You're NOT A Princess! (Mercy College Fights Princess Culture to Get Girls To Further Education)

It's gone viral and it's easy to see why. With Princess Culture pervading American society, in particular, these days, would you dare to tell a girl "You are NOT a princess?"

The campaign works well, by grabbing your attention this way, as in, "How dare they tell me/my girl that you are not/should not aspire to be a princess?!" Then it tells girls "you are more", "rescue yourself", among other strong girl messages. the "prepare for life tagline included on all the posters makes it clear the emphasis is on empowering rather than destroying dreams (because, if you're smart, you can have those too.)

It's being called a feminist campaign, although a more accurate term might be pro-girls-education campaign. Mind you, Mercy College is an all-girls college prep-school so it makes sense for them to focus on a female-centric message rather than just a pro-education, but it should also be noted that it's a Catholic school, so this is a pretty progressive stance.

Although we wish this was the norma and didn't need to say it at all, we still think Mercy College should get kudos for this gutsy move.

Here's a nice summary/commentary from Adweek:

A tiny, all-female Catholic college-prep academy in Kentucky has created a curious ad campaign, via agency Doe-Anderson, that flies in the face of all my assumptions regarding Catholic education. The deeply feminist campaign tells young women, "You're not a princess" and "Life's not a fairytale," and advises them: "Don't wait for a prince." The tagline is: "Prepare for real life." 

Let me explain why this is so cool. Is this a new message? No, it's many decades old. Is it a common message? Sadly, also no. This type of talk is not only still new to a lot of people, it's particularly timely as the Disney-princess empire continues to expand by dainty leaps and fierce bounds. What's most remarkable is that a Catholic preparatory school is taking a view of women's education that doesn't end in a prince. Lord have mercy, but Mercy Academy has a progressive view on women's role in the world.

What was your first reaction? And what was your second?

Perhaps I should point out the fine print below which reads:

You're not a princess.

BUT YOU CAN STILL RULE THE WORLD.

Where's the "love" button?

Wooden Boy Teaches Us About Sex Ed (Yes, They Went There. It's Actually A Good Thing.)

Note: I have so many stories to get through today and it's already late, so please excuse me not going as much in depth into the stories as usual!

An new PSA about sexual health and awareness of non-symptomatic STDs, stars our favorite not-so-little-anymore wooden boy, Pinocchio. I particularly like the twist that he doesn't know he's lying.

From mediabistro:

...the spot is a reminder to girls everywhere that the dude you meet out at the club might have AIDS or Herpes or something but might not know it. Wrap that rascal, as the kids say. Rubber up! 

All the bawdy puns work to the campaign's advantage here because once you see this  - and your mind fills with all the worst "woody" jokes you've ever heard - it's going to be difficult to forget. That's a good thing. And that's the whole point.

The PSA is actually French, with the English version shown below, but don't worry. There's nothing here a kid hasn't seen before and it's technically safe for work but sexual situations are implied (obviously).

Take a look (and show your teen):

After so much time dancing around adults-only Pinocchio jokes whenever his character enters a storyline, it's great to see them being put to good use.

If you'd like to find out more about the approach to the PSA, as well as the wooden boy effects, you can see a good half-English/half French "making of" video HERE.

Be safe!

"The Bear & The Hare" - A Christmas Fairy Tale

I don't know what it is about this year but so many Christmas marketing campaigns are more fairy tale-like than not and are very much working to help me see the magical side of the season (which, usually, to be honest, is rather a struggle). This isn't strictly a fairy tale in the sense we usually talk about here, but it qualifies with regard to how many were told and eventually, written down.

Indulge me and let me tell you this story (you won't regret it, I promise):

There once was an animal who had never seen Christmas. As autumn winds turn to winter snow, the bear begins his annual retreat into hibernation to sleep his way through the best part of the year. The festive spirit is strong though, and his friend the hare is determined to give him a gift he has never received before – Christmas.

It's another ad, but it could be a children's short. Apart from being pretty much spot-on charming and magical in an animal fairy tale way, it's unusual in that most of the elements of the scene are real - as in they were created as miniatures - including the drawings which were done in a very different form of stop motion.

For the John Lewis Christmas advert Hornet/Blinkink directors Elliot Dear and Yves Geleyn took the two most traditional and time-honored animation processes – stop-motion and traditional hand-drawn 2D animation – and combined them to create something innovative and unique. 

