Thursday, September 06, 2007

Leaked cp+b TV script for Al Gore's climateprotect.org

In response to yesterday's Gawker column on the four-agency pitch for Al Gore's climateprotect.org, an anonymous tipster sent me a rough script that he/she says is by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, one of the shops invited to present ideas. It reads like the type of staid idea that'll probably end up running, so I believe the tipster. Here it is:
—————
open on a downtown area of Manhattan.
a kid stands holding a bucket and a paintbrush next to a brownstone apartment. he paints a blue line
on the wall, about five feet high.
KID: "The reality is, if we don't pass legislation to avert the climate crisis, ocean levels will rise this high in 10 years."
the kid then gets on a ladder and climbs several feet, where he paints another line.

KID: "In 25 years, they'll be here."
he paints a line on the side of the building, and climbs higher still.

KID: "And in 50 years the oceans will rise to here, 20 feet."
the camera pans up and over, to a window just above the kid and above the last line he's painted. his mom is standing inside the window, looking at the camera.
KID: "But this isn't gonna happen. No way. Because this is my mom. And she can vote for candidates who support livable carbon standards. I can't save my future. But she can."
cut to Alliance for Climate Protection logo.
—————
The tipster also relays that the spot has already been shot, and that it was shot in L.A.—you know, to get that authentic downtown Manhattan feel (there's an inconvenient truth).
There ya go Al, if you haven't seen it yet.
ADDN: cp+b's Alex Bogusky and Andrew Keller are both winners of my Equine's Posterior™ award.
update: here's a short video from Greenpeace on climate change which also uses a kid. It is better than anything that will come out of this pitch.
previously in reader tips:
1. Someone Talked, round 1.
2. Jason Binn is a prick: the evidence.
3. Send my good tips, or I will stab these kittens/puppies.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

God, that concept sucks ass.

But Crispin did it, so it must be great, right?

It'd be funnier if the creepy Buger King was simply shown drowned.

10:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey copyranter,
what's the deal with the Equine Posterior award? What's that about? Why Bogusky and Keller?

12:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How do you know this script is legit? In true CP+B fashion, you were probably punk'd.

12:30 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

you keep thinking/hoping that anon #2.

12:32 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Wow copyranter -- you're bitter. "I hate ... blah, blah, blah." And, not very original -- since (lately) everyone loves to slam Bogusky, Crispin and now, I guess, Keller. That's an easy bandwagon to jump onto. But, do you know these guys? How are you qualified to judge them? Fact is, I worked with these guys. They are the most brilliant and inspiring leaders I've ever had the pleasure to work for. And, they are unpretentious, humble and kind. I think the real horses asses reveal themselves by saying mean things about people they don't even know, and probably never will.

5:46 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

They reveal themselves with pompous quotes in trade pubs. This is advertising, not art. They talk like they think they're actually doing something important, when all they're (we're) making is fucking cultural noise. nothing more.

6:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hard to beleive this script is from Crispin. Their idea for this pitch has something to do with creating an alternative political party run by youth. But I'm just guessing.......

6:28 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

also, "brilliant and inspiring leaders..."
what a load of horseshit. What are you Dawn, 17? They're fucking Ad CDs.

7:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey copyranter, not sure if you want it, but fyi- there's a bit of an unfortunate back story on the climateproject.org folks. i was a part of launching the first incarnation of the site about a year ago now, and if it holds pattern, whoever handles those duties is headed for a pretty thankless job.

10:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

//They are the most brilliant and inspiring leaders I've ever had the pleasure to work for. And, they are unpretentious, humble and kind.//

Good God, Dawn,do they also walk on water and extinguish Satan's fire and brimstone with their jizz?

If you want a job there, just send them your resume acid-etched in stainless steel, a beret and some absinthe. That should establish your hipster cred.

3:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With all due respect to Copyranter, I also have to question whether the script is legit. Crispin has been doing some increasingly lame work of late (Orville Redenbacher, Haggar, Ask.com, the VW suicide commercial), but I can't believe their standards have sunk that low. Grey or JWT, maybe, but not Crispin.

As far as Dawn is concerned, well, I don't doubt that Crispin's creative capos are as humble and lovable as Shoeshine Boy. (Although they certainly weren't in the old days. They must be the only people in advertising who become nicer as they grow more successful.)

Perhaps the reason that everybody seems to be jumping onto the "hate Crispin" bandwagon these days is because acolytes like you and their lickspittles in the press have been kissing their butts for so long, any sense of perspective has long since been lost. So there's a long-overdue revisionism afoot, with sanity and balance being restored at last.

Yes, Crispin does a lot of terrific stuff. But much of it is pervaded by a frat boy sensibility that is starting to wear a bit thin. (How many times are they going to milk the whole "Manthem"/"Man Laws" schtick?) They may be finding new ways to reach consumers, but they have the most limited emotional range of any major agency.

Not that any of it really matters in the end. Like Copyranter says, it's just advertising.

1:28 PM  

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