“Using tobacco is bad for your social life.” That’s the message behind Seattle agency WongDoody’s “No Stank You” anti-tobacco campaign for the Washington State Department of Health.
“Teens today are well aware of the health effects of using tobacco “Our approach is to tell kids something different that has immediate resonance,” said Tracy Wong, WongDoody chairman and creative director, about why this yearlong effort eschews traditional anti-tobacco messaging focusing instead on the social and cosmetic consequences of smoking and tobacco use.
“The mission for the target, 12-14 teens, is to prevent them from starting. If they never start smoking, it solves a lot of problems immediately.”
Like the overall campaign The NoStankYou.com Web site also takes a unique approach to anti-tobacco advocacy–it is home to the “No Stank You NOW” video log, an online news/entertainment show hosted by local teens, for teens, on the social risks of tobacco use. The vlog features interviews with peers, state officials, dentists, professional athletes and more.
For instance, one of the hosts goes on a shopping spree to show kids all the cool stuff she can buy for $6, the price of a pack of cigarettes. Or watch another host shed light on the statistic that 86 percent of teens prefer dating a nonsmoker. New vlog episodes, produced in-house, will be uploaded regularly.
“True engagement with the target comes on the Web. Not from TV. The Web is the only way we can deep dive with them on information, etc.,” said Wong. Designed by WONGDOODY’s interactive and technology development division, United^Future, the NoStankYou.com site is also filled with irreverent, interactive and portable content. Users are given code snippets for avatars, comment images, emotions and more, to post into blogs, MySpace and YouTube pages, personal Web sites and mp3 players. A news fact page offers rotating factoids and articles about tobacco use.
“The campaign’s online component is truly exciting in the anti-tobacco advocacy arena, a category that is already recognized for its creativity,” said Wong. “By arming teens with tools to disseminate humorous content in various ways, they become advocates of the anti-tobacco message.”
The campaign also consists of television commercials, radio and online ads–including seven TV spots directed by Geordie Stephens of bicoastal Tool of North America.
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More