We open on the CEO of Comedy Central Europe ensconced in his office in a high-rise building. He tells us that comedy is serious business, which is why Comedy Central has to be selective in what it shows, translating into its strict “no clown” policy. Suddenly a cream pie hits the office window.
The spot cuts outside to a horde of rioting clowns, pitted against a fully equipped police squadron. Pies are thrown at the cops who raise their shields, blocking the dessert assault. However, a clown gets on the other side of the blockade, taps a policeman on the shoulder who turns around. The clown lifts the cop’s helmet visor and make a direct hit with a cream pie.
The chaos includes a clown fired from a cannon who lands safely on the Comedy Central roof. He unfurls multi-colored handkerchiefs which are tied together, making for an amusing impromptu ladder for other clowns to climb up on in their bid to take over the building.
Back to ground level, a clown juggles a number of red balls, only to throw them all at riot squad police.
Authority prevails it would seen, though, as one of the parting scenes shows several sad clowns being hauled off in a paddy wagon.
“Riot” was directed by Jonathan David of recently launched production house Happy Ending for Amsterdam-based agency Nothing.
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