Honey Maid Graham Crackers and Beta Brands Decide to Put Real People in Ads

Posted on March 13, 2014 at 8:00 am

Many thanks to Jezebel for highlighting these great new ads. Honey Grahams emphasize their wholesomeness with an ad that pays tribute to a range of happy, loving families.

And Betabrand has women with PhDs modeling its line of “smart fashions.” This is great news just as a new study has shown that playing with Barbies, even “career” Barbies, causes girls to have a more limited notion of what their job options are. (For some reason, though, not Mrs. Potatohead.) It’s nice to know that girls and women — and boys and men — will look at ads like these and see the unlimited possibilities life offers them.

Related Tags:

Advertising

Chipotle Blurs the Lines Between Content and Advertising/Branding

Posted on March 12, 2014 at 3:50 pm

A new series on Hulu blurs the lines between content and advertising in a way we haven’t seen since George Burns and Gracie Allen started talking about Carnation Evaporated Milk in the middle of their sitcom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q44iT8TRdgw

“Farmed and Dangerous” is a new series that takes on agribusiness. According to the Vocus blog, it is an “hilarious look at the agricultural food industry and an evil processed food company that attempts to fool the public about its client’s dangerous/unhealthy animal feed products. And oh yeah, Chipotle’s name is almost nowhere to be found within the show.” They call it “un-branding.”

Is this more effective than a commercial for Chipotle? Is it more insidious? Is it both?

Related Tags:

Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

Should We Ban Hand-Held Devices for Kids?

Posted on March 12, 2014 at 8:00 am

Cris Rowan has a provocative but compelling piece in Huffington Post arguing that no one under 12 should use smart phones, tablets, or other devices. Her reasons include studies linking the amount of screen time to radiation exposure, obesity, and attachment and developmental disorders. Of course, a lot of this applies equally to adults, who should be careful about overexposure and especially the example they set in the use of their own devices.

Related Tags:

Commentary Parenting

New Report: Female Characters Still Under-Represented in Films

Posted on March 11, 2014 at 3:59 pm

Despite the critical and financial success of “Gravity” and “The Hunger Games,” it is still hard to find movies with strong leading female characters. A new report from Women in TV and Film shows little progress. The title is pointed: “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: On-Screen Representations of Female Characters in the Top 100 Films of 2013. Author Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D found that

Female characters remained dramatically under-represented as protagonists, major characters, and speaking (major and minor) characters in the top grossing films of 2013. Females comprised 15% of protagonists, 29% of major characters, and 30% of all speaking characters. Only 13% of the top 100 films featured equal numbers of major female and male characters, or more major female characters than male characters. Female characters were younger than their male counterparts and were more likely than males to have an identifiable marital status. Further, female characters were less likely than males to have clearly identifiable goals or be portrayed as leaders of any kind.

The findings on racial diversity were even more dismal. “Moviegoers were as likely to see an other-worldly female as they were to see an Asian female character.”

I hope this report embarrasses the studios into doing better in 2014.

Long-lost George Lucas “Star Wars” Film

Posted on March 11, 2014 at 11:00 am

Esquire has a fascinating story about a short film called “Black Angel,” “created to accompany The Empire Strikes Back in theaters. It was the directorial debut of Star Wars‘ pioneering set decorator Roger Christian and a special request by the big man himself, George Lucas…Found and now digitally restored, Black Angel is soon to be released for the world to see. It has nothing to do with Star Wars characters, but its making-of story commands a comfortable seat in the large history of the galaxy far, far away.” It has now been restored, and Christian hopes to make it available via iTunes.

Anyone remember seeing this?

Related Tags:

Behind the Scenes Shorts