Directed by Brent Bonacorso of Tool for agency CP+B and client Hotels.com, this film is part of a Vacation Equality Project initiative (http://www.vacationequalityproject.com/) looking to establish a guaranteed minimum amount of paid vacation for American workers.
Through messages written/sculpted in beach sand, we learn that America is the only advanced economy with no guaranteed minimum vacation time for its workers. In fact, 1 in 4 American workers in the private sector does not have any paid time off. This equates to 28 million people who are missing out on all of the benefits of a vacation.
Hotels.com is deploying this film to help build momentum and gather signatures for a petition to Whitehouse.gov asking that overworked and under-vacationed Americans get a minimum amount of paid vacation time in order to stay healthy, focused and productive. A postcard campaign to The House of Representatives has also been initiated.
CP+B believes this initiative has similar potential to the successful Small Business Saturday campaign, which the agency created in partnership with Digitas for American Express.
Credits
Client Hotels.com Agency CP+B Dan Donovan, VP/executive creative director; Andrew Lincoln, Matt Talbot, VPs/creative directors; Hemant Jain, sr. copywriter; Ben Smith, sr. art director; Matt Lowber art director; Kate Hildebrant, VP, director of video production; Annie Turley, integrated producer, video; Jesse Jones, VP, group executive producer, integrated; Dan Corken, sr. producer, interactive; Adam Barger, content supervisor; Kimmy Cunningham, content manager; Brian O’Connell, sr. cognitive anthropologist; Jason De Turris, VP, group planning director. Production Tool of North America Brent Bonacorso, director; Oliver Fuselier, Robert Helphand, exec producers; Joshua Greenberg, producer; Dustin Callif, managing partner, digital; Chris Neff, exec producer/digital; Joy Kuraitis, head of digital; Bartek Drozdz, creative director, tech; Michael Sevilla, creative director, design; Yuee Seo, designer; Norma Kwee, sr. digital producer. Post/Editorial/VFX Plus Productions, Boulder, Colo. Chadwick Shoultz, editor/colorist; Joshua Thiel, clean-up artist; Lennon Barnica, post producer; Nathan Folbrecht, jr. post producer. Audio Post Sonic Union, New York Steve Rosen, mixer. Music JSM Music Joel Simon, Koki Sito, composers.
White Ribbon has launched its “My Friend, Max Hate” campaign in Canada featuring this public service film that follows the journey of a young, isolated boy who becomes influenced by a misogynistic online puppet, “Max Hate.” The PSA reveals how online figures in the manosphere--a network of online communities promoting hateful, misogynistic rhetoric which fuels attitudes among young men and boys that contribute to gender-based violence.
“It’s alarming to see the growing impact of the manosphere and how they are conditioning vulnerable populations such as teens, particularly young men,” said Humberto Carolo, White Ribbon CEO. “These misogynistic online groups have existed for years, but their influence has grown under controversial figures, driving an increase in gender-based violence. With the My Friend, Max Hate campaign, our goal is to expose the damaging influence of misogynistic figures and raise awareness, particularly among young men who are often drawn into these toxic online communities.”
Launching two weeks before Safer Internet Day (February 11), the campaign--from Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne--underscores the importance of online safety and protecting youth through clear content boundaries.
White Ribbon is creating an online resource hub that educates individuals on how to recognize harmful online groups and provides support for young men and boys seeking to escape. Additionally, the campaign will launch a TikTok account, @max_hate_, featuring the PSA ‘My Friend, Max Hate’ puppet to expose how these figures gain influence and spread hate in a space that reaches those most influenced, young men.
The PSA was directed by Angie Bird via Toronto-based Westside Studio.
