The Free View-- weblog of a presidential candidate

Lotsa Freedom Ads @ FreedomAds.org and @ LibertyLovers

FreedomAds.org is a way cool site. Kudos to the Institute for Humane Studies for sponsoring it. They're holding a contest there for the best ads "encouraging people to think about and discuss FREEDOM". All sorts of ads-- print/images, film, animation, and audio. The entries are sifted through by judges, and then finalists are posted on the site for folks on the Web to vote on. There are lots of entries -- I've only just begin to check them out.

One good one (created by LibertyLovers.com) is "Drug War Hypocrisy". It mocks the recent "two talking guys" Drug War ads, using a talking, stuffed rhino and elephant. It's quirky and funny, while at the same time being a scathing indictment of the Drug War and the hypocritical propaganda in the ads it's mocking (the series being mocked includes the ads titled "Ploy", "Okay", "Not That Complicated", and "Moral Loophole on that propaganda page.)

I see that LibertyLovers.com appears to have made a few of these ads, now that I dig deeper... here's another one and another one. They call their "actors" the "stuffed freedom fighters". There's also a neat little video ad on their home page which is definitely worth the 15 seconds or so it takes to view it (though it might take a minute or two to load on dial-up...still worth it probably.) It's not based on the stuffed freedom fighters model-- just a cool, simple animated text ad with a dancetrack. I like the phrase it ends with-- "Freedom -- Love it or lose it."

Now, digging through their site, I find this other cool text ad with music, this one sort of a more advanced, more aggressive extension of the first one. I just watched it again and I really like it...I think I'll probably give it a permanent link somewhere in my growing assortment to the left and right of here. It's basically an affirmation of the importance and power of each of us to create a unique and defining existence coupled with an open-ended call to action. But that makes it sound much less than it is. You should really check it out yourself.

The sound makes a difference in both of them, so make sure you can listen while you watch, or it'll be less impactful.