By Robert Goldrich
“The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.” That catchphrase made famous on ABC’s Wide World of Sports comes to mind in this :30 for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming, out of Denver agency Cactus.
We open on a sports cyclist, played by Ken Toman, going all out on a solo training ride along a picturesque, winding mountain road. As he gets to the top of a challenging incline, he raises his arms triumphantly.
He then coasts for a moment, giving us a respite from what plays like a high-intensity sports drink commercial. Our biker then resumes his run, pumping the pedals hard. But the seemingly unstoppable cyclist hits more than a bump in the road, immediately causing the spot’s mood to take a poignant, unexpected detour. His all-out ride comes to an abrupt end as the bike’s hand-brake mechanism disintegrates before our eyes. The bicycle crashes into a tree–though we don’t witness the actual impact. Instead, from a distance, we see some birds fly off in reaction to the coming together of bike and tree. A supered message simply reads, “Health is Unpredictable. Be Covered. Be Sure.”
This is followed by the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming logo as an end tag. “No Brakes” was directed by Harry Cocciolo of bicoastal Tool of North America. Jennifer Siegel executive produced for Tool, with Kati Haberstock serving as producer. The DP was Jimmy Whitaker.
Cactus’ creative team consisted of creative director Norm Shearer, art director Brad Harrison, copywriter Brian Watson and producer Lisa Van Someren.
Editor was Kevin Zimmerman of The Whitehouse, Santa Monica. Assistant editor was Page Marsella. Sue Dawson executive produced for The Whitehouse. (Dawson was recently promoted to director of postproduction at the company–SHOOT, 4/22, p. 20.) Online editor/visual effects artist was Nate Robinson of Ntropic, San Francisco. Colorist was Sparkle of Complete Post, Hollywood. Audio post mixer was Mark Meyuhas of Limie Studios, Santa Monica.
David Winer and Gus Koven of stimmung, Santa Monica, served as music composer and sound designer, respectively. Ceinwyn Clark exec produced for stimmung.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More