We are all… Boston
Published May 4, 2013 | 
Today my heart aches as I write this piece. To be honest, I really can’t even comprehend where to begin. To readers, you will never know the number of times I typed this piece…back and forth, erasing and deleting and trying to formulate the right words to express the depth of my sadness for the city of Boston and the resilient participants and spectators of the Boston Marathon. I am realizing, more and more as I write, there are no words.
No words and ever express what Boston, its friends, family, and its neighbors experienced on April 15th, which will now be a day remembered for its historic and tragic proportions. A day that Boston celebrates as Patriots’ Day. A day of pure celebration. A day to be remembered for the triumph of competition will now be remembered as a day that rocked us all to our cores. I sat back witnessing the news coverage of the events that day, thinking of friends and family of my own impacted directly. A sister, whose career has been spent in marathon running, fearful and concerned for members of her staff that were left unaccounted for during that period. Thankfully, all of be accounted for, safe and sound now. A friend from years ago, running his first Boston Marathon, with his wife cheering him on, and later commenting they safely escaped the actions that would unfold by approximately 10 minutes.
And then, as stories unfold, we learn of those affected by the day’s events, that we have never had the pleasure of meeting, but suddenly feeling as if those people are family. The poor gentleman that lost a son, his wife, and has a daughter badly injured. I simply cannot imagine the emptiness in his heart as the days after continue to unfold.
For the last 117 years, Boston has hosted as what I can only understand (as I am no runner) as one of the most exciting and premier marathons in this county. Runners work and train for years at a time for the opportunity to be invited to run the Boston Marathon. It’s considered a dream for so many, while many of us will now only remember the nightmare of that day.
I was lucky enough to spend some time in Boston a few years ago, and must say, it’s a city I absolutely fell in love with. We were welcomed with open arms to experience and share what Boston has to offer. Many think Bostonians are a bit rough around the edges, but I don’t know if I can say I have ever been to another city that offered as much love and respect to its visitors, as it does every day to its friends and neighbors. They love their Red Sox; a tradition that is one of the most formidable in baseball. They are hockey fans that cheer their Bruins on with passion and pride. They wear their Irish pride on their sleeves. Long story short though, they share that love and passion with all that will listen.
God speed Boston. You will rise above the hate and pure terror displayed on your day of celebration and triumph. You will conquer the tragedy of this now fateful day and I’m confident, that next year’s marathon will be one for the record books. Boston, you are a city of love and peace that will once again outshine the events of April 15th. We are all… Boston.
Posted in MVG Blog | 
Bombing, boston, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, Marathon, Massachusetts, police, proportions, runners, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, triumph | 
Leave a commentAd of the Day: Dodge
Published May 24, 2013 | 
It's the rare commercial that you wish went on longer. But such is the case with this 30-second Dodge Charger spot advertising the Chrysler brand's tie-in with the groundbreaking TV show/video game Defiance.
The Syfy show is a futuristic drama set in 2046 in a city called Defiance, which sits atop the ruins of St. Louis, Mo. Seven unique alien races have arrived on Earth, a development that has thrown humans for a bit of a loop. But not Dodge. As you see in the ad, from Wieden + Kennedy, which begins in the present day and continues to 2046, the Dodge Charger is so tough and versatile that it manages to survive the apocalypse, the invasion and lots of frantic driving by alien-pecked humans. "Only the defiant survive," says the copy at the end.
The show's hero, Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler), drives a couple of Dodge Chargers, which have been modified a bit to fit the futuristic story line. The cars were directly integrated into the story in this past Monday's episode, the sixth of the first season, becoming major characters. And while there's an element of goofiness in having modern-day vehicles drive through Armageddon and live to tell the tale, there's a gritty, cool factor here too—achieved largely by the nice juxtaposition of the dark, hectic visuals and the soulful, stylish song "Freedom" by Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton (which you may recognize from Django Unchained). Ads for video games often pair violence and beauty in this way especially well—here, the fictional premise lets an automaker do the same.
And no wonder it feels like a video-game spot. Defiance is also a massively multiplayer online video game. The show and the game feature interconnected worlds and story lines—the show impacts the game, and the game influences the show. And while the show features the Charger, the game incorporates the Dodge Challenger into the mix.
Dodge and W+K have glimpsed the future before. Maybe we could use the Dart's time machine to go back and make this Charger spot a :60?
CREDITS
Clients: Dodge, Syfy
Project: Dodge Charger | Defiance
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Aaron Allen / Michael Tabtabai / Kevin Jones
Copywriter: Smith Henderson
Art Director: Susan Land
Executive Producer: Corey Bartha
Account Team: Thomas Harvey / Lani Reichenbach / Ramon Cruz
Project Manager: Tamar Berk
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Agency Producer: Jennie Lindstrom / Kirsten Acheson
Business Affairs Director: Amber Lavender
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Executive Producer: Emme Wilcockson
Line Producer: James Blom
Director of Photography: Robert Elswit
Editorial Company: Rock, Paper Scissors
Editor: Stewart Reeves
Post Producer: Alexandra Zickerick
Post Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver
VFX Company: Method
VFX Supervisor: Ben Walsh
Executive Producer