Snow White and the Seven Unwanted Pregnancies

What a strange ad, by Portugal's Fuel agency for Ajuda de Mae ("Help for Mothers'). Although it would seem that it is supposed to be a warning against unwanted pregnancy, the organization itself is an anti-abortion one, with a mission "to support Mother of pregnant women, respect for the life of unborn baby, so that with this support, each parent can improve the lives of their families."

They do, however, seem to support family planning as an educational organization. But considering their overall message of creating healthy families, the negative example of seven little people  making life miserable for Snow White seems rather negative.

See more here

Plus, the ad is shamefully similar to Vancouver photographer Dina Goldstein's portrayal of Snow White in her excellent "Fallen Princesses" series. Ripoff? Hmmm...

Via Ads of The World

Dell's latest campaign: fart photography

UPDATE: Not only is this now confirmed as a hoax, but Dell took it extremely well.

As quoted in MSN Money:

"This video is in no way affiliated with Dell, but it’s great to see creative professionals get inspiration from using our products," the tweet read.

"Our dell.com/takeyourownpath program is all about celebrating people who take their own professional path. Regarding this parody, we consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery."

Good for them!

When I saw this on Buzzfeed, I assumed it was fake. But it appears to be a real short film for Dell's "Visual Innovators" campaign, featuring photographer Clayton Sotos.


Clayton Sotos - Visual Innovators from Visual Innovators on Vimeo.


And this is apparently what Mr. Sotos does, "capturing the release of life bursts".

Yeah, it has to be a hoax. But what an elaborate one! The only sure proof of its fakeness I can find is that the Dell branded "visual innovators" Twitter account has been suspended.

History repeats itself. History repeats itself. History...

Mexico City's Museo Memoria y Tolerancia is an interesting idea. In a place founded on genocide and the clash of ancient empires, the museum stands "to warn about the dangers of indifference, discrimination and violence for generating, instead, responsibility, respect and awareness in each individual."

These ads, by Mexico's Made agency, paraphrase the George Santayana  quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and matches it with iconic images of war and violence to amplify the message.

The effect is not subtle, and you could accuse the campaign of relying too much on borrowing interest from some of the world's great tragedies. But the message is, at least, clear. and as important now as it was over 100 years ago.

Via I Believe in Advertising 

These photos of strippers at work are not what you'd expect

If I were to think of a word for photographer Alicia Vera's portraits of exotic dancers at a San Francisco "gentlemen's club," it would be "stripped." And indeed, that's what she calls her essay.

Women's sexuality stripped of its dignity. Men's sexuality stripped of its joy. The softcore side of sex work stripped of any excitement whatsoever.

Women giving up fake intimacy for paltry tips, men giving up money for fake attention.

But like a good, objective eye, Alicia does not judge. She just watches.

Great, heartbreaking, and even inspiring work. Whether you frequent these establishments or not, it will be hard to unsee these images.

See the rest at her portfolio site.

Tip via The Photo Brigade.

Bunny Girls vs. Horse Men

This Playboy ad (via Copyranter) uses an old group photo trick that coincidentally (?) has an ancestor circulating on Reddit, Tumblr and Buzzfeed right now:

Weird. Have any other examples to share?

F'd Ad Fridays: Now THAT's an "orgy wonderland"

Via Guyism

I guess if you had the stamina to gift every believer kid around the world in one night, you could pull this off too. Poor Mrs. Claus.

What a brilliant (stolen) concept!

I just saw this campaign in Ads of the World:

Really awesome concept. But not an original one. The ads immediately sent me searching through my blog archives to find the originals, in an art photography series by Argentinian photographer Irina Werning:

The ad version is by an agency called Propeg in Salvador, Brazil. The creative team is Ana Luisa Almeida and Emerson Braga (CDs) and Edson Rosa (AD).

So here is my question for photographers and ad creatives alike: Is it right to rip off someone's personal art project for ad glory and profit? Is it "inspiration" or outright theft?

An Ottawa radio station is currently running ads that use the Sleeveface meme. But that's a collaborative and tongue-in-cheek project that uses already copyrighted work. This, on the other hand, is a clear ripoff in concept, style and content — with only the addition of a product placement — Irina's Back to the Future and Back to the Future 2. Is it even legal?

Opinions welcome. I have e-mailed Irina as well.