Wearing your favorite baseball player’s jersey brings you closer to that player–literally, in this spot for Majestic directed by Randy Hackett of No Smoke Films for Minneapolis-based agency Periscope. We open on a loyal fan opening his closet from which he pulls out Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz as if he were a jersey. He puts Ortiz on his back and carts him around, going about his day.
One unfortunate part of that day is a condiments mishap with mustard from a hot dog spilled on Ortiz. So we next see Ortiz in a laundromat washing machine, enduring the spin cycle to get out the stain.
Our Ortiz-wearing gent then finds himself alongside a fan who’s a Toronto Blue Jays fan–he’s wearing reigning homerun champ Jose Bautista on his back.
A voiceover related, “Wear your hero. Anytime. Any place with Majestic jerseys.”
Hackett’s production team devised a rig that made it easier for the actor to hoist about Ortiz. Nevertheless there were moments when the fan had to get it out and carry Ortiz on his back.
“Part of the challenge,” said Hackett, “was to make the wearing of the players Ortiz and Bautista seem effortless, even enjoyable for those giving the rides. Since we didn’t have a ton of time with these guys, the rig had to be simple. But we also needed some longer shots where the actor had to carry Ortiz. Our lead actor was incredibly good natured and as someone actually from Boston and a Red Sox fan, it was dream come true for him to piggyback Ortiz.”
Hackett went on to observe, “I think what makes the spot really interesting is the onscreen relationship between Ortiz and the lead actor. It’s very natural and understated. My feeling is it’s a funny enough sight gag and paying it more matter of factly accentuated the humor.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More