By Millie Takaki
Streaking at sporting events has become an international pastime–and fodder for lauded advertising such as Nike’s “Streaker” directed by Frank Budgen of Gorgeous, London, for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. And the tradition continues. For example, among the honored spots at this month’s Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show was Match.com’s “Andrea,” in which a man strips down to his briefs and runs across a football stadium field with a plea scrawled across his chest asking his girlfriend for forgiveness. Peter Chelsom of Independent Media, Santa Monica, directed “Andrea” for Hanft Raboy and Partners, New York.
In both spots, the stadium crowd reacts with cheers and laughter. Now the same is true for the latest streak, which is the centerpiece of an MTV Europe Foundation spot tied and timed to soccer’s World Cup. However, this time the laughter abruptly changes to poignancy for those watching on TV and the Web–and hopefully will drive traffic to an Internet site designed to address a problem fueled by World Cup fervor.
The MTV “Streaker” World Cup ad opens on a naked woman who streaks through a football field in the middle of a soccer match. The sight evokes the expected boisterous hoots, hollers and cheers from a predominantly male, testosterone-filled stadium. And then finally there are boos when two policemen catch the woman and cart her away.
Then we’re taken elsewhere–a secluded tunnel where a man and a woman are verbally and physically abusing a young scantily clad female. What little clothing is on the latter gets taken off forcibly. It turns out we’ve been taken back in time just a few minutes. The now nude woman is pushed out from the tunnel onto the football field.
A super then appears against a dark background; it simply reads, “Still Cheering?” A subsequent super elaborates: “Thousands of women and girls will be trafficked into Germany during the World Cup and forced into prostitution.”
And end tag implores us to “End Exploitation & Trafficking,” accompanied by the logos for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the International Organization For Migration (IOM), as well as a Web site address: www.mtvstreaker.com.
On the site, people can watch the spot again or for the very first time and obtain hotline info for anonymously reporting to the German authorities any cases of trafficking and forced prostitution they’re aware of. The site also directs people to www.mtvexit.org, the MTV Europe Foundation’s 14-language anti-trafficking Web site. The MTV Exit initiative encompasses not only the Web site but also MTV feature programming presented by Angelina Jolie, Gavin Rossdale, Helena Christensen and Howlin’ Pelle from The Hives.
“An increase on the demand side for sexual services during a major global sporting event, whatever the country, will inevitably attract traffickers who will see an opportunity to turn a quick profit,” stated IOM head of counter trafficking Richard Danziger. “This is why we have decided to team up with the MTV Exit campaign. The campaign message is a strong one and we hope it will jolt viewers into changing their attitudes.”
According to IOM estimates, some 200,000 people are trafficked into and within Europe annually; the majority of them are women and girls who are forced into sex slavery.
The “Streaker” spot was directed by Dominic Murphy of bicoastal/international Partizan for JWT London. The JWT ensemble consisted of executive creative director Nick Bell, art director Mark Norcutt and copywriter Laurence Quinn.
Emily Crofton-Atkins produced for Partizan. The DP was Ross MacLennan.
The MTV Europe Foundation is a registered U.K. charity closely affiliated with MTV Networks Europe. MTV’s “Streaker” ad premiered globally this month on MTV. Furthermore, the spot is being offered rights free to any broadcaster worldwide in 17 language versions.
JWT’s Bell related, “Once in a while this business offers the opportunity to do something significant for a worthwhile cause. This is such an opportunity and I would like to publicly credit Dominic Murphy and everyone involved in this project for movingly capturing the horrific nature of this issue.”
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles โ "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson โ that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More