To support the January launch of Cadbury Trebor Bassett’s Trident Soft and Trident Splash in the UK, AKQA/London and Bikini Films/London created Trident Factory, a 4:50 film that tells the story of the brands in an amusing way, a light hearted mockumentary that studies the mastication process and the roots of pleasure.
“It’s all about pleasure, so we crafted a story about the whole gum manufacturing process and how they would go about making the gum pleasurable,” said Colin Byrne, associate creative director at AKQA. “We didn’t want to present just another brand site, so we came up with the idea of presenting a corporate DVD, a film you’d see if you were a new employee.”
The film uses animation to show the mastication lobe, a fictitious part of the brain that derives pleasure from chewing. Then it uses laboratory scenes to show how the two gums are made, with a Himalayan Blue kneading kitten kneading individual sticks of Trident Soft, and state-of-the-art fusing technology and fruit recognition software used to develop the fruity flavors of Trident Splash.
The film was shot at the Truman Brewery in London, a former brewery that is now a studio and event space.
Andy Leahy, producer at Bikini Films, said the movie was shot with a Panasonic VariCam at 24p HD, for a “filmic look.” He said the film can be viewed full screen at the site, “so we needed to deliver something with a nice look.” He also said the camera is adaptable to different lighting conditions, which assisted him on the job “because we couldn’t spend a lot of time lighting sets.”
Traditional gums are minty and freshen breath, but Trident’s new flavors are soft and fruity, Byrne said. “Trident had a good story to tell, pleasurable gums are quite a revolution.” Trident Factory tells the story in a way that will make viewers laugh as they chew.
A short version of the film can be seen here by clicking SHOOT’s video link below and the full film plays at www.tridentgum.co.uk.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More