Hasta La Creative!

If you’ve ever wondered about the effect that the increased frequency of mass shootings has had on the lives of young children, and how it can impact their day-to-day lives, this remarkable music video from Everytown for Gun Safety and Andrew Bird will clarify that. 

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Classroom lockdown drills—at my first grader’s school and every other school in America—have become the norm since the tragedy at Newtown, two years ago this Sunday. The powerfully sad PSA below from Grey Toronto, unveiled today, takes place during just such a lockdown—and highlights a depressing statistic: There have been nearly 100 school shootings since Newtown, yet there has been almost no movement on gun control.

The end line nicely captures what has changed since Newtown—the level of fear in classrooms with young children. A 60-second version of the ad will air in digital and broadcast media leading up to the anniversary of the Newtown massacre.

“The inconceivably tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook woke up millions of Americans to our country’s pervasive culture of gun violence,” Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said in a statement. “We do not send our children to school to learn how to hide from gunmen, nor should we expect sharpshooting to be a job requirement for educators. For far too long, our lawmakers have asked children and teachers to stand up to gunmen because they are too afraid to stand up to the gun lobby.”

Watts adds: “You may not have heard about all of these shooting incidents on the national news, but when a lockdown is announced over a school intercom—for whatever reason—it strikes fear across the community. We will not allow the constant threat of gun violence at our schools to become the new normal—it’s time our elected leaders take a stand for the safety and future of our children.”

CREDITS
Client: Moms Demand Action
Agency: GREY Toronto
Chief Creative Officer: Patrick Scissons
Copywriter: Patrick Scissons
Agency Producer: Erica Metcalfe
Account Director: Darlene Remlinger
Production Company: Untitled Films
Director: Phil Brown
DOP: John Houtman
Executive Producer: Lexy Kavluk
Producer: Trudy Turner
Editorial: Saints/Griff Henderson
Audio: Eggplant/Roc Gagliese, Nathan Handy
Colorist: Alter Ego/Wade Odlum
Online: Topix VFX/Marco Polsinelli

Archie Andrews, the iconic American comic book character introduced 73 years ago, will die this month when he takes a bullet meant for an openly gay U.S. Senator who supports stricter gun control.

His death (which we should note isn’t much of a spoiler since it was revealed by the creators months ago) occurs in Life With Archie No. 36, and its aftermath will be featured in No. 37, the final volume of a series that follows the grown-up adventures of the character and his pals from Riverdale, USA. The more familiar teenage Archie lives on in other titles, which, like many comics, have their own continuities. 

Archie has focused on serious social topics quite a lot in recent years, with stories exploring cancer, death, affordable healthcare and gay marriage. (The wedding of his friend, Kevin Keller, sparked a boycott from conservative group One Million Moms in 2012.) The main character’s death, however, clearly ups the ante and has generated considerable media attention since the twist was revealed in April. (The details of Archie’s death weren’t disclosed until this week, and the shooter’s identity hasn’t been disclosed.)

Major comic book characters have “died” before, notably Superman, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man, but Archie’s demise is different because he’s a mortal with no special powers who sacrifices himself in a politically charged narrative.

“He’s human. He’s a person. When you wound him, he bleeds. He knows that. If anything, I think his death is more impactful because of that,” Archie publisher and co-CEO John Goldwater told the Associated Press. “We hope by showing how something so violent can happen to Archie, that we can—in some way—learn from him.”

For the most part, public reaction has been mixed, and mainly split along progressive/conservative lines. One Huffington Post commenter says Archie’s writers have “taken this venerable old line and breathed a new essence into it,” while another chides, “It is exasperating to see the extent of childish propaganda in our society.”

A Verge reader asks, “Is it really appropriate to take a character that’s been a comic book character and a pop culture icon for 70+ years and to kill him off for the sake of a modern political statement? That’s like… killing off Donald Duck to protest the Vietnam War, or killing off Charlie Brown to protest the Affordable Care Act.”

Some question whether a potentially powerful message is undermined by offing Archie in one story arc while he remains youthful and alive in other series still available on newsstands. “While I’m all for tackling tough issues in comics, my problem is that Archie isn’t going to stay dead,” writes a commenter at ComicsAlliance.com. “When you write a story tackling something like gun violence, when the main character of the book eventually comes back the whole point of the story loses its weight.”

