It’s the part of biology class some of us dreaded in high school–the frog dissection. Two students sit side by side, each with a dead frog immersed in a glass jar of formaldehyde on their desks. As we hear the instructor in the background, one of the pupils, a female, picks up her jar and drinks all the formaldehyde, leaving only the frog.
The male student seated next to her looks on in disbelief as she chug-a-lugs the liquid. She then looks at his frog jar and asks him, “You gonna drink that?” She’s poised to have another pause that refreshes.
The spot ends with a super against the backdrop of a frog that reads, “Cigarettes contain formaldehyde, the stuff used to preserve dead frogs.” This message is accompanied by a Web side address, ydouthink.com, for a youth smoking awareness program sponsored by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation.
“Frog” is one of three spots in a Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation campaign directed by David Jaffe of bicoastal Playroom for Barber Martin Advertising, Richmond, Va. The other commercials were “Belly” and “Off to School.”
In the latter, a mother drives her son to high school. She is smoking in the car, with the windows rolled up.. He coughs in protest but she doesn’t stop puffing. Finally to let her know how he feels, the lad passes gas, gets out of the car and goes off to class.
In “Belly,” we’re treated to a belly dancing performance–not by lovely lasses but by overweight teen boys. As their body fat jiggles, culminating in one guy belly fat slamming another, a super makes us aware that smoking increases the production of belly fat in teenagers.
Jaffe’s support team at Playroom included executive producer Debbie Merlin, producer JP Greaney and partner/managing director Carol Case. The DP was Tim Ives.
The agency creative ensemble consisted of creative director Patti Shulman, associate creative director/copywriter Jim Gentry, senior copywriter Bonnie Larner and director of broadcast production/producer Greg Simos.
Editor was Mike Colao of Final Cut, New York. Colorist was Tom Poole of The Mill, New York. Terressa Tate of Final Cut served as sound designer/audio mixer.
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