Rob Pritts of Backyard directed this comically informative :30 PSA which delivers everything you need for a gag, but not for an emergency. This American Red Cross PSA features a husband attempting to justify his funny-but-useless emergency supply kit selections to his wife.
The PSA opens on the couple in a darkened, candlelit basement. Notes the wife, “That was some storm,” followed by her cheerful husband grinning ear-to-ear, “Good thing I packed an emergency kit.” He opens it to reveal: chocolate frosting, soy sauce, a bag of glass. He also takes out a stuffed squirrel, “Here’s Nancy. Can you hold her?” His wife recoils as he hands Nancy over. A board game, nunchucks and ‘DJ Parking Only’ sign follow, to which the wife declares, “We’re doomed.” A voiceover concludes as the couple prepares properly, “Try having a better plan. The first step is putting together a three-day supply of useful items.” The American Red Cross / Prepare SoCal logo closes out the PSA.
Agency is BBDO Atlanta. The campaign also includes a :90 version for the web.
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