ACM’s Distraction In Action #6
A must-watch outdoor film, surreal octopuses, and a whole lot of bagels: five links that are dominating our chat
Your new Distraction In Action email from All Conditions Media is here. Scroll away to get a look at the latest links and talking points from our team chat, so they can successfully distract you from work just as much as they did us…
1. SIGN UP TO THE ACM SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY STORYTELLING
It’s been a while since we last turned to a green felt puppet for agency guidance, but our latest team dispatch required such services. What, exactly, is Kermit the Frog doing in an ACM newsletter about sustainability? Click the link above and have a look, and learn how we’ve become experts in communicating the eco pledges and credentials of our clients. It’s a method that attracts the eyes of the most suspicious (and vocal) generation of consumers for all the right reasons, at a time when B Corp status is under more scrutiny than ever, and the EU is winding up to give greenwashing brands a good hard kick in the shins. There’s never been a worse time to get it wrong, so go find out how we get it right for brands like travel specialists Much Better Adventures.
We learned: This new way of shopping is 10x more fun.
2. GET FILM NIGHT FOMO
Sorry to have to tell you this, but if you were anywhere other than with us last Wednesday, you really missed out. We’re getting a bit of a reputation for going big with our film nights for clients - how many have you been to that had a human-sized wheel of fortune, and an afterparty with a BBC Radio 6 DJ that went all kinds of turbo? - and last week’s event for Arc’teryx only adds to our authority as master technicians of audio-visual good times. One thing that’ll make your next movie sesh as good as an ACM one? Bagels. Our dash down the road for shoe-sized Brick Lane bagels was a really excellent idea, alongside the buckets of fresh non-alc Pentire cans and aptly named Arctic Sky IPAs we called in from our pals at Harbour Brewery, a huuuge playlist from our resident DJs, and the obligatory doggo, who may or may not have been the star of the show in a packed-out room of lucky RSVPers. All this and more is documented on our IG Highlighted Stories here.
We learned: UK climbing film Keep It Real’s black-and-white footage of home climbing walls gets 100 Rotten Tomatoes out of 100 from us.
3. STAND UP FOR A CEPHALOPOD
A 35-year-old creative climbs into an attic. They spot a large box with the words “Uni Crap” Sharpied up one side. They pry it open and begin rummaging, past a copy of Bukowski’s ‘On Writing’ that has been 75% read, a novelty St. Patrick’s Day Guinness hat, photographic evidence of a hair style than can only be described as “the reverse mullet”. And there they are – a The Mighty Boosh Series 1 - 3 boxset, and a Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace DVD still with the half-scratched CEX price sticker in the top right: the reference material for an award-winning ad campaign. “This,” they say. “This is what PETA needs to make people stop eating octopuses.” It’s been almost exactly two decades since the heyday of BBC hyper surrealism comedy, making it due a 20-year return as a ‘retro’ trend. Didn’t expect its comeback to be in the form of an animal cruelty marketing piece that’s just won gold at some swanky advertising awards, though. Utterly bonkers. Absolutely brilliant.
We learned: It was octopuses - not octopi - all along.
4. HOPE THAT BIDEN ISN’T BULLSHITTING
You know we’ve been following the neoprene toxicity conversation for some time now. It’s one that’s recently been buoyed here in Europe by the release of The Big Sea - the independent doc that highlights the human cost of wetsuit production - and Finisterre’s use of Yulex, a natural neoprene alternative. Last week, the discourse dials went up a considerable number of notches as the newly appointed head of America’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michael Regan, announced new legislations that’ll force chemical plants to better monitor and reduce the toxic pollutants they release into the air - pollutants such as chloroprene, the known carcinogen that your wetsuit helped create. It’s already been dubbed a hugely significant ruling by campaigners in the US, and gives us hope that awareness is now reaching industries outside of our core watersports communities.
We learned: John the Baptist Parish in the USA - home to the chloroprene-manufacturing Denka plant - has the highest cancer risk in America. The plant is also 450 ft from an elementary school.
5. DUMP THE NEWS FOR A DAY
Tomorrow, try this. Try waking up, heading downstairs, sticking on the kettle, letting the dog out, and not flicking the news on. Instead, watch episode one of ‘Positive Action’ - an exceptionally brilliant film from creative polymath and great mate of ACM, Hannah Bailey. She’s teamed up with major-leaguers Outside Magazine and BBC Studios for a three-parter that showcases a trio of inspiring women and communities who are driving change in the face of a climate crisis, and making things happen in the places and cultures they love. This episode, featuring Vedangi Kulkarni, the youngest woman to ever cycle around the world, is six minutes long, so pour that coffee, get it on, and let it improve your morning, even before you’ve let your pooch back inside.
We learned: We need to add Scottish winter cycling to our list of ACM team Away Day activities.
CREW TO-DO LIST
Every fortnight, one ACMer reveals the tasks that’ve been getting their head cogs whirring, so we can all make sure they’re working hard enough introduce our super talented crew and showcase what they bring to our creative process. This week it’s the turn of ACM’s creative mastermind, Aussie wave machine, and Occhilupo doppelgänger, Mark Rosenberg…
You made it all the way down here? Here’s a gift for your troubles:
END OF THE ROADER’S BONUS NUGGET
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