These messages brought to you by #WorldWaterDay

It's World Water Day today, and I'm up to my baby blues in "real" work, so here's a compilation of classic water-related PSAs to remind us all of what's at stake if we don't keep our water resources clean and safe (hint: we all die).

Matt Damon's viral PSA "making of" freakout (contains F-bombs, via earthfirst.com)



Jennifer Connelly has to fetch water from Central Park to live (via search)



Wasting Water is Weird (via Osocio)



Sweden's controversial "dirty water" mom via (Adfreak)



A strikingly similar (and earlier) PSA from the UK (via The Next Good Idea)



Yet another execution of the same idea, again via AdFreak



And again, for UNICEF (via Ads of The World)



And, now for something completely different...

Surfrider Foundation: "Butts" (found via search)



The message is clear: Never take clean water for granted.

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

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.