SOPA and PIPA: Anti-piracy bills explained
You may or may not have noticed that yesterday, huge websites such as Wikipedia, BoingBoing and I Can Haz Cheezburger went ‘dark’ (i.e. they went completely offline). They did this in protest to the current hotly debated anti-piracy legislation that is going backwards and forwards in US government. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is currently on the ropes due to the backlash to its terms but PIPA (Protect IP Act), is the not-very-different alternative plan which is due to be voted on in congress in the near future. Critics agree that the basic content of these plans could ‘break the Internet’ as we know it due to censorship and site-blocking at the whim of ISP providers. It’s a hugely important and potentially pivotal moment for the Internet so click on the link for a full breakdown of what it all means.
See the best protests to the legislation from Wired to Wikipedia.
…and it wouldn’t be the internet if someone didn’t make a Youtube video about it. Check out a song dedicated to SOPA and PIPA called ‘the day the LOLcats died’. If you can’t be bothered to read the articles then the song explains it all in a slightly more upbeat way.
British Heart Foundation: Vinne Jones teaches CPR
Hey, tough guys: "Say some geezer collapses in front of you? What do you do?" Vinnie Jones, a British football player-turned actor with a 'hard man' reputation, asks and answers the question in a brilliant new public service ad for the British Heart Foundation. He demonstrates a hands-on form of CPR to the beat of disco classic 'stayin alive' by the BeeGees.
MINI: Fan the Flame
MINI’s Facebook page for Belgium and Luxemburg is being promoted with “Fan The Flame”, a social media campaign featuring a MINI Countryman. The car has been placed on a slope in a parking lot at the Brussels Motorshow, held in place by a thick rope over a bunsen burner. Those who like the MINI Belux Facebook Page are able to watch the live construction on the campaign website, and attempt to remotely ignite the flame. The person that burns the rope wins the MINI Countryman.
Cravendale and The Muppets
Cravendale are putting a unique spin on their sponsorship of the upcoming The Muppets movie, due for UK release on 10th February 2012 is being promoted in an advertising campaign centred around a social giveaway of hundreds of thousands of unique, limited edition Muppets stickers designed specifically for two-litre Cravendale bottles. Cravendale consumers and Muppets fans will be able to collect the entire set of the stickers, with one character released each week from 9th January, beginning with Kermit the Frog. Anyone interested in taking part can visit a dedicated Muppets page on the Cravendale website and register for the limited edition stickers. Once fans receive their stickers they can upload a photo of their new creation to a dedicated Facebook app, The Muppets Makeover, which creates a short, personalised film that captures different Muppets characters interacting with the submitted photo. Each photo submitted to the Muppet Makeover will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a VIP screening of the Muppets movie for four friends.
Wimpy: Braille Burgers
To promote its recently launched menus in Braille, Wimpy’s fast food chain in South Africa created 15 unique burgers that could be identified by visually impaired people before they could taste it. The creative idea had a Braille message on the bun that was spelled out using individually placed sesame seeds. Each message was a description of the burger the consumer was about to enjoy.
The burgers were a delightful surprise to the visually impaired recipient and motivated them to speak out and blog about the campaign. In the end, the campaign reached over 800,000 sight-impaired people and successfully conveyed the message that “Wimpy is a place where everyone can feel at home.”
Scandinavian Airlines: Couple up to buckle up
Scandinavian Airlines recently launched the “Couple Up to Buckle Up” 2 for 1 campaign that used two unique QR codes across every touch point (emails, Facebook app, banners, print ads, etc.), leveraging an insight into how couples most commonly book trips.
Couples would each scan the QR code assigned to them, which would sync their half of a video based offer (if they user is smart enough to scan/play at the same time) and reveal the discount code split across both screens
Windows phone at CES: $100 challenge
Whilst at CES, Microsoft wanted to showcase the abilities of their new Windows Phone to a skeptical and techie audience. So they came up with the $100 challenge, a really simple but very effective way to demonstrate the benefits. Ben ‘the PC guy’ would find random people at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) and challenge them to complete a smartphone task with their non-Windows phone whilst he did the same task on his Windows Phone. If the Windows Phone did it faster (which it did in 88% of the challenges), the challenger would not receive $100 and would have to admit to being #smokedbywindowsphone and have their video uploaded to the Twitter profile.
Adidas shut down Melbourne streets for a pro-studded tennis challenge
Adidas recruited famous names in tennis to promote its ‘Game is the Game’ campaign. Tennis stars, including Caroline Wozniacki, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Ana Ivanovic and Gilles Simon, took part in a unique challenge in. The year long campaign was first introduced by British tennis talent, Andy Murray, who played against the world’s best ‘Road Tennis’ player at a secret London location last November. The first challenge this year revolved around the 2012 Australian Open in Melbourne. Playing in mixed teams with local sporting stars, the players competed in a modified version of Stické Tennis – a racquet sport invented in the late 19th century merging aspects of real tennis and all the basics of lawn tennis with the addition of side and back walls. Along an iconic Melbourne laneway, DJs breakdancers, and graffitti artists were all featured in this fun video campaign
The AA: Who’s going to stop Jack Frost?
The AA (UK car breakdown cover) has created a short film titled Who?s Going to Stop Jack Frost? featuring a family who are terrorised by an invisible predator who finds his way into a home and starts to wreak havoc on a mother and her two children. The film will be will be launched and streamed online on the 19th January with the reveal that Who?s Going To Stop Jack Frost? is actually part of a tease and reveal marketing campaign for the AA, created by McCann Erickson.
During the live stream, we?ll see a repair man from the AA Home Emergency Response arrive on the scene and fix the problem, liberating the family from the clutches of the evil Jack Frost.
The AA will also be working with Shelter, a housing and homelessness charity that works to alleviate the distress caused by homelessness and bad housing, donating £20 for every policy sold as a result of the campaign.
Like Heinken on Facebook and fill an office with balloons
International beer brand Heineken has created a digital campaign to drive more Brazilian fans to like its Facebook Page. Every time someone from Brazil likes the page, a green balloon is blown up and placed in an office. Selected users are shown a custom video of a man blowing up a balloon and the total number of balloons covering the room.
In just a few days, the ‘Um Like Um Balao’ (One Like One Balloon – said while blowing one of them up) campaign has generated thousands of new likes, which in turn has drowned the office setting in a sea of balloons.
Cuckoo Clock gives gumball to staff members for each new Twitter follower
U.K-based ad agency Uniform has created a specially designed cuckoo clock that gives out a gumball whenever they get a new follower on Twitter. The Sweet Tweet clock dispenses bubble gum treats in real time and is a useful tool that alerts and rewards the staff. The link to the Sweet Tweet video is also tweeted to the new follower along with the message, “Thanks for following us, you just set a gumball free.”
Spark: SOPA and PIPA web revolt explained, Braille burgers and CPR lessons with Vinnie Jones
20 January 2012