Their aim was to do almost everything in camera, using real lighting, lens and film craft to build a world where the audience can see and feel the painstaking work behind it. The 2D animation’s physical interaction with the set and the human imperfections inherent in the process create a hand-crafted piece full of heart and integrity.

I'm including the making-of video here because it's almost more beautiful than the ad itself, and shows magic-under-construction of a different kind. Although it's unlikely production was as harmonious and smooth as this video makes it appear, it's clear everyone is delighted to be part of the project and believes it to be something very special. Magic. It's real. It's just generally a lot of work...

(Hm - I detect a theme for the season emerging in my posts!)

My son loves this - especially "the making of" - and wants the set to play with at home. That sounds perfect to me. In the meantime, we'll grab some cardboard boxes and make our own magic. ;)

Ad: Veet Naturals' Beanstalk

Two beanstalk ads in one week!

This one is for skin care. The campaign is supposed to focus on two element: surprise and discovery. Apparently if all goes well in using your Veet Naturals beauty routine, your garden should grow beanstalks (surprise!) and you can discover you're in a fairy tale. Or you should end up with skin as smooth as a baby beanstalk leaf. Or something.

Take a look (Note: the ad is in Hindi but you get the idea):

I do see the surprise/discovery concepts relating to a beanstalk. Getting that to relate to smooth skin would be a challenge. Makes for a pretty ad though. Beanstalks almost, always do. Problem is, my brain always says: "And then what? Giants?" I'm guessing they wouldn't be hairy though... ;) I like how they put "creative visualization" in the bottom corner so they can't be liable if you can't make your beanstalk grow as expected. Just to be on the safe side... *eyeroll*

One day someone with a lot of time on their hands will compile a playlist of ads with beanstalks in them and I bet you most of them will be nice or at the least be sending a positive message (you don't generally see beanstalks strangling people as they're growing or breaking up beautiful houses as they explode in their growth for instance). Don't you think it's interesting that the concept of a giant beanstalk is, in society, a highly positive motif, considering the main thing at the top is a giant who wants to eat you? I think I'll put that down to the green growing visuals being such a positive and hopeful force - because we see nature as a good thin in general - which outweighs the inevitable danger.

Kind of a cool thing really. More beanstalks please!

* Source.

Ad: GEICO's Giant

Not much to say here really, except that the new GEICO ad for Fall (bad pun) makes it look like there's a set-up for a whole slew of sequels in which the giant can do lots of damage that GEICO customers simply don't get stressed about (though it's actually part of a "Brighter Side" campaign).

It does seem as if giants are one of the trope du jour right now (the others being Peter Pan, Neverland and possibly male genies). There's lots in development with regard to giants. Even super hero trends are all about giants of one form or another these days. Looks like the boys tales are taking center stage for the next round - something I don't mind too much with all the princess culture debacles of the past few years. I just wish we didn't have to do either girls OR boys tales.

Fairy tale trend cycles are interesting to take note of and follow. (Has anyone done a chart? I couldn't find one.) Since superheroes, in particular, are the popular focus right now, it's really no surprise that boys tales are gaining popularity again. I wonder if Ivan will make an appearance? It would be a great time to retell some of those tales too.

Ad: Robot Pinocchio Sneaks Gepetto's Car Out For A Spin (But the Nose Knows...)

Well this is interesting. Here we have a modern day Pinocchio and a very tinker-like Gepetto, who. incidentally, doesn't appear at all capable of making anything like Pinocchio (or his car) but it looks like a pretty memorable ad all the same.

The ad is for the Peugeot 208 supermini but I must admit, I'm watching the robot, not the car...

From autoevolution:

The 21st century boy made of wood is actually a robot made by a scientist. Like Sunny from iRobot, he gains consciousness and wants to experience what it's like to go for a drive in the sexy French car. The 28 gets him all the attention, warming his heart and blushing his little robot cheeks.
After he eyes all the pretty girls and is admired by the fox people, Pinocchio returns home and puts the keys on Gepetto's desk. We don't really get why his nose comes out like that. Did he tell a lie or is he just excited? Either way, it wouldn't be Pinocchio without the nose.

They didn't mention the "awaken your body to new sensations" tag line which puts a different slant on our robot's experiences!

