As line drawn animation unfolds before our eyes to reveal a cityscape, a voiceover poses what sounds like a mathematical problem. “Presume the average minimum temperature during winter is 34.7 degrees fahrenheit, the average rainfall 5.7 inches. Supposing cardboard boxes hae a fiber saturation point of 3.2, how desperate do you have to be to sleep in one?”
The animation of the figures and the cardboard shelter then turns to live action as we see a male teenager huddled under the box.
“Help a kid who has survived life on the street earn a college degree,” relates a voiceover, which is accompanied by a supered Web site address (seattleeducationaccess.org). “Support our scholarship programs.”
The spot is one of two in a package directed by Brian Johnson of Story, Chicago, for advertising trade group Ad2Seattle. Johnson worked on the TV campaign with a team from Seattle animation house Blank Design headed by creative director/art director/illustrator/animator Bobby Hougham.
The creative team at Ad2Seattle consisted of art director/copywriter Charles Noback, art director Andy Durr and copywriter Shannon Mead.
The mathematical word problem approach was designed to initially engage viewers on an intellectual level and set them up to become emotionally involved when the spots switch gears. “By turning the facts in otherwise detached and cold story problems [the other spot discusses hypothermia] into emotional appeals, we struck a chord with our audience,” related Noback. “They weren’t expecting it and that’s ultimately why it works.”
With essentially no budget to speak of, Johnson had to recruit collaborators, such as Hougham, who liked the idea and supported the cause. Furthermore, as a cost-saving measure, Johnson shot the live-action at the end of a day during the production of another commercial project.
Editor was Tony Fulgham of World Famous LLC, Seattle.
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