We open on a wife spraying a scented air freshener in her home, as her dutiful husband stands nearby. Then out of the blue a typical product pitchman enters the living room and asks, “Is regular clean clean enough for your family? Not when you can have Clean Coal Clean!”
He puts a black canister in her hand. Dirty, toxic spray spews forth from the canister, blackening the room as husband and wife start choking on the fumes.
The pitchman, unfazed, continues, “Clean Coal Clean harnesses the awesome power of the word ‘clean’ to make it sound like the cleanest there is.”
As the family–including two children–fans themselves and coughs repeatedly, the pitchman, now seen on the house’s front lawn, assures the viewer, “Clean coal is supported by the coal industry. The most trusted name in coal!”
This slice of polluted life is then broken by a message on screen that reads, “In reality, there’s no such thing as clean coal.”
An end tag directs us to thisisreality.org, the website for the Reality Coalition, a joint project of the Alliance for Climate Protection, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club.
“Clean Coal Clean–Air Freshener” is the first in a series of ads directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, a.k.a. the Coen brothers, via Los Angeles-based production house Company for Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Boulder, Colo.
The Reality Coalition campaign is designed to debunk what it regards as the myth of “clean coal.”
“The coal industry has spent tens of millions of dollars selling the illusion of so-called ‘clean coal’,” said Brian Hardwick of the Alliance for Climate Protection. “Why? Because marketing and lobbying are much cheaper than actually making coal plants clean.”
Hardwick continued: “Coal companies would rather protect the status quo than actually do what is necessary for coal to be truly clean and be part of an energy future that doesn’t destroy the planet. We’re challenging them to stop the bogus marketing campaign, stop their delay tactics and support real progress toward climate solutions.”
The Crispin team on the Reality Coalition campaign included co-executive creative directors Andrew Keller and Rob Reilly, creative director Ryan Kutscher, associate creative director Paul Caiozzo, art director Santiago Escobar, integrated art director Javier Torok, copywriter Donnell Johnson, integrated head of video Matt Bonin, executive integrated producer Chris Kyriakos and executive integrated music producer Bill Meadows.
Robin Benson and Richard Goldstein exec produced for Company with Robert Nackman serving as head of production and Ron Neter as producer. The DP was Dan Hainey.
Editors were Paul Martinez and Christjan Jordan of Los Angeles-based Arcade Edit. Assistant editor was Greg Scruton. Damian Stevens and Alison Maldonado were exec producer and producer, respectively, for Arcade.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More