Chris Cummins, who follows comics at DenOfGeek.us, takes a broader view, and believes that Archie’s martyrdom is in keeping with his selfless personality and true to the spirit of the overall series: “This demise is a fitting and tonally perfect tribute to a character who has always put his friends first.”

Unload Your 401(k), a powerful three-minute film from Grey New York, takes aim at a new target in the debate over guns in America: the pocketbooks of firearms companies.

The video supports UnloadYour401K.com, a site where consumers can find out if their retirement portfolios include gun manufacturers. A coalition of 20 organizations, led by Campaign to Unload and States United to Prevent Gun Violence, is behind the initiative.

The film doesn't waste time trying to persuade gun rights advocates. Instead it makes its appeal to those already passionately opposed to gun violence, and perhaps those on the fence, imploring them to take action. The case for divestment, a tactic that played a role in ending South African Apartheid and changing U.S. tobacco policy, is mainly made by the parents, relatives and teachers of young people killed and maimed at by gun violence.

"They're making money off the backs of dead people," says Lori Haas, whose daughter was shot at Virginia Tech. "I just can't tolerate it. And I won't let my money support it."

"This industry is not going to respond to moral sentiments, that's clear," says Eric Milgram, the father of two Sandy Hook survivors. "They will respond to economic pain."

A simple, low-tech wall of remembrance with a timeline, photos and clips (starting at Columbine, 15 years ago) is a visual focal point in a presentation uncluttered by news footage or reenactments. 

The most stirring testimony comes from trauma surgeon Dr. Sheldon Teperman: "I'm covered in blood. We've done everything we can do and someone has to go tell the family. So they are sitting in a waiting room, and I know how this works, so I steel myself for this, because I know that when I walk into the room … I'm going to snatch all of the light and all of the hope and all of the air from that parent's life.

"There is a lot of profit to be made for all of this sorrow, all of this death and all of this destruction. Ultimately, it is all about the money."

A longtime columnist for a gun magazine questioned when the regulation of guns became infringement of the right to bear arms. He was quickly fired, squelching any debate.

A jokey-yet-serious campaign called Bribe the Senate, intended to get the U.S. Senate to at least discuss the idea of mandatory background checks on gun purchases, has hit a legal snag and its organizers are rethinking their approach—lest they end up in prison.

Four creatives at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners came up with the project (a personal one, not an agency endeavor), which was designed to raise money to offset donations from the gun lobby to six senators who could provide the swing votes to consider legislation on the topic. At midnight Thursday—100 days after the Senate voted to keep background checks from even being discussed—the campaign's website will count down to zero, at which point it was supposed to start collecting donations. Now, that won't happen.

"Honestly, we started this whole thing with the intent to fundraise for the bribes," says Simon Bruyn, one of the creatives. "But the lawyers were very adamant that this was go-to-jail illegal. Not just for us, but for anybody who donated. So we had to change our approach late in the game."

Instead, the site will simply direct tweets to the six senators and ask them to revisit their stance on the issue. Not so much as a bitcoin will change hands.

"We get it. Bribes are bad. You can't pay a politician to change their vote," says Emil Tiismann, another of the site's creators. "Next time we will form a proper political lobbying organization so that we can collect unlimited cash in order to have a meaningful political conversation with our elected officials where we strongly express our opinions."

Tiismann adds: "Please don't send us to jail for this. We'd hate to have to share a cell with a mentally ill killer who bought his murder weapon at a gun show without a background check."

Jacob Sempler and Andrew Livingston were the other two creatives who built the campaign. Check out its appeal video below.

The Justice Department called prosecutor Dennis K. Burke’s actions related to the release of a memo about a federal agent involved in the “Fast and Furious” investigation “particularly egregious.”

"They Don't Work for You," a gun-control campaign from Brooklyn design shop Guts & Glory, is intended to stir the emotions of the faithful and give them simple, direct and proactive ways to respond. The website gets under your skin using deceptively simple, exceptionally skillful Web design and the frequently overlooked (yet often quite powerful) tactic of repetition.

