, it just confused people.

A spokesperson for Flint Mayor Michael Brown stated, "I would say to the makers of the video 'This Ain't Flint' that that ain't Flint either," spokesman Bob Campbell said. "It is trying to make a point satirically, and it fails miserably."

Now, ironically, a Flint Mayoral candidate is painting an even worse portrait of his city in his own campaign ad:


(via Reddit)

I guess it's OK when they criticize themselves. But either way, poor Flinters just can't catch a break. At least they tried to cast against stereotype, with a white crook.

F'd Ad Fridays: Groupon copywriting at its finest.

Here's the body copy. Seriously:

"The problem with invisibility is that cloak fashions fade rapidly and past-season trends don't capture anyone's eyes for resale. Manage your appearance in a more sustainable way with today's Groupon to Luxe Spa. Choose from three options:

• For $20, you get a women's haircut, wash, and blow-dry (a $40 value).
• For $20, you get a Brazilian wax (a $45 value).
• For $30, you get a women's haircut, wash, and blow-dry, plus a Brazilian wax (an $85 value). 

A modern, full-service spa, Luxe Spa plunges bodies into beautifying bliss beneath the hands of skilled stylists and aestheticians. The women's haircut, wash, and blow-dry lops and sculpts locks for a fresh look made to inspire the next generation of fairy-tale writers. By request, Luxe will douse head threads in completely organic shampoos and styling products from the Simply Organic line. Alternatively, freshly snipped scalps with plans to hit the beach can descruff bikini zones with a Brazilian wax. As souls simmer in an environment tailored to one's personal preferences, an expert aesthetician removes any trace of hair, giving waxing areas legitimate reason to challenge silk to a smooth-off."

I challenge thee to a smooth off, thou scruffian!

Ottawa Admen go *POP*

The Ottawa Ad community is really one, big, incestuous family. Many of the people who work for the "competition" are men and women we've worked with in previous lives, and quite a few remain lifelong friends. It's in that spirit that I give you twin Art Directors Daryn Wantuck and Tim Wantuck from The Bytown Group in a living work of pop art:

(Photo by Mike Z.)

Daryn and Tim were recruited, among many other sets of identicals, to appear in the exhibit Pop Life: Living in a Material World at the National Gallery of Canada. According to the "about" page it explores the "complex relationship between contemporary art, marketing and the mass media", starting with Andy Warhol and ending with... well... these guys.

It's a recreation of the 1992 Damien Hirst exhibit at the Cologne Unfair art fair, where the British artist commissioned a set of identical twins named Ingo and Torsten to spend time sitting in front of his trademark spot paintings.

You can't invite ad creatives to be part of an exhibit like that without getting something extra. And so it happened that, after their first sitting in the installation, Daryn and Tim asked their Facebook friends if they should wear some more conceptual matching outfits for the next one. They wanted to make a statement about commercialization that was all their own.

Michael Zavacky, from McMillan, is well known for his campy illustrations and love of vintage clothing and trends. He offered to make some matching tees for the Wantuck Twins.

That's where I chimed in and suggested "Doublemint", after the famous commercials of our Gen-X childhoods:



Everyone gave it a thumbs-up, Mike designed and screened suitably retro tees, the lads wore them to the Gallery last Thursday, and it was a big hit. I love it when a plan comes together. And I love the sense of community that our agency peeps have. You guys all rock.

Daryn and Tim's next sitting at Pop Life: Living in a Material World is this Sunday (SUNDAY! SUNDAY!) from 10 am to 1:30 pm. Check it out, and ask the boys for a stick of gum!

The lighter side of Social Issues Marketing

Last week, Calypso — Canada's Biggest Theme Waterpark — opened to the public.

As you probably know, in addition to saving the world with all of our usual social issues marketing work, we've been secretly creating a world of colourful characters for Calypso's grand opening.

Beginning with character sketches, we developed the backstories of Calypso the water goddess, Wildman Jack the adventurer, Sara Max the daredevil, Capitaine LaPlank the pirate, and Dr. Dunk the evil scientist. Over the past couple of months, we have literally been bringing these characters to life designing costumes and characterization for use at the park.

And now, in this Acart-written, TVA-produced TV ad, we can finally give you a look at the Calypso characters in flesh and blood:






So, how is this saving the world? Well, it's certainly bringing seasonal jobs to a previously-quiet corner of the National Capital Region. And it's providing a great sense of pride for our community, as well as a strong pull for tourists around the world to take a second look at Ottawa as a fun destination.

But most of all, we're enjoying this change of pace because when you spend 80% of your time addressing the world's problems, it's just nice to celebrate the lighter side of life in your own backyard. Next week, I'll let you hear what some of these characters sound like as I blog our radio campaign.

See you at the park!