You do have to take a beat at the end to ask "why did the nose pop out then?" And then when it begins to make sense your mind goes to places of "so the car opens you up to the possibility of not good things?" (I mean lying, people!) Maybe they should have called the car an Apple... just to confuse things even more... O.o Heh.

This concept, though - and the visuals - remind me of AI, iRobot even the "Pinocchio in reverse" story of the recent and very lovely little film Robot & Frank (you'll have to watch it to see what I mean but I highly recommend it. You can watch a trailer HERE.) 

This means, of course, that I now feel like going and looking up all the modern Pinocchio's that have appeared in recent years...

However, as far as selling me things goes: a lying robot? I think I'll skip that purchase, no matter how cute he is. ;)

Just Released: Marks & Spencer's "Believe in Magic & Sparkle" Xmas Fairy Tale Campaign (Yes. It's As Gorgeous As They Said It Would Be.)

So, here it is. I know you've all been on the edge of your seats... ;)

Actually it's quite lovely and I sort of wish it were longer... (You can tell me "I told you so" later, 'k?)

Wonderland and Oz work very well together here, as does Little Red and Hansel & Gretel. I'm guessing Arabian Nights was the most legitimate way they could think of to have Rosie in her underwear again, though they could have taken it one step further to make it Snow Queen-ish at the end before tumbling back down to Oz. I have to admit, the guy in the painting throws me a little as all I can think of are more obscure tales that he might be from but, other than that, there are more fairy tale references than I first thought there might be. It's an interesting take and mix, though some transition better than others (as in, why did she lose her clothes through the rabbit hole, exactly? "Part of the contract" is not a legitimate answer.).

Overall it's quite lovely and very "Christmassy".

Here's a behind-the-scenes look, which is fun to watch too, and gives some insight into the thought process behind using fairy tales for Christmas. I particularly like that the Director opted to do as much "in camera" as possible, rather than use green screen and CGI. It makes a huge difference to the acting and the end result.

(Side note: I wish OUAT would do more in camera. The effects in that show really pull me out of the scenes.)

They essentially say "fairy tales and Christmas go together", which is an interesting concept to me. It seems to be a consistent idea at M&S since this isn't the first Christmas fairy tales have been used to advertise the store. 

Interestingly, my six-year old, while watching this behind-the-scenes with me, said "Fairy tales aren't all Christmassy! They happen all the time.." (Seriously - I have the best kid ever!)

This at least the second time M&S have used fairy tales for their Christmas campaign (which apparently approaches the status of Superbowl commercials in the US). Here's an earlier ad, likely from a previous "Magic & Sparkle" Christmas campaign a few years back but uploaded earlier this year, with Patrick Stewart and pop-up fairy tale books! *swoon* This one is great too, but in a very different way.

(Note: Red Riding Hood is used in both Christmas campaigns - interesting. I guess the red against the white makes for wonderful visuals and red can equal Christmas all by itself. It's just not usually a tale you put into a Christmas collection - perhaps because of the gathering flowers reference - but I like the idea of transforming non-Christmas tales to be holiday-seasonal. Could be a new and interesting fairy tale collection... hint, hint.)

Enjoy!

I have to admit, the 2013 one in particular does set a magical and Wintery mood. So well done M&S.

What did you think? Are you now inspired to make your Christmas* season fairy tale-ish this year? (She says, hurriedly throwing out the rotting jack-o-lanterns and packing up various skeletal appendages and lightweight gravestones...)

* Where I'm from, "Christmas" isn't a religious term but more a description of the season. Though I celebrate more of the Winter Solstice, I love all the end of year/mid-Winter traditions from various faiths. And I still call it Christmas. :)

Let the Holiday (Advertising) Season Begin... With Marks & Spencer's "Magic & Sparkle" Fairy Tale

You know it's supposed to be a big deal when an ad gets a trailer. That's right. The new two minute ad campaign has a fifteen second preview. Apparently the new Marks & Spencer Christmas ad campaign is "highly anticipated" (not sure by whom exactly, but anyway...) and this week they released a sneak peek teaser of the ad and a special behind-the-scenes look.

Set to an enchanting orchestral soundtrack, the ad is shot in a filmic style as it takes the viewers into a world of 'magic and sparkle' from Alice in Wonderland to the Wizard of Oz. 

