Two women–one pushing a baby stroller–walk side by side in the park. Both are holding umbrellas as it rains steadily.
The lass behind the stroller tells her friend she recently went to the zoo where “all the animals were amazing.” She cited as an example an “incredible” elephant. “Did you know that elephants have ten thousand muscles in their tongues?”
Then out of nowhere an object comes flying into the scene, hitting the recent zoo-going woman on the side of the face. “Ow,” she says, clearly smarting.
“You alright?” asks her friend. “–You’re bleeding.”
An ominous feel develops as we wonder if this is just the beginning of a barrage of thrown objects. “Let’s get out of here,” says the friend, as we discern that the object was either a nut or small acorn.
The camera then reveals the culprit, an acorn-holding squirrel. A Web site address then appears on screen: JealousAnimals.com.
An end tag identifies the sponsor, the Toronto Zoo, accompanied by the slogan, “Same planet, different world.”
“Squirrel” is part of a three-spot campaign directed by Brian Lee Hughes of Reginald Pike, Toronto, for Lowe Roche, Toronto.
James Davis and Josefina Nadurata executive produced for Reginald Pike, with Cindy Marshall serving as producer. The DP was Tico Poulakakis.
Geoffrey Roche and Christina Yu were creative directors for Lowe Roche. Art director was Patrick Shing. Copywriter was Ryan Spelliscy. Melanie Lambertsen and Dana Rudelier were agency producers.
Editor was Graham Chisholm of Relish, Toronto. Sound design/audio house was Pirate Radio and TV, Toronto.
Interactive designer was Jessica Lee of Indusblue Inc., Toronto.
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 โ 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