Kids compare action figures during kindergarten playtime. The first lad holds Viking Man who has a magic helmet. Another touts the super human abilities of his Robo Droid from outer space.
But a third boy eclipses them both. “They are no match for Renewable Energy Man,” declares the youngster. “He uses sun-water-wind power.”
The boy, with Renewable Energy Man in hand, then runs circles, literally, around his two playmates, repeatedly chanting his “Sun-Water-Wind” mantra.
The kindergarten teacher intervenes, “Billy, your mom’s here.” We then see that the mother is wearing a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) shirt. In reference to Billy’s behavior, the teacher says to the mom, “Looks like you’ve been taking your work home.”
Billy jumps into the arms of his mommy who carries him away over her shoulder. As we see his two playmates look up at him, Billy affirms to them in battle cry fashion, “The future is clean energy.”
A female voiceover then notes that sun, water, wind and other renewables make up 30 percent of the energy PG&E delivers. The future is renewable energy.”
Titled “Action Figure,” the spot is one of four in a PG&E campaign directed by Alison Maclean of Park Pictures, New York, for Venables, Bell & Partners, San Francisco.
The agency team on “Action Figure” consisted of creative directors Paul Venables and Greg Bell, copywriter Chip Waters, art director Will Dean and producer Stacy Higgins.
Jackie Kelman Bisbee executive produced for Park Pictures, with Mary Ann Marino serving as producer. The DP was Rodrigo Prieto.
Bob Frisk of Phoenix Edit, Effects & Design, San Francisco, edited the campaign. Other Phoenix contributors were motion graphics designer Bobby Van Dyke, visual effects artist Matt Silverman, online editors John Crossley and Treena Loria, executive producer Jonathan Hinman and producer Lisa Houck. Colorist was Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Mark Pitchford of M Squared Productions, San Francisco. Music composer on “Action Figure” was Jason Johnson of stimmung, Santa Monica.
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