Rosie Huntington-Whitely is - of course - the leading lady, first seen pursuing a pretty little dog across a city street before tumbling from the real world into a snow dusted enchanted forest, seated at a fantastical feast.

The ad then follows the lingerie designer and model through a red riding house scene, an Arabian Nights flight and finally a walk along the yellow brick road, with a little help from the ever handsome David and a bewitching Helena Bonham Carter, whose appearance is seen as a huge coup for the retailer. (source)

You can read more details HERE.

Ok, yes. It's very pretty.

But even if this ad campaign is completely beautiful and lovely and worth its millions of dollars in production (not kidding on the $), it's essentially a fancy (and expensive) Christmas window to draw people into the stores.

In the meantime, it seems like Helena Bonham Carter is giving us a preview of her fairy godmother persona from the (Disney) live action Cinderella movie to top it off, although apparently she makes an appearance in Oz first.

I've thought about this waaay too much and there was a LOT more before I deleted. (You're welcome.) I'm going to blame the current time-shift (aka ending daylight savings), turn off my brain and just watch it...

 

Aahh, there, see? I get it now. "Ooh pretty. More please!"

The full two minutes, with many more "Believe in Magic & Sparkle" fairy tale references, will be available to watch online on YouTube, this coming Monday.

What I want to know is: do you see any differences and updating in the way these familiar tales are being retold and/or used? What does this ad say about the way we view these tales? (And when did the Mad Hatter change from creepy buck-toothed crazy-person to avoid at costs, into the mysterious, sexy man at the end of a table of bounty?!)

Sorry. Apparently my brain refuses to stay in "sleep" mode, unless it's lying on a pillow. Goodnight!

Article: Red Riding Hood vs The Assault Weapon

No doubt you've seen this poster. With kids everywhere going back to school this week and last it's a topic on the minds of many parents (including me) and, frankly, this does a great job of pushing all my buttons.

It's designed to be provocative, hoping to get people to more seriously consider supporting gun control laws against assault weapons but the question is, will it help?

I've seen this surface periodically after one of the most recent tragic school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut ("most recent tragic school shootings" is an awful phrase to have to write).

This, however, is the first article I've seen discussing whether or not the banning of Little Red Riding Hood is a fair comparison to banning assault weapons and both subjects go under the microscope.

From PolitiFact:

The Little Red Riding Hood shown in the image has indeed been banned before. The version of the 17th century fairy tale was adapted by the late, Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Trina Schart Hyman and was originally published in 1987. According to media accounts, the volume became a target because one image showed a bottle of wine in the girl’s basket, a detail that had been included in the original version of the fairy tale. 

An Associated Press article quoted Culver City, Calif., assistant superintendent for instruction Vera Jashni saying that the inclusion of wine in the book "gives the younger ones the wrong impression about alcohol. If they should refrain, why give them a story saying it's okay?'' Jashni told the AP that she was worried about lines in the book that said, "The grandmother drank some of the wine, and ... after a while, the grandmother felt quite strong and healthy, and began to clean up the mess that the wolf had left in the cottage.''

The article goes on to further explain the objections to Red Riding Hood's basket contents, summarize a little more of her history in schools and then scrutinizes assault weapon bans as well.

The conclusions are surprising in that this (ad) is actually a shaky use of a comparison regarding "ban for ban" in the whole of the USA.

But the point has been made and the Sandy Hook Elementary parents have been heard. After a sullied reputation there for a few years it's nice to see Little Red working to keep our kids safe again, even if it's not the way she was originally intended to.

(I realize there's probably a lot more I could consider and analyze here regarding Red Riding Hood appearing in conjunction with these issues right now but this is too close to home for me so I'll leave you to do that yourself.)

Advertising: The Scoop on "Stories You Can Taste"

This is pretty cool! You watch an ad filled with fairy tales (all made out of ice-cream) and when you see a tale (or ice-cream combo) you like, you click on the "golden spoon" that appears and you're taken to a different video that not only gives you a little recipe but tells you a fairy tale at the same time!

And, as you guessed, its' all very sweet. :)

What I always find really interesting is seeing what constitutes "popular fairy tales" by whichever company (and country) is using tales for their product. While most tales chosen won't surprise there are a few different ones and one in particular may take a couple of views before you get it. (This less-well-known one is my son's favorite of them all.)

