By Robert Goldrich
This montage spot for the United Way of Central New Mexico features young men from varied walks of life. Yet they have a common, albeit disturbing, bond–they come from families in which different generations have committed spousal abuse.
As the PSA unfolds, it initially appears to be pointing out the cyclical nature of such abuse–and the fact that there’s a high degree of likelihood that these young males could take up the same violent pattern. The dialogue of the men seems to be setting us up for the seeming eventuality that they are following in those terrifying footsteps. Each man relates that his grandfather beat his grandmother, and that his father beat the mother. Then finally one male relates with pride that he is beating “the odds.” The other men shown in this spot have also thankfully moved 180 degrees away from what had been the behavioral norm in their families.
This positive turn shows that the cycle can be broken, with each male noting that they have done so because they are better men than their fathers and granddads. An end tag contains the better man slogan and identifies the spot’s sponsor, the United Way Services of Central New Mexico.
“Beating The Odds” is one of two spots in the campaign. The other, “The Way It Was,” is a montage of men who were abused as children–and whose fathers were abused as children. However, today these male adults have elected to break away from that family pattern, each declaring, “That was the way it was; it stops here.”
These client-direct spots were directed by Peter Zavadil of Darcy/Fox Productions, Santa Monica. The campaign was produced by Rebecca Elise Productions, Albuquerque, in association with Darcy/Fox. Rebecca Elise was the producer. The spots were shot on location in Albuquerque by DP David Waterston.
Writer/creative director on the campaign was Albuquerque-based freelancer Carol Henderson.
Editor was Jim Morris of The Filmworkers Club, Nashville. Other artisans from The Filmworkers Club were colorist Rodney Williams and Henry artist/graphic compositor John Slinger. Audio mixers were Aaron Flanary and Michael Davis of Digital Audio Post, Nashville. Principal actors included Jose Avila, Diego Deane, Pasquale Gallucci and “Sarge” Roger Avants.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