First, we see images of the six educators killed in December's Newtown, Conn., school shooting, and the headline "These teachers sacrificed their lives for the children they worked for." That's followed by pictures of the 45 U.S. senators whose recent votes killed the proposal to extend background checks on firearm sales. "These senators voted against protecting the children they work for," the copy says. As users scroll down, successive screens show individual lawmakers alongside images of kids who died from gun violence (and who, according to Guts & Glory, might not have perished if stricter firearms laws had been in place). Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) appears first, paired with 6-year-old Newtown victim Charlotte Bacon. Text reads, "Sen. Alexander doesn't work for kids like Charlotte," and urges visitors to ask him why via phone, email and social media. This basic template is then repeated 44 times, plugging in a different legislator and slain child.

Repetition is, of course, a basic tenet of advertising, political speeches and religious sermons, because it reinforces and amplifies the message, lending extra power to an argument or proposition and firmly fixing ideas in the audience's heads. It's a proven motivator. The more times you're told "Do it," "Do it," "Do it," the more likely you are to take action, especially if you already agree with the premise. The repetition here is particularly effective. The faithful grow angrier—and presumably more primed to contact senators to make their feelings known—with each passing screen.

With folks now on edge, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre appears solo near the end, along with the message, "These senators don’t work for you. They work for the NRA, who works for the gun industry, whose sole purpose is to sell more guns." One more scroll yields a hashtag: #AskThemWhy. Of course, doing so is tantamount to asking a loaded question, but that's exactly what the site's creators have in mind—and lawmakers might want to have some compelling answers ready.

A guy named Ed stalks past the glum cubicles of a nondescript office suite, raises his gun and fires a single shot at a middle-aged managerial type, narrowly missing his target. He then begins the laborious process of cleaning and reloading his musket-style weapon—the type of firearm widely used when the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified—giving everyone in the room time to flee. The chilling spot, from States United to Prevent Gun Violence and Grey New York, closes with the lines: "Guns have changed. Shouldn't our gun laws?"

Moms Demand Action and Grey Toronto take a simpler approach with "How Many More Rounds?" That clip shows shells ejecting in slow motion as an assault weapon is fired, with each casing representing a high-profile shooting: Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Columbine. As the tragedies pile up, the ad asks, "How many more rounds are we going to let this go for?" The same client-agency team also crafted print ads (posted after the jump) that show two kids standing or sitting side by side, each holding a different item, one of which has been banned by federal or local authorities to protect youngsters. The banned items include a version of Little Red Riding Hood, Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs and dodge balls. In each case, the contrasting item is an assault-style AK-15 rifle.

All three efforts are restrained and thoughtful, and each makes a point in a memorable way without seeming gratuitous. That the cause inspires impassioned and noteworthy creative work is no surprise. It's just a shame this particular ad category has to exist at all.

CREDITS (top spot)
Client: States United to Prevent Gun Violence
Spot: "Ed—A Petition for Stronger Gun Laws"
Agency: Grey, New York
President, Chief Creative Officer: Tor Myhren
Executive Creative Directors: Steve Krauss, Ari Halper
Creative Director, Art Director: Eric Schutte
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rob Carducci
Copywriter: Richard Bullock
Creative Reputation Manager: Rachel West
Vice President, Account Director: Elizabeth Gilchrist
Assistant Account Executive: Cassie Novick
Executive Vice President, Director of Broadcast Production: Bennett McCarroll
Producer: Floyd Russ
Associate Producer: Sam Howard
Production Company: Harvest
Director: Adam Goldstein
Executive Producers: Bonnie Goldfarb, Rob Sexton
Line Producer: Francie Moore
Director of Photography: Roman Jakobi
Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Assistant Editor: Ryan Steele
Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Visual Effects: Method Studios
Lead Flame Artist: Jay Hawkins
Matte Painter: Stella Ampatci
Visual Effects Producer: Jenn Dewey
Sound Design: Vision Post
Sound Designer: Ryan Hobler
Producer: Lindsay Brzowski
Music: G&E Music

Entertainment companies are responding to criticism that violence in film and on television has contributed to a culture of violence in the country.