CRC launches Killers’ video tonight for MTV Exit
WORLD PREMIERE OF MUSIC VIDEO FOR GOODNIGHT, TRAVEL WELL PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNICEF AND USAID TO AIR TONIGHT GLOBALLY ON MTV
View the full-length spot at www.mtvexit.org
MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and Sydney agency Colman Rasic Carrasco (CRC) have partnered with UNICEF and USAID to produce a music video for US rock band, The Killers, which dramatically highlights the dangers and impact of trafficking for sexual exploitation. The video for track ‘Goodnight, Travel Well’ from the new Killers album ‘Day & Age’ was filmed by top Hollywood director, David Slade (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy), and will premiere globally tonight across all of MTV’s properties on-air and on-line.
The Killers commented, “We are deeply shocked and appalled that womenand children are forced into such exploitative situations. We hope thatthrough MTV’s efforts and this powerful video that millions of peopleacross the world learn about this tragic form of modern-day slavery”.Dejan Rasic and Rebecca Carrasco of Colman Rasic Carrasco spent fivemonths working on the project in partnership with UNICEF, USAID and MTVEXIT. “It is a confronting topic and people can too easily tune-out toawareness messages about the issue,” said Rebecca Carrasco. Dejan Rasicadds, “That’s why the tie-up with The Killers and MTV works in creatinga medium that will grab people’s attention.”
This is the second in a series of collaborations on the issue of humantrafficking between Colman Rasic Carrasco and MTV Exit, the first beingthe award-winning music video for Radiohead’s hit single ‘All I Need’last year. “Through MTV EXIT and MTV’s global networks reaching overtwo billion people in 160 countries, we are uniquely positioned tosupport and advocate these rights. We are committed to raisingawareness and empowering our audience, many of whom are particularly atrisk from human trafficking,” said Bill Roedy, Chairman & CEO MTVNetworks International.
“More than 1.2 million children are being trafficked each year andnearly 80 percent of all trafficking is for sexual exploitation,” saidSusan Bissell, UNICEF’s Head of Child Protection. “We see this musicvideo as a powerful way to reach out and raise awareness among youngpeople, across borders and across language barriers.” The Killers arehelping bring a critical human trafficking message to a globalaudience, said Olivier Carduner, USAID’s Regional Mission Director forAsia, “We are reaching vast numbers of young people, those most at riskof being trafficked”.
Agency: Colman Rasic Carrasco, Sydney
Creative Directors: Dejan Rasic & Rebecca Carrasco
Creatives: Rebecca Carrasco & Dejan Rasic
Account Director: Ben Colman
Agency Producer: Rene Shalala
Artist: The Killers
Director: David Slade
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Executive Producer: Executive Producer
Line Producer: Hans Ritter
DP: Jo Willems
Editing: Gary Knight
47 Comments
Looks really interesting. I liked their Radiohead one.
The ad is up. It sent a shiver down my spine. Powerful. Insightful. Brilliant.
awesome!!
not bad. not great.
It’s ok, not sure about the shiver down my spine 7.34…maybe on a 68 inch’s of Sony with super surround sound.
That big guy is really familiar. Anyone know who he is?
from batman
Really cool.
really powerful. really simple.
well done guys.
They do manage to land some big songs for this stuff.
Oh yeah, he was in Seven as well. Nice.
10.48pm That’s Ben Colman making a cameo appearance. I think he’s had his haircut since they made the video though.
Regardless of what people think of this video, I think we’re all jealous as hell you got to work with those guys.
Powerful, gritty, moving. But I would expect an ad that depicts human trafficking to be just that. Personally, I think the line(s) let it down. And it gives me no new information. It feels like a free throw at the awards basket that barely hits the backboard.
yawn
10:48 The big guy is currently in a series on Foxtel called Sons of Anarchy
12:15 sounds like the exact same comment made about their last one. It also had the same line from memory. That, like a lot of work that gets posted on here (with comments like that) went on to win quite a few awards. Personally, I think this hits the mark and makes me feel something about a cause I normally wouldn’t even worry about.
Well done all.
I disagree with you 2.34. I thought the first idea with the split screen “Different Lives” was brilliant! This just doesn’t have anywhere near as much of an emotional connection as the first execution…felt like it was trying too hard by being tricky.
Story telling was average, long and boring. Song is ok, a little depressing, wouldn’t want to be coming down off “harry” listening to that.
10/10 on doing something for a good cause, lets just hope it helps those poor women…wasn’t that the objective?
Thanks 2:34. I’m going to lower my standards now.
Ace video. I love the killers.
Good cause. Unicef is spineless. Meanwhile 1/5 of the human race is starving.
Better than 99.999995% of stuff on this blog.
This brought me to tears. Amazing direction and the acting is so real.
I’ll keen my eyes firmly peeled for the commercial work.
Good to see the achievements of bloggers are still based on mocking the achievements of others. Blog on.
Yep, looks nice and some good performance, for a great and terrible cause.
But I think the most creative part of the whole project is that they’ve convinced The Killers, and everyone on this blog, that this was a music video! In reality it’s a four-minute commercial, for UNICEF/USAID – with The Killers’ song as backing. But well done getting the song from them for free, presumably, under the guise of it being ‘their video’. The catch is of course that you have to use the WHOLE song, which is why it feels a little long for the idea.
When they did exactly the same thing with Radiohead, frontman Thom York at least saw it simply for what it was, saying he had pledged his backing (read: given the song for free) to the MTV Exit initiative and issued the statement that he was “touched that the music goes with that (idea).”
Good on CRC though.
2:45 … Ummm yeah, that’s the strategy. A music video that’s an ad. I don’t get your argument?
Most of us go to work every day, sit at our desks and wait for the opportunities to be be brought to us.
Some of us go to out out and find opportunities to bring back to the the rest of us sitting at our desks.
A very small few of us actually create those opportunities.
The good thing about this is not the performances or the executional technique.
The good thing about this is that people with the same skill set as you and I have decided to apply those skills to something bigger than the launch of the next mobile phone plan.
The good thing about this is that the people involved have convinced themselves they can make a difference, and were then able to convince others.
So rather than bagging it, maybe you should ask yourself what opportunities you can create, and what differences you can make.
And then go out and do it. Then, perhaps, you might be in a position to tell CRC how they might do what they are doing, better.
Love it. Disturbing but with clear message.
It’s in the top six on Best Ads this week. VB is the top pick. Well done Australia!
Hey, 10:16: I wasn’t making an argument, just an observation.
Here’s a better way of saying it: the ‘music video’ is indeed an ad.
But not for The Killers.
And that’s what a ‘music video’ should be, surely.
So I think if you were UNICEF/USAID you’d be stoked.
I think if you were The Killers label/publicist, you’d wonder what it had done for your band other than token exposure.
But again, good on CRC.
Campbell.
You’re right to say that it’s very innovative of CRC to use a different channel to broadcast this message. It is.
But that may be the most creative thing about it. As others have said, the actual idea (which appears as a super in the last 5 seconds) is good, but not great.
This spot has no new information. The ‘costs more than you think’ idea is one we’ve all seen before. And how many in the target market will get to see it? I didn’t think MTV was the program of choice for middle aged users of prostitutes.
We do ourselves a disservice if we get excited about the media integration side of things, and forget our jobs. That is, to communicate a message effectively and memorably.
I don’t know Ross at 2:04, two billion people in 160 countries seems like a pretty good way of communicating a message “effectively and memorably”. Beats running it in Wagga mate. Well done I reckon.
Ross, you miss my point.
The idea is not a super at the end or even a repetition of sequences.
If it was a conventional ad, it might be. But it isn’t.
The idea is to speak to people in a different way. Because, presumably, trying to dissuade people from using prostitutes in Asia using conventional means wasn’t wokring terribly well.
And I doubt very much that the message is aimed solely at ‘middle-aged users of prostitutes’. People traffickers need an entire culture in order to do their business; compliant parents, corrupt police, dodgy politicians and more.
Some of whom presumably watch MTV.
Like I said in my original comment, try and do something as hard as this before giving it meaningless, dumbed-down titles like ‘media integration’.
Wow. Great.
Some of the most moving work I have seen this past year. I love how it makes you think you’re watching a couple in love and then it creeps up on you and changes direction. Bloody awesome work fellas.
Hey well done crc I’ve got no idea how you can’t get the idea..seems pretty straightup. Like most guys I thought prostitution was something people chose to do for whatever reason. made me think…and I just like it.
I wish to hell I had anything like this in my book that ran for real. Unfortunately I only have a home video with a Paris look-a-like on Mininova.
Point taken Campbell.
Trying to speak to people in a different way is important, particularly as ads are often disregarded as being – just ads.
The point I was trying to make (and I admit that this may not have been the best example to use) is that we sometimes get so enthusiastic that we are doing something differently, that we forget to ask ourselves whether we’re doing it effectively.
Nice to have a decent conversation on the blog by the way.
Great strategy. Great idea. Great execution. I loved the last one and this is a powerful follow up. Can’t wait to see the third installment. Well done CRC. All class.
I agree with Ross. CRC have been inventive and, like Ross, my comments aren’t a criticism of them personally, or professionally. However, as an industry, I think we’ve become too quick to applaud work simply because of its ‘creativity’ rather than how effective it is. In this case, I think we’re in danger of being more impressed by what CRC has achieved than the issue it raises.
Hey 1.37, if you can’t wait for their third instalment, here’s Cat Stevens’ latest ‘music video that’s an ad’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccWrbGEFgI8
Enjoy.
A good idea that feels less than convincing.
Amazing fellas, well done. What a way to get the issue noticed. It’s big news in London.
4:33, I can see your point about the industry applauding work because of it’s perceived ‘creativity’. In this case I have to disagree. Charity ads do get ignored and CRC have found a way to make sure this one is seen. What’s more, the idea is in my opinion brilliant.
This is a very poignant piece of fim making. Nice to see for a change. Moving stuff and bound to make a difference.
Best work i’ve seen all year by far. Great.