Wednesday, January 21, 2015

12423: Us V Them R Jackasses.

Campaign reported on an initiative from Anomaly London Executive Creative Directors Oil Beale and Alex Holder that ultimately shows: 1) Anomaly is a shitty creative shop, and; 2) Beale and Holder are ignorant assholes.

The dim-witted duo shat out Us V Them “to start a movement, one that engages and galvanises as much of the creative community as possible to fight bad guys.” The first villain to face the wrath of Us V Them is Big Tobacco.

Okey-doke.

First, the video for the maiden effort is a poor man’s version of a Truth concept. To call it uninspired and unoriginal would be an understatement. Despite Anomaly’s contention that it’s not an advertising agency, the place continues to produce crap that looks and smells like advertising excreted from the buttholes of the most hackneyed adpeople in the field.

Second, why the hell is Anomaly attacking Big Tobacco? The shop just picked up the Johnnie Walker account and has serviced Budweiser too. Sorry, but Big Tobacco is just as heinous as Big Booze. To condemn one while conspiring with the other demonstrates hypocrisy of the highest order.

If Beale and Holder want to identify real bad guys, they need only gaze into the nearest mirror. Hey, why chase after the scoundrels of society that are already being battled by creative forces? Display true courage and confront the diversity dilemma that has plagued the US and UK advertising industries for too long. Let White adpeople like Beale and Holder lead the charge against discrimination and exclusivity for a change. Now that would constitute a bona fide anomaly.

Oli Beale and Alex Holder seek fellow creatives to tackle major social issues

By James Swift

The executive creative directors at Anomaly London are inviting fellow creatives to band together and use their skills to “fight bad guys” and have released their own ad targeting the tobacco industry.

Oil Beale and Alex Holder have launched a website for their independent crusading initiative, which they have called Us V Them.

They hope to establish a creative community whose members will meet every few months to pick a cause or target and can work anonymously if they choose.

Beale and Holder have already made Big Tobacco the target of Us V Them’s first work.

To address the problem of children smoking, they created a film called I Can’t Wait Till You’re Legal, which is designed to be shared with teenagers on their 14th birthday.

It opens on a fictional tobacco executive who, addressing the camera, gives a speech about counting the days until the teenager is “legal” before launching into a creepy rendition of Happy Birthday.

The film, which is not backed by any brand or organisation, was directed by Sara Dunlop through Rattling Stick.

Beale said: “The creative industry’s stock in trade is bringing about behaviour change.

“If we use those skills for good, we can make a valuable contribution to addressing some major social issues.

“With Us V Them we want to start a movement, one that engages and galvanises as much of the creative community as possible to fight bad guys.

“I don’t mind if we’re seen as idealists or naive, this is our way of at least trying to make a difference. This is about doing something useful.”

Beale and Holder joined Anomaly from Mother in 2013. Some of the pair’s most high-profile campaigns include ‘Make Them Pay’ for Elle magazine, which encourages women to find out how much they were paid compared with male colleagues.

They also worked on the Kaiser Chief’s customisable album, The Future Is Medieval.

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