Another excellent thing is they've managed to both tell you a fairy tale AND give you a recipe all in under 2 minutes (per tale). To have such clear storytelling that has to do double duty as instructions? Nicely done. And it's always interesting to see in what way it's distilled, what, if any, usual tale motifs are excluded and what version of "happily ever after" they chose.

There are 15 tales in the ice cream adventure. See if you can identify them all...

[Note: the embedded video below isn't the interactive one. I'll give you that link in a minute because once you're there you'll likely get caught up exploring. :) ]

It took 4 food stylists shooting over 4 days - and much creation and re-creation! - to do each tale. There's 35 minutes worth of video to explore! You can read a little about the thoughts behind this creative advertising and the creation of the content over at CampaignAsia HERE. 

And now for the super fun part: click HERE to go to the interactive site. When the ad runs and you see a golden spoon appear over a character, click on it and you'll be taken to a new video (don't worry, it won't lose your place), which gives you a recipe and tells you the ice cream version of the fairy tale all at once. It's beautifully done and so simple kids can follow along with the "cooking" too.

I'll give you one example of a recipe-tale so you can preview the cute:

Now go play and tell fantastic stories! :)

Fables TV Ad for BBC America (An Old Post You Never Saw, Updated So It Makes Sense Now)

-- Look! It's an old draft that never got posted and is somehow relevant again! I've kept some of the old post, added updates and smeared the words around a bit to hopefully make a little more sense in regards to where we are with Fables today.--

People who don't read comic books wonder what the big deal is about Fables.

Fairy tale folk who don't read comic book are among them but there's good reason we should be keeping an eye on this graphic novel series by Bill Willingham: what if the fairy tale characters we know and love got chased out of their own land and ended up stranded in our modern day world, where nobody was allowed to discover their storybook backgrounds?

Update:
We now know that:
1) Fables is a HUGE hit. Continually critically acclaimed, winner of multiple awards and written and illustrated by heavy hitters in the writing and comic art world, they're currently into issue #131 (not including spin-off issues or specials so add maybe close to 100 issues on top of that) and have self-contained stories and spin-offs for different characters such as Jack and Cinderella and now there's a whole new series spin-off, Fairest, for the ladies of Fable town, which is proving just as popular.

2) Outside the comic geek community the idea of fairy tale characters stranded in our world has proved popular with ABCs TV series Once Upon A Time. The series has been accused called "Fables-light" for the similar premise, of which the public are eating up.

So why hasn't Fables (which is clearly excellent in its own field, as well as the premise and content proving popular in public viewing) made the move to TV or the movies yet? (Even though there have been numerous attempts to do so, none have resulted in anything except disappointment so far.)

One popular theory is that it's REALLY HARD to market comic books to non-comic book people. But I have to wonder: IS it really hard, or have people just not thought about the comic book property in the same way they do a show, book or movie, with regard to the marketing? With the rise in popularity (Update: and - FINALLY - in quality) of book trailers out there (Update: these have become almost standard now and people/companies are getting creative with production and presentation) it's about time someone thought to do something similar for Fables. (Update: this trailer is from October 2009.)

Take a look:

While I'm really glad this has helped garner interest in the general public, I do have to say I'm disappointed. (Really disappointed!) Apart from the stunning art stills, which are mostly from the covers, the quality is definitely on the low side. But why? I know people are probably still getting their feet wet with "how do you advertise a comic book (ie. a static art form /narrative combo) on a moving medium like TV?" issues but this could have been mind blowing (seriously mind-blowing!) if they'd presented it better.

Update: And I also have to wonder, if they'd gotten this ad "right" back in 2009 if Fables would have beaten Once Upon A Time to TV after all... Of course, we'll never know now but I do hope they figure out another marketing strategy to use in the lead up to the movie buzz, rather than just rely on what the production company produce and piggy-back off that. While I'm incredibly overjoyed to know that "thars-a-Fables-movie-a-comin'!" the Fables serial comics, graphic novels and spin-offs have their own well deserved merit and should be able to stand on their own two feet, er, spines. I worry that if they (DC & Willingham) can't figure out how to encourage people to enjoy the graphic novels in their original medium that a whole generation will "just-go-see-the-movie" and miss out on the richness of storytelling and fairy tale evolution happening on the Fables pages. Let's hope they figure out how to make the Fables movie an encouragement to go pick up the series instead.

