Kids get a sporting chance

Kids just want to play. But, not all of them are lucky enough to play organized sports. That’s where the Toronto-based charity Right to Play comes in.

The org’s latest campaign includes print, radio and TV executions, and aims to raise awareness about the charity, which has trained over 6,000 local coaches in an effort to bring a little cheer to disadvantaged kids in 20 countries, including Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

The 30-second TV spot begins with a young man holding a grenade, and finishes with him running in a race.

‘We’re appealing to a North American audience,’ explains Toronto-based Young & Rubicam CD Joseph Nanni. ‘We’re hoping the work will compel people to remember how good playing [sports] felt for them as children.’

The campaign launched in October, and is running on sports-related media like TSN, OLN, CBC and Toronto radio station The Fan 590.

client: Warren A. Spires, national director, Right to Play Canada

CDs: Joseph Nanni, Ian Mirlin, Craig Brownrigg, Hayes Steinberg

copywriter: Matt Fraracci

AD: Gints Bruveris

account executive: Kyle Holmes

agency producer: Christine Stephens

print production: Lisa Labute

photographer/director: Mark Ziebert

prodco: Steam

editor: Brenton McConnell, Flashcut

retoucher: Steven Cribbin

Toys are for adults, too

Did the pink teddy bear just eat the canary? Just what was in those magic brownies sitting in front of the toy with suspiciously large eyes? And, will the grinning mouse inflict harm with his chopping knife?

These are three scenarios depicted in highly stylized photos for in-store posters at trendy Toronto toy store Magic Pony. ‘These are avant-garde toys – a lot of them are very edgy,’ explains Tony Miller, VP/CD at Toronto-based Sharpe Blackmore EURO RSCG.

The target demo is teens and adults. The posters are in the storefront to draw in traffic from passersby.

The client is so pleased with the executions, they’re using them for an upcoming direct mail campaign, too.

clients: Steven Cober and Kristin Weckworth, co-owners, Magic Pony

CD: Tony Miller

copywriter: Michael Wong

AD: Elizabeth Whalen

photographer: Nick Burchell

Hard-to-stomach ads strike a nerve

The sight of a mangled bird atop an otherwise appetizing plate of seafood is unsettling. But that’s exactly the point in this latest execution from the Toronto-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada, which aims to raise awareness about how fishing nets can harm water-dwelling wildlife like birds and sea turtles.

While the campaign also includes TV, radio, DM, outdoor and interactive elements, it’s the two print ads that really drive home the tagline of ‘not everything caught in the fishing net makes it to the table.’ The other execution features a chopped-up turtle stuffed into a sushi spread.

‘Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction,’ explains Toronto-based FCB associate CD Chris Taciuk. ‘Most Canadians don’t really know this is a problem.’

A for effort

It took over a year to prep the talent for this recent effort from Toronto-based Foodland Ontario, which aims to establish the government body as an authority on fresh produce.

Each of the campaign’s six TV spots features a ‘helpful hint’ about consuming various fruits and vegetables, with the ripening process depicted in the background. The spots took months to complete, as photographer Shin Sugino took digital stills of each phase of the growing process to realistically show the food ripening. The stills were later hand-cut into the film.

‘We wanted to capture the naturalness,’ explains Bensimon*Byrne CD David Rosenberg, adding that the client supported the concept. ‘They were willing to wait for an idea they were excited about.’

client: Stephen Bourne, supervisor, brand services, Foodland Ontario

CD: David Rosenberg

copywriters: Michael Kirkland, Tony Lee

ADs: Bill Parker, Clive Matthews

account supervisors: Cam Drynan,

Karyn Hyjek

account director: Chris Perron

agency producer: Cathy Erbe

photographer: Shin Sugino

prodco: Sugino Studios

producer: Taeko Yamanouchi

editor: Marco Polsinelli, Topix

graphic design: Julia Deakin, Topix

audio: Tom Eymundson, Pirate Radio and Television

Leafs foment hockey fever

Nobody wants to sit by the Habs fan.

That’s the implied message in one of three amusing new executions for Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports that aim to get people excited about hockey again. ‘Class’ features a class picture with everybody clustered away from a lone boy in a Montreal Canadiens jersey. ‘Bus’ employs the same idea, except everyone is avoiding a man in a Philadelphia Flyers jersey. And, ‘Spaghetti’ depicts a topless older man eating at a restaurant, with his beloved Leafs jersey laid out carefully beside him.

‘When it comes to the Leafs, everybody [in Toronto] is a fan,’ notes Stephen Jurisic, co-CD of john st. The campaign’s tagline is: ‘The passion that unites us all.’

The campaign has gone over so well, Maple Leaf Sports has even added the executions to its Web site for fans to download as desktop wallpaper. And, the ‘Class’ execution has even gone viral. A friend of co-CD Angus Tucker forwarded it to him, not realizing Tucker had worked on it. ‘It’s being e-mailed around, and has circled back to us,’ says Jurisic.

The campaign launched at the end of September, and includes wild postings and print ads in Leafs programs as well as the free Toronto daily Metro.

client: Marc LeBlanc, manager, marketing services,

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

agency: john st., Amoeba Corp.

photographer: Anthony Redpath

You are cordially invited to submit your new, dead clever and previously unrevealed campaigns to: editorial director Mary Maddever at mmaddever@brunico.com and CD Stephen Stanley at sstanley@brunico.com, co-curators of strategy’s Creative space.