Under Armour’s “Rule Yourself” Olympic Ads Are Visual Gold

 

 

If you are a copywriter, producer, filmmaker, or anybody working in media, then this article should be old news to you. If not, then you’ve probably been living under a rock for the past six months.

According to Under Armour, the “Rule Yourself” campaign seeks to highlight one’s dedication to health, wellbeing, and—in an athlete’s case—his or her sport. Recent additions to this campaign include stories for US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and the US Women’s Gymnastics Team, featuring Olympian Madison Kocian. The ads were conceived and produced by New York ad agency, Droga5. Under Armour’s latest Olympic spots hope to emphasize not only a sense of dedication, but also a sense of sacrifice and elation.

It’s a universal feeling, really: that through hard work and gritty determination, you’ll achieve your dreams. (I just call it Rocky-ism.)

Harry Potter and MERLIN’S PANTS

 

Just a disclaimer to say that while the views below are my own, J.K. Rowling has been my writing guru since I was six, and I’m sure that Jack Thorne and John Tiffany are wonderful human beings. I mean them no disrespect in any way, no matter how vehemently I dislike this iteration of their work. No bitterness toward the people; only the thing. Capisci?

So.

The spoilers were true.

I’m not entirely sure what to say about that, but I will attempt some sort of effort. For Craig Bowker’s sake, you see.

(That was a joke. I don’t give a fig about Craig Bowker. And what kind of a name is Craig Bowker? The name of a Bachelor contestant, that’s what. The kind with badly-placed facial hair and sunglasses surgically fused to his face, and not for sun sensitivity reasons. Certainly not a Jo Row name. Where’s the Latin? Where, I beg you, is the Latin?!)

If Emma Thompson Were Your Mother

This post is inspired by The Toast’s moving and hilarious “If X Were Your Y” series. Thanks for the laughs, guys.

If Emma Thompson were your mother, the first word you would learn would be “no”, and the second would be “archly”. You would do everything archly. You would sing the alphabet song archly, with light traces of irony in your little voice. You would learn to use the toilet archly, with one eyebrow raised in amusement when your successes were applauded. You would attend nursery school archly, fingerpainting animals with your tongue firmly in your cheek.

Happy Fourth!

Hi Pudding Shot readers!

We’re taking the day off today to let our staff celebrate the holiday with their families and friends. Wherever you live and wherever you’re from, we hope you have a wonderful day. We’ll be back with another post on Friday as usual.

Sincerely,

The Pudding Shot Staff

How to Work With Voice Talent

As a budding writer thrown into the tornado that is the advertising industry, I’ve had to learn the ropes fast on what it means to be a copywriter. If you’re in a small agency like me, you’ll probably be doing more (WAY MORE) than just writing—and no, unfortunately you won’t get to play foosball with your friends during lunch (damn you, big fancy agencies with your fancy cafeterias and fancy creative workspaces!)

One of these duties that I (and perhaps you) have had to learn quickly was the art of voice casting.

The relationship between a copywriter and voice actor is a delicate one, and over the past few months I’ve learned what to do and what not to do when you’re about to send a flood of casting emails to talent. 

The One True Plot Summary of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

You might have realized that we have a few Harry Potter fans on staff here at Pudding Shot. What you didn’t know was that through some connections that will remain unnamed, we managed to get tickets for the first preview of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (I know what you’re thinking. But how do you know that I didn’t fly to London for two days? How do you know that I’m not directly in cahoots with J.K. Rowling? You have no way of knowing for sure. So.)

At the end of the show, the cast passed around papers with a fake plot on them, one that’s been circulating around the Internet (something silly about non-canon time travel and Voldemort having a daughter and a redshirt named Craig). We were given a few minutes to read them in bewilderment, and then the cast explained that this was an EVIL PLOT of J.K. Rowling’s, in which first viewers would disseminate hoax summaries all over the Internet, to stave off the temptation to spoil the real plot until July 31^st. Because nothing’s more fun than fooling an entire fandom, right?

We were all in this together. As A Very Potter Musical’s Dumbledore would say.

However, the very real distress and horror I’ve seen from fans who are convinced that Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way has been made flesh has changed my mind about the whole #KeepTheSecrets campaign. So I’m going to #SpillTheSecrets instead. 

On Orlando

On behalf of all the staff at Pudding Shot, our hearts go out to all those affected by the outrageous atrocity at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub this Sunday. Today, Pudding Shot will save its scheduled post and be silent in memorial of those who lost their lives in the attack and out of respect for their families and friends, the survivors, and the LGBTQ community and Orlando community at large as they grieve and heal.

The highest calling of literature is to teach and share our humanity, and one of its greatest lessons is the enduring power of love. Please consider making a donation to this GoFundMe drive organized by Equality Florida Action, Inc., a 501(c)(4) civil rights organization that advocates for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, on behalf of the victims of the shooting. All funds raised through this page will go directly to the victims and their families, and Equality Florida is working with other local and national organizations to ensure the money is distributed properly.

If you are local to Florida, please also consider donating to one of the many blood drives going on across the state. Blood donations are sorely needed for the injured. According to oneblood.org, the surrounding community’s immediate and remarkable response quickly filled the blood centers to capacity on Sunday. However, the organization encourages people to continue donating in the coming days to maintain a ready supply.

Love overcomes. Some will try to erase the LGBTQ community from this tragedy; some will try to inspire further hatred by blaming a group for the actions of one; some will try to excuse or mitigate the magnitude or availability of the violence. We must not forget, and we must stand together and support each other to make our country improve.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for any help you can give. Pudding Shot will resume its posting schedule on Wednesday with today’s intended content.