Note: There are some more trailers on YouTube for the Fables series, and some tributes though none of them are official. This one HERE tries to transition people from Disney to Fables and show the difference. It's somewhat successful in concept but is lengthy and the text is difficult to read over the images (and using any sort of Disney property doesn't sit well with me here). You DO get to see some beautiful artwork from Fables though and get an idea of the twists the stories take, so if you're finally feeling interested in Fables and want more of an overview before buying, this should give you some idea of how the series develops and how the fairy tale characters play out their stories.

In the meantime, while we wait to see what happens with the movie and the marketing surrounding it, I'll keep up the Fables-watch and report anything I see happening.

Working on Some Changes...

A post to ask for your continued patience as I work on restructuring the way I handle a few things regarding the blog.

I am busy trying to get a new work station happening so I can be more mobile (and therefore more in touch and post more often) but it may mean compromising some of the features and formatting - we shall see. So far things look promising but there are a few important things that I can't get to work smoothly just yet.

Since I have also suddenly had a large amount of review requests, (!) rather than repeat myself inconsistently as I answer and have to assess every request from scratch, I will shortly be adding a policy for review requests for Once Upon A Blog to direct people to so that authors and artists will be better prepared when they contact me.

Snow White Reinterpreted via Rene Magritte by Brian Cook

(T-shirt design concept.  Why have we not seen this before?)

Please note! The intent is not to discourage you if you'd like promotion via the blog. I'm actually adding some suggestions for those who would like promotion via OUAB (especially for those who may not fall within the review guidelines), and trying to make it clear with regard to what is acceptable for promotion and content. I'll also be putting up some guidelines for anyone interested in writing guest posts, so watch for that too.

The upshot of this announcement is that I'm working hard on making a lot of changes happen right now but - hopefully! - the only thing you'll really notice when I'm done, is that you'll get more regular posts again, unlike the image at the head of the post in which all the major aspects have well and truly been swapped around and nothing is at all like what it was before.

The flipped Snow White scene at the top is an ad for digital art studio Farbraum, showing how completely they can make you over. It's a version of Snow White we haven't seen yet, at least not in the sense of a straight gender swap (though I'm certain I've seen a gay version once upon a time). That would certainly put a different spin on things. 

Mirror Mirror's Social Queen

How to make a very fantastical fairy tale movie relevant to people today? Use social media. Or, should I say, watch this Queen use social media and get this incredibly familiar feeling you've seen her somewhere before...

First seen on Maria Tatar's Breezes From Wonderland blog, I was so tickled to see this use of advertising and had to share and make a few comments.

But first, if you haven't seen it yet, take a look:

Do we know this Queen? I think we do.

I really like that this clearly shows the archetype is not only (eerily) familiar and (sadly) relevant today but puts yet another modern spin on the Snow White story. (It may even make a few people do a double take at their own actions... one can hope.)

The video reminds me of the Christmas Story as viewed/told via Facebook. It's well done and, again, clearly shows how people simply haven't changed as much over hundreds of years as we (would like to) think.

This is also another example of how to effectively use various forms of social media for spreading the word about niche ideas and topics, how to network with people who are normally scattered and hard to find (since they're not necessarily the ones in popular circles with lots of money to "announce" their presence online) which is exactly the point of viral marketing (well, that, and to persuade these people to spend their money but that's another topic).

Why am I spending so much time on this little piece of advertising? Because it suggests how effective a tool social media can be for many reasons and what magic may be lying at the fingertips of the fairy tale community - if we can figure out how to harness it. We just need to figure out what it is we actually want to do for fairy tales first. It's time to think outside the box.

It's clear even the big media outlets are struggling to keep up with this technology's potential but you know who's figured out how to make this work? Evil Queens. And Kings. And other not-so-stellar types. Social media is this very strong neutral resource - or power, if you like - and has already proved to be very effective when put to use by deviant minds (identity theft, hacking the CIA and blocking resources). But what this really means is that it also has great potential for good too. It just takes a different type of heart to find how. Did you know sites such as Care2Causes and other petition sites have saved lives, stopped abuse, highlighted and halted corrupt lawmaking and much much more? All because people take 3 seconds to sign their name and spread the word (ie. expose) what's actually happening.

