Consider it the birth of a notion–an eerie notion at that, but one which hits home the point that the cleanup of California’s coastline is an important priority. Indeed failure to stop coastal pollution has already had negative repercussions. And the offbeat creative approach taken in this public service ad underscores that the situation could get worse, compromising nature and animal life itself. Sadly, what seems like exaggeration may not be all that far fetched.
This animation spot opens on an egg nestled in a bed of grass surrounded by colorful foilage–almost looks like an Easter Egg hunt is in the offing. Even better, the egg starts to crack and we anticipate the emergence of an adorable baby chick.
However, this idyllic scene takes a sudden turn toward the strange. The grass wilts as an odorous plume rises from the egg. Litter appears in what had originally been a pristine environment. And now there’s the unsettling, almost ominous feeling that something not so adorable is going to peer out from his, her or its shell.
Sure enough, a baby chick emerges–but its bill is a lit cigarette. Turns out we have witnessed the hatching of a Cig Egret, a disgusting creature born out of man’s pollution and its profoundly adverse impact on the eco chain. As we view this mutated animal, a voiceover reminds us, “Trash is a non-native species of the California Coast.”
A message then flashes across the screen, heralding the upcoming California Coastal Cleanup Day (which has since taken place on Sept. 16) and other related events slated to run into October. An end tag carries the California Coastal Commission logo, accompanied by its Web site address (www.coast4u.org).
Titled “Non-Native Species,” this PSA produced by design/animation shop Stardust Studios, Santa Monica, for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GSP), San Francisco, has brought to life one of the animal creations from the agency’s poster series in 2005. Those posters featured images of imaginary creatures made from trash, including the Cig Egret, the SporkCrab and ColaBass.
The poster series earned recognition at both The One Show and the Cannes International Advertising Festival earlier this year. Now one of the posters has translated into a TV ad.
The GSP team on the public service spot consisted of creative director Jeff Goodby, associate creative director/art director Paul Foulkes, associate creative director/copywriter Tyler Hampton and producer Michael Damiani.
Executive creative director Jake Banks headed a Stardust coterie of talent that included executive producer Eileen Doherty, designer Kinda Akash, animator Sam Sparks and effects artist Mikey Plescia.
“What I really like about the finished spot is its style; it’s not quite animation, but it’s not real either,” observed GSP’s Hampton. “It draws people in, and then it’s quite eerie once this creature comes out. Overall it feels like something that will cut through the usual live-action things you see on television.”
GSP’s Foulkes said that the agency turned to Stardust for this “miracle of birth gone wrong idea,” based on past positive collaborations with the studio on end-graphics work for the Comcast campaign. He credited the Stardust ensemble with taking the “Non-Native Species” idea and running with it, resulting in an eloquent pro-environmental spot.
Doherty said Stardust was “instantly attracted” to the project for its potential to do ecological good. “We knew right away that this piece had the chance to motivate people to make a positive difference for California’s coastline.”
The aforementioned California Coastal Cleanup Day draws some 50,000 volunteers to more than 700 marine cleanup sites statewide to conduct what has been described by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the largest garbage collection.” Since the program started in ’85, nearly 700,000 Californians have removed more than 10 million pounds of debris from the state’s shorelines and coast.
Supreme Court Seems Likely To Uphold A Law That Could Force TikTok To Shut Down On Jan. 19
The Supreme Court on Friday seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company.
Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company's connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States.
Early in arguments that lasted more than two and a half hours, Chief Justice John Roberts identified his main concern: TikTok's ownership by China-based ByteDance and the parent company's requirement to cooperate with the Chinese government's intelligence operations.
If left in place, the law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April will require TikTok to "go dark" on Jan. 19, lawyer Noel Francisco told the justices on behalf of TikTok.
At the very least, Francisco urged, the justices should enter a temporary pause that would allow TikTok to keep operating. "We might be in a different world again" after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, also has called for the deadline to be pushed back to give him time to negotiate a "political resolution." Francisco served as Trump's solicitor general in his first presidential term.
But it was not clear whether any justices would choose such a course. And only Justice Neil Gorsuch sounded like he would side with TikTok to find that the ban violates the Constitution.
Gorsuch labeled arguments advanced by the Biden administration' in defense of the law a... Read More