Month: October 2021

Submitted for your approval, bosses of the world; an agency in Ontario implemented a four day work week for their staff, with fantastic results. In fact, scientific studies showed working fewer hours for the same pay was an ‘overwhelming success,’ with wellbeing and productivity dramatically improving. …If this sounds like a kid trying to convince dad getting a puppy is a great idea, that’s because it is.

Also providing us with helpful tips about mental health is… a singing cracker? Nabs Canada, a charity designed to support mental health for those in the media, marketing and communications industry has released a hilarious new PSA about the dangers of overworking with a catchy jingle being sung by an anthropomorphic cracker (it makes a bit more sense in context.)

Playboy is making history by having a gay man as their newest cover model. In their 66 year history, this is only the third time a male has been solely featured on the cover, and one of them was Hefner himself, which doesn’t really count. Naturally this has riled up opinionated jerks everywhere; the kind of men reliant on photos of scantily clad women because real ones won’t talk to them anymore.

A campaign has been created to increase Australia’s vaccination numbers by offering a chance to win $4.1 million in prizes, just for getting vaccinated. There’s money in doing the right thing? Some of us just got vaccinated for the good of their fellow man, like a sucker.

The Cresta Awards for international advertising were held this month. Australia didn’t fare quite as well this year, with only one Melbourne agency scoring a win. Fenton Stephens took home the Bronze for ‘Faceboobs’, a fun story of how to skirt Facebook’s nudity standards as a breast augmentation company.

Speaking of boobs (…lets see if that segue gets past the editor) Stella McCartney teamed up with the Netflix show Sex Education to create a video about breast cancer awareness. In a near perfect example of tying a brand to a television show, this PSA continues the show’s themes of frank, funny and informative discussions about sexuality by debunking myths and providing tips on what to look out for.

Wagamama’s new campaign has crash-landed straight out of a retro Kaiju flick. Introducing Vegemama, an honestly kind of adorable giant monster who’s here to destroy cities and eat vegan. I, for one, welcome our new lizard overlord and wish her luck in destroying the companies polluting our planet.

The UK’s advertising standards authority released new rules to stop companies ‘Greenwashing’ their ads and making false statements about their environmental impact. It turns out if you say you’re making steps to help the environment, you have to actually do it, you can’t just lie to your consumer like some kind of Captain Planet villain.

Youtube updated its policies to ban all anti-vax content, in order to stop the spread of harmful misinformation. As someone who unfortunately keeps getting Sky News on their homepage due to Youtube’s algorithm thinking they’re a senior citizen (everyone likes old movies, Google!) this change is greatly appreciated.

The Newport Beach film festival has released a series of adsfeaturing iconic movie scenes being recreated by Californian teenagers. Tonight’s feature presentation is the ‘coffee is for closers’ speech delivered by the employees at a frozen banana stand, and a young lifeguard informing a surfer that he can’t handle the truth. Take Nicholson’s oscars and give them to the teenage girl.