What does this have to do with fairy tales? Everything. Imagine if Snow White (who already had a high profile and was a clear winner in any popularity contest) had the tools of social media at her fingertips. No more running alone through the woods, hiding out or being cornered alone. What if the little bird spreading news about Snow White was actually a tweet? Emergency services would have arrived before she'd have hit the floor. The mirror of today? It's those invisible thousands who's interest you've caught and who anonymously "like", comment on or even just mention what you've said to someone else. In it's own way it's magical and, like magic, using it comes with both risk and reward. These are the tools of today and the way stories are told, popularized and archived. The nice thing about this era? No wizard skills required. Being involved is often simpler than checking your email. We owe it to ourselves and the tales we love to use this to our advantage.*

The question would then no longer be "Would you dare "unfriend" this Evil Queen?" but "Would she dare "unfriend" you?"

Something to think about.

*Yes: there are a billion people trying to teach you how to "market yourself" using social media these days and yes, it CAN be both overwhelming and a fulltime job maintaining it - IF you let it. The key is to make it work FOR YOU (re the fairy tale community: "us") - not have you work for it (which is what some sites are trying to do. You and your information are far more useful to them if they have you do all the work). 

Advertising: PPC Cement's Rapunzel

"Get 15% more concrete from every bag."

Here's a new fairy tale ad being released this month (March 2012) in South Africa. I always find it interesting to see where these ads originate.

Kind of a funny one in that you tend to get the idea straight away (ie. even Rapunzel's magically long hair is outdone by the volume this cement adds to her tower) but then basic logic kicks in and you think, it's only a matter of time, as long as the prince is patient... right? (And then you wonder, would he really wait that long?)

I do like expression on the horse's face though: "Seriously?"

Advertising Agency: The Jupiter Drawing Room, Johannesburg, South Africa
Chief Creative Officer: Brad Reilly
Creative Director: Tim Beckerling
Copywriter: Voet Sack
Art Director: Voet Sack
Agency Producer: Manuel Lopes
Photographer: Jason Robinson
Published: March 2012
Via Ads of the World.

Advertising: Kellogg's All Bran, Snow White

This is fun and memorable. I just wish the quality of the illustration had been a little better. 

Here's the other  print ad from the same campaign, featuring a rather uncomfortable looking Eve. I don't think it works half as well as the Snow White one. There's no story or humor in the Eve print at all really, which is what sells the Snow White one.

Campaign: All Bran - More Fruit Than Before

Date: May 2008

Brand: Kellogg's

Agency: JWT, Brussels, Belgium

Creative Director: Sabine Botta, Christopher Gelder

Copywriter: Jurgen Verbiest

Art Director: Sebastian Verliefde

Photography: Grégor Collienne

Originally found HERE from 2008.

Advertising: Huggies Diapers Little Explorers, Snow White

The tag line for this series, created in response to the earthquake-tsunami tragedies that hit Japan last year, is: "Keep little explorers high and dry."

I must admit my first reaction to this was of slight shock. It took me consciously thinking of the tag line while looking at the illustrations to appreciate the campaign, though I'm still not 100% settled simply because of the reference to the disaster/s. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much but if keeping little kids dry helps reduce tsunami nightmares I say more power to the campaign and for getting kids a guaranteed-dry nappy/diaper!

I'm including the three print ads, even though only one of them is fairy tale themed. I think they're worth a looksee and I kind of like the idea of Snow White being considered an explorer too. The others are Zorro and Columbus. Interesting choices, though I wish there had been just one more for the girls.

Credits & Description: 

Keep little explorers high and dry

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Beijing, China
Executive Creative Director: Bill Chan
Creative Directors: Jacky Lung, Kweichee Lam, Xingsheng Qi
Art Directors: Xingsheng Qi, Shengxiong Chen, Zhihua Zhong, Jacky Lung
Copywriters: Guilin Bo, Kweichee Lam
Art Buyer: Xiaohang Liu
Illustrator: Yu Chen
Advertiser’s Supervisor: Helena He
Account Manager: Maggie Zhou
Account Supervisor: Monica Hung

The Print Ads titled Snow White, Zorro and Columbus were done by Ogilvy, Beijing advertising agency for product: Huggies Diapers (brand: Huggies) in China. They were released in June 2010.

Originally found HERE.

Magic vs Technology and the Wonder Factor In Fairy Tales

This is the ad that's currently being played on ABC.com's Once upon A Time website. The idea is that you don't need magic to do all these these, just Blue Link. I kind of wish the magic option was available. Or maybe it's better to think of technology like this as actual "magic". Our ancestors certainly would have thought that's what we were using!



Clarke's third law states: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I had a whole conversation with a friend on Twitter about a year ago, talking about how our use of the internet in particular could very well be seen as magic. Heck, we even tap into grounding magics and unseen forces (electricity, wi-fi, digital signals) by using various gateways (you need power cords or stored power, a computer and the knowledge to make the computer do what you want it to), use a ritual (plug in, turn on, software load), add an access spell (password typing, often while using phrases such as "come one, come on, come on!") to gain access to the unseen world (the internet) and our effectiveness in doing whatever it is we're wanting to do (online) being limited to how powerful in magic we are or how much power we've paid for (computer/internet knowledge, levels of access, pay our bills), our magical training (knowledge of navigation and software use), if the magic is stable and accessible that day or season (server connection and function) etc... There are even - if you look closely - a whole set of superstitions about the use and handling of computers, internet navigation and sites. And a virus could easily be seen as a curse in the most basic sense.

Living root bridges in India - grown not constructed - feel like the work of modern-day elves.
Check the link for many more amazing images.

The parallels go on and could involve much greater depth without losing the idea of us being actual magic users (I wish I'd kept the conversation to transcribe for you!). I mean, seriously: do you REALLY know how the internet works? As in, could you, if dropped into the middle of nowhere, figure out how to make/invent the internet, digital signatures and software required? Of course not. Even today with all our knowledge software designers and hardware designers are really still lower level tech wizards. They have much greater knowledge than we do but they'd be stuck in the same situation if they were thrust back into the dark ages and had to make an internet that worked. There are higher up "wizards" who know more than they do but I'll bet you there are less than a handful of people alive who would have any clue, let alone success, of starting and building this technology now. Knowing how to do such a task would constitute some seriously awesome brain power.

From a fashion shoot with a fairy tale feel for Harpers Bazaar Hong Kong

Could it be we really ARE using magic now but we're all comfortable with it because it's called by technical names? (Anyone who ever had to deal with DOS should be able to understand how drawing ritual symbols for spells could be paralleled with typing computer code to make even the most basic functions work. Is it really true that someone, somewhere, knows what it all - from beginning to current technical advances - truly means? Could it be that magic used in times past figured out how to access the same forces but without the mechanical crutches we use today?

As someone with a background in both theater and animation, the process of which literally feels magical when you put the elements or drawings together (after a lot of slog and effort of course!), I can't help but consider such ideas.

Once I started looking around (on the internet of course!) I found many, many instances of people virtually saying the same thing. Check out these links HERE, HERE, a more in-depth look at the ideas HERE (though I would have to add that I think there have always been magical practitioners who are interested in "taking the black box apart" and it's not just scientists who do that) and a more sci-fi vs fantasy take HERE.

We live in a magical time of everyday miracles - all of which we usually take for granted. We shouldn't. Especially now where we've reached the wireless age and it wouldn't take much for our entire way of life to be wiped out.

Heart of the Forest by Tuomis Korpi

If you haven't already, go read Clarke's third law HERE, along with the examples given, and you'll see why the consideration of magic is so important. I would also argue that it makes fairy tales, with their often uniquely-everyday magic, more important than ever too.*

After all, it's the wonder-factor that makes for a fairy tale in the first place and it's things of wonder-past that make up our lives today. The magic in fairy tales is often small, working like a ripple in a pond. It rarely seems out of place or stops the hero in his tracks. Instead it requires those whose presence it manifests in to both acknowledge it and to do something with the experience or result. I have to wonder: if we saw true magic or witnessed a true miracle today, would we even recognize it? Or would we just pass it off as technology we don't understand?

Something to think about... and to help you feel more of the true wonder of our everyday world and that perhaps a fairy tale of your own may not be so far away...

*And I'm not just talking about the idea that Jack may have been given some freakish genetically-altered beans that changed his life, although playing around with these ideas and fairy tales is a lot of fun. ;)