Montreal cinema owner inflames Twitter with "Hockey Widow" promo

If there's one Canadian stereotype that has a strong basis in reality, it's not weird pronunciations of "out" or niceness — it's an obsession with hockey. The game is deeply rooted in our culture. While not every Canadian is a hockey fanatic, it's safer to assume a Canadian has a favourite hockey team than a favourite type of poutine.

Which makes it all the more baffling that a cinema chain in Montreal, "the Mecca of Hockey," would so casually insult female Habs fans by running a women-only promotion for "Hockey Widows" on game nights.

The CBC has compiled a collection of Tweets about the issue, including cinema owner Vincenzo Guzzo's defensive non-apologies.

@HamJam_9 Where is the insult? She isn't naked or in sex cloths or mopping the floors or doing other steriotipical BS thing that we see...
— Vincenzo Guzzo (@Guzzo_Vincenzo) October 14, 2014

@JessRusnak Wanted to reward women. Anything wrong with giving a benefit to women only? Maybe Senior discounts should also be given to all!
— Vincenzo Guzzo (@Guzzo_Vincenzo) October 14, 2014

Oh well. Canada's women's national ice hockey team has won gold in the past four Olympics, and is one of the winningest teams in history. So I guess it will take more than a sexist local cinema promotion to turn Canadian women away from the game.

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?

The most amazingly unfunny commercial ever, by Yakov Smirnoff

"In Soviet Russia, ad sucks YOU!"

The glacial pacing, the unfunny script, the awkward mugging for the camera, laughing at his own jokes... this thing really has it all. It's astounding, really. Someone should give this Yakov an award.

Via Buzzfeed

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!

An immersive creative experience

With so much going on in the world of social issues marketing, sometimes I forget to celebrate the fact that at Acart we don't just change the world — sometimes we create a whole new one.

This June, Ottawa will see the opening of Calyspo — Canada's largest theme waterpark.



Considering our long experience working with the Ottawa Senators and developing the regional Hockey Country brand, we were keen on helping a new local entertainment giant join our community. We pitched the business last year, won them over, and set to developing a brand that would differentiate the park from others.

From the same people who run Valcartier Vacation Village in Quebec, the new park is destined to become a Disney of the North.

And there was the challenge. After considering a number of ideas, we realized that this job required a real depth of imagination. We had to create a whole cast of characters, and back story, from scratch.

Starting with the name, Calypso ("goddess of the waves") as the lead character, we developed a family friendly cast that represent the different types of rides and experiences people can expect from the park.

(Early Calypso concept sketch)

(Final)

"Condemned for centuries to the island of Gozo by Zeus, Calypso is finally free to find her own place in the world. The Queen of the Waves does not have to search for long before she finds her true home, Calypso Palace, in a park called none other than Calypso! What a wondrous find! Calypso Palace is her dream home—a giant wave pool producing all sorts of waves, all under her control."

That's the official bio of Calypso, and the other characters are similarly developed.

There's Capitaine LaPlank, pirate and embodiment of the kids' Aquaplay rides:



Sara Max, California daredevil, and brand expression of the more adrenaline-pumping rides like the Fast Track:



Dr. Dunk, evil scientist and lord of the Turbo Lab:



And finally, Wildman Jack, Aussie adventurer and face of the nature-themed rides like the Jungle Run:



The name of the last character may seem familiar to some of you. But hey — if Dave Thomas could name his burger mascot after his daughter, I figured a little tribute to my nature-loving son was not out of line!

The characters were fleshed out by Acartians Mel (copy) and Kerry (Art Director/Illustrator - who also did the Sens' new logo) and then worked into design by Leslie. We are currently working to costume living, breathing versions for Calypso's grand opening on June 7th.

What a ride... and we haven't even gotten wet yet!