JOAN London has created an advertising campaign for The Cybersmile Foundation to combat the growing threat of cyberbullying and online abuse. The “Modern Witch Trials” campaign, which includes this short film directed by Eliza McNitt of production house Chromista, aims to raise awareness of online harassment and spark a conversation about finding kinder ways to address problematic behavior online.
Drawing parallels with the Salem Witch Trials, which began 332 years ago this month, the film concludes with the central message that “Mob Justice Isn’t New. It Just Got a Tech Upgrade,” directing people to The Cybersmile Foundation website for information on how to engage more productively online.
The campaign builds on the idea that cyberbullying and social media retribution are becoming more widespread, both for celebrities and those who are not in the public eye. It stresses how online harassment can affect anyone with a social media presence and that it is critical to not only highlight this increasingly prevalent issue but also start the dialogue about how we can build a more compassionate digital community.
The film has been released across all of Pearl & Dean’s U.K. cinemas, as well as on social media.
Tom Ghiden, managing director at JOAN London, said, “The anonymity of our online lives and ease of response, combined with the desire to be seen as empathetic and socially conscious, has resulted in increasing mob behavior online. People being targeted may have made poor decisions, or behaved problematically, but this creative is designed to make people question whether vicious retribution is warranted, or if there are more productive ways to drive evolution.”
Director McNitt added, “I was deeply inspired by JOAN London’s bold vision in tackling this campaign for CyberSmile. As collaborators, I admired the trust they invested in all the artists who brought this to life to create an abstract and experimental visual world that captures the unnerving feeling of mob justice in the dark corners of the internet.”
CreditsClient The Cybersmile Foundation Agency JOAN London Kirsty Hathaway, executive creative director; Fiona White, copywriter; Thomas Farrall, art director. Production Company Chromista Eliza McNitt, director; Ted Robbins, co-founder, exec producer; Adina Birnbaum, partner & EP; Jeff Baron, partner & managing director; Ray Courtin, line producer; Minka Farthing-Kohl, DP; Ariel Ortiz, 1st AD; Jenny Durbin Smith, choreographer; Chad Yaro, production designer. Casting Buffalo Casting Tisha Blood, casting. VFX The Mill Camila De Biaggi, exec producer; Matt Pascuzzi, creative director; Yoon Bae, 2D lead; Lucia Hill Barroso, Jaymin Han, Aditi Khosia, Bhana Prakash Singh Thakur, Sugankumar R.C., Kishore R, Amulya Chandra Nayak, Suraj Kamar, Sethya Narayanan, Jegadeesan Velayutham, Avijit Kharamal, Orsu Balasubramanyam, Sushil Palai, Dilip Kumar Dwivedi, Rahul Prakash Srivastava, Rohil Vardha, Raj Vardha, Krishman Palani, Chetan Shelar, Jagannatham Venkata Rakesh, Jaswantsingh Nikam, Suresh KP, Satram Veeravaraprasad, Aditya Kumar, Ramachandran Kannappan, Souvik Samadder, S. Nikhilesh, Ankit Shaw, Shiji L.A., Mohit Pal; Chet Hirsch, art director; Adrian Navarro, Laura Nash, Amy Staropoli, designers; Sheila Lobo, Zack Stimell, producers; Paola Malo, production coordinator. Color The Mill Elodie Ichter, colorist; Alex Lubrano, color EP; Colleen Valentino, Joanne Lee, color producers; Sam Ommen, Nick Yelesin, color assist. Editorial The Quarry Geri Docherty, editor. Audio Post Sonic Union Rob Ballingall, sound designer/mixer; Mary Kate Valentino, EP.
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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