The Scarecrow from Moonbot Studios tackles processed food
Like its lauded predecessor Back To The Start, Chipotle’s new ambitious short–The Scarecrow, out of CAA Marketing–features an ecological message, an accomplished vocalist’s cover of a well-known song (Fiona Apple crooning “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and eloquent animation.
The latter is compliments of Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana, winner of a Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2012 for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Music supervision on The Scarecrow was handled by duotone audio group.
The Scarecrow pits crows against crows, except this time the latter are the scary ones. The robotic crows operate the Crow Foods factory which churns out processed foods. The factory’s workers are scarecrows who have lost their jobs on the farm. In the bleak factory, cows and chickens are pumped full of hormones. One scarecrow, though, ultimately breaks out and forms his own restaurant where he serves all natural food.
While several of the same dynamics in The Scarecrow carry over from Back To The Start, the major new wrinkle in this latest initiative is an interactive game designed to further engage audiences. Players can rescue animals and bring them to open pastures while also bringing wholesome foods to residents of a city called Plenty.
Here’s The Scarecrow short:
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