The Power of Media Advertising: Ads Worth Spreading from TED
Generally I am averse to most advertising, but funny, clever, and powerful ads can be exceptions to this rule. The Bridgestone Superbowl 2011 ad “Reply All” is an example. This is not only funny, it also raises important issues about being careful when sharing information digitally (via email or other means) which can be used effectively for conversations about digital citizenship. (I’ve embedded YouTube versions of all the videos in this post for iOS-compatibility.)
The TED initiative, “Ads Worth Spreading” is a good source of powerful advertisements worth watching. Here are a few of my favorites. “The World’s Smallest Stop-motion Character Animation” is a 97 second film short entirely on a cell phone (a Nokia N8) using a microscope attachment called a CellScope.
According to the CellScope.com website:
We have designed equipment to turn the camera of a standard cell phone into a diagnostic-quality microscope with a magnification of 5x-50x. Cell-phone microscopy will enable visualization of samples, followed by capture, organization, and transmission of images critical for diagnosis. Our preliminary work has demonstrated the technical feasibility of this concept, with parts added to a cell phone allowing us to capture and transmit images of blood samples anywhere in the world.
That’s powerful stuff.
The Batelco video “Infinity” is awesome not only for its special effects, but mainly because it encourages more of an incredibly important thing:
THINKING. “The Girl Effect: The Clock is Ticking” from Nike is a powerful three minute animation confronting the issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, teenage prostitution, access to doctors and education. Take a look at this one, you won’t forget it soon.
Learn more on girleffect.org. View more powerful advertisements on the TED AWS (Ads Worth Sharing) Initiative site. Hat Tip to Eric Castro at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco for sharing this link.
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