We open on two guys seated, fishing off a pier on a lake. Suddenly a speed boat powers past them–and a freeze frame captures the watercraft in all its splendor as a super informs us that we’re about to witness Triumph Boats’ “Divine Intervention Test.”
Back to the duo on the pier–one a youngster who says, “Sure wish we had a boat.”
His companion, a wise, elderly minister replies, “Me too. But you know God’s spiritual gifts are greater.”
The scene then cuts to a truck trailer transporting several boats along a mountain road. Appearing out of thin air in the truck’s front passenger seat–seemingly unbeknownst to the driver–is a man who presses a nearby button, which releases one of the boats onto the roadway. The man then disappears in the blink of an eye.
Another truck then comes barrelling down the road, and hits the boat, sending it flying across the roadside brush and off a steep embankment towards the lake, clearing the two fishermen who opened the spot and landing before them in the water. The boat is virtually unscathed.
The youngster, grateful for the gift apparently from above, says a heartfelt, “Thank you, Jesus.”
An end tag carries the Triumph logo, along with the slogan, “The world’s toughest boats.”
“Divine Intervention” was directed by Wayne Gibson of Mad Fish Films, Richmond, Va., for agency The Republik, Durham, N.C.
The Republik team consisted of creative director/copywriter David Smith, art director David Avis and producer Robert Shaw West.
Barry Landon exec produced and produced for Mad Fish. The DP was Bunt Young.
Editor was Scott Witthaus of Richmond-based Thoughtstream, Media.
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