This film for Procter & Gamble and the My Black Is Beautiful initiative features different African-American parents having “The Talk” with their kids about racial bias and how it can make life more difficult–and at times even more dangerous.
In one of this piece’s most poignant moments, a girl behind the wheel of a car insists she’s a good driver and her mom doesn’t need to tell her what to do if she gets pulled over. The girl has no intention of getting pulled over because she obeys the speed limit and the rules of the road. Mom doesn’t doubt that but she has to explain to her daughter, “This is not about getting a ticket. This is about you not coming home.”
The My Black Is Beautiful campaign is designed to spark a conversation about racial bias. Malik Vitthal of The Corner Shop directed “The Talk” for BBDO New York, with support from minority-certified consulting firm Egami Consulting Group.
Credits
Client Procter & Gamble My Black is Beautiful Agency BBDO New York David Lubars, chief creative officer, worldwide; Greg Hahn, chief creative officer, NY; Marcel Yunes, Rick Williams, creative directors; Nedal Ahmed, associate creative director/copywriter; Bryan Barnes, associate creative director/art director; David Rolfe, director of integrated production; Dan Blaney, executive producer; Whitney Collins, sr. producer; Melissa Chester, executive music producer. Production The Corner Shop Malik Vitthal, director; Anna Hashmi, exec producer; Lasse Frank, DP; Wynn Thomas, production designer; Isis Mussenden, costume designer; Jessica Miller, producer/head of production; Stephen Love, Blake Pickens, line producers. Editorial Work Editorial Rich Orrick, lead editor; Theo Mercado, editor; Jamie Lynn Perritt, producer; Erica Thompson, exec producer. VFX The Mill NY Jeff Robins, 2D lead; Sophie Mitchell, producer; Rachael Trillo, exec producer. Music Pulse Music NY Julia Piker, composer; Dan Kuby, composer/exec producer; Steve Grywalski, producer. Sound Design Trinite Studios Brian Emrich, sound designer. Audio Post Heard City Phil Loeb, Keith Reynaud, mixers; Sasha Awn, Andi Lewis, Jackie James, producers; Gloria Pitagorsky, managing director. Color Company 3 Clare Movshon, Alex Lubrano, producers; Sofie Borup, colorist. Multicultural Strategic Communications Egami Consulting Group
The 2024 Christmas ad from John Lewis department stores has arrived. This year’s much anticipated TV commercial, continuing the Xmas tradition of John Lewis, is the two-minute “The Gifting Hour" created by Saatchi & Saatchi UK and directed by Francois Rousselet via production house Riff Raff.
In the ad, the heroine, Sally, has left it a little late to find the right gift for her sister this year and races into a John Lewis store at closing time. Falling through a rack of dresses, she enters a fantastical world. We first see her stumbling out of the wardrobe in the attic of her childhood home and from here we are taken on a whimsical journey through her memories as she searches for the ultimate present, against the clock.
Returning to the store and back to reality she has found the perfect gift, ready and wrapped. Sally then heads outside and has a special moment with her sister who will be the gift’s recipient. As they walk away we see her sister reflected in the John Lewis window as the child from her memories.
