This spot presents a series of flashbacks, showing scenes from a meth addict’s life and the venues in which they took place. First we see dramatic glimpses of a man going into convulsions on a couch. As we see the couch–now sans the man–a female voiceover relates that this is where he went into convulsions.
Next we’re taken to a hospital emergency room where the addict nearly died–and then to an alley adjacent to what appears to be a junkyard. The young female voiceover continues, telling us that this is where he began smoking again right after he got out of the hospital.
And then we see a dark, secluded basement/supply room which is where, the woman says, he hung himself because he couldn’t quit meth.
Finally we see the woman who is speaking to us. She continues, “And this is what I said when he told me he was going to try meth.” What follows is a silence as we see anguish across her face.
An end tag carries the slogan, “Meth. Not Even One,” accompanied by the Montana Meth website address, MontanaMeth.org.
“Ben” is one of four TV spots telling stories based on composites of real testimony from addicts and those close to them across the State of Montana. The campaign tells the heartbreaking stories of kids who saw their friends consumed by addiction–and who recall with guilt and sadness not having said anything when informed that their friends were going to try meth for the first time.
Wally Pfister of Independent Media directed and shot the spots for Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco. Pfister is a three-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (most recently for The Dark Knight), and has successfully nestled in the commercial director’s chair at Independent Media.
The Venables Bell & Partners’ team consisted of creative director Paul Venables, associate creative director James Robinson, art director Keith Scott, copywriter Paul Johnson, executive agency producer Craig Allen and producer Nicolette Guidotti.
Editor was Paul Martinez of Arcade Edit.
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