Postkiwi

January 29, 2020November 25, 2023

Old Town Road (Remix) wins again

The 2020 Grammy for Best Music Video has been awarded to Lil Nas X’s hit Old Town Road (Remix) feat. Billy Ray Cyrus. Old West outlaws, Nas and Cyrus, begin the music video in 1889 riding horses at full speed after robbing a bank, with the sheriff’s posse in pursuit. Their attempt at taking refuge backfires, leading to Lil Was X’s teleported escape to the year 2019. The country rapper sells his horse, is reunited with Billy Ray, and together they entertain the line-dancing bingo-playing locals in the Old Town Hall. The music video has guest appearances from Chris Rock (sheriff), Haha Davis (deputy sheriff), Rico Nasty (bingo caller), Diplo (washboard player), Jozzy (woman in white cowboy suit), Young Kio (man with a wrench), and Vince Staples (betting man). Director Calmatic also won the VMA for Best Direction for the Old Town Road video in 2019.

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January 28, 2020November 25, 2023

Lambalytica – Disconnect and share the lamb

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has launched “Lambalytica”, the 2020 version of their annual summer campaign promoting Australian lamb, this year urging Aussies to look up from their screens and share the Lamb. The integrated campaign kicks off with a long form tech thriller reminding a tech-obsessed nation of real life connection made possible by sharing a meal together. The commercial shows an elite team using the Lambalytica app to infiltrate people’s devices to bring them together face-to-face over a meal of lamb. From a couple who spend more time looking at their phones than each other, to a teenage gamer glued to the TV screen, crowds of people are brought together for the original social feed.

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January 27, 2020November 25, 2023

Greenpeace Turtle Journey of crisis

Greenpeace is running “Turtle Journey”, a stop frame animation and CGI film highlighting the danger of extinction faced by turtle species across the world. Produced at Aardman Studios, the 2-minute Turtle Journey commercial tells the heartbreaking story of a turtle family heading home through an ocean that is under increasing pressure from climate change, plastic pollution, oil drilling and overfishing. Physical puppets were created to portray the turtle family, whilst the underwater environments are detailed in CGI. Characters in the film are voiced by academy award winning actors Olivia Colman and Dame Helen Mirren, along with Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey, Stranger Things’ David Harbour, Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter, and comedian Ahir Shah. Turtle Journey ends with a call to action, urging viewers to sign Greenpeace’s petition calling for a Global Ocean Treaty.

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January 27, 2020January 27, 2020

Commitment as a citizen

I am intrigued by the visceral response many of my fellow citizens have to Tanya Plibersek’s suggestion this weekend that Australian children learn about the pledge of commitment.

On January 26 2007 I stood with people from around the world, and with my family took the pledge of commitment as a new citizen of Australia. The process of becoming a citizen involved learning about rights and responsibilities, such as voting in federal, state and local elections, taking part in the country’s legal system, potentially serving on a jury, working as a public servant. Taking the pledge of commitment included respecting the rights and liberties of others, and upholding the laws of Australia and its people. Responsibility as a citizen included questioning, challenging or working to change unjust laws and practices. And it also went with a sense of being part of the global community. I was able to vote in the 2007 elections. And I’ve been given access to educational opportunities as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia.

January 25, 2020November 25, 2023

Nefta Football Club lines up

Nefta Football Club, a short film set in the south of Tunisia, is one of the nominations for an Oscar in the short film category at the 2020 Academy Awards. Two football fan brothers, Mohamed and Abdallah, ride on a motorbike debating the merits of Algerian footballer Riyad Mahrez and Argentinian Messi. They bump into a mule lost in the middle of the desert on the border of Algeria and Tunisia. Strangely, the donkey wears headphones over its ears, and is carrying a valuable load of white powder. The younger of the boys knows just the use for that white powder. In the meantime, two drug smugglers, Salim and Ali, are looking for their mule. It turns out the drug mule was trained to head over the border with the sounds of Adele’s “Someone like you”. Unfortunately the donkey’s been listening to Check Hadel. Back in town, the two boys have quite different ideas about what to do with the “laundry powder”. See the Nefta Football Club trailer below.

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January 23, 2020November 25, 2023

Nike Great Chase for Chinese New Year

Nike is running “The Great Chase”, a commercial designed to connect with Chinese New Year. The Great Chase commercial connects with the Chinese custom of giving gifts of money in red envelopes known as hongbaos (红包) every Lunar New Year. While this tradition is practiced with many variations, generally family elders gift these red pockets to the young, who return the favor once they are grown up and married. Thus the cycle of good fortune is received and returned in kind. As a show of respect, it is proper etiquette to politely decline these gifts when presented, but to eventually accept them as a sign of respect. But what happens when the game is taken to another level? One child is determined to find out. The ad is for Nike’s new line of Chinese New Year-themed footwear, inspired by the last four cycles of the Year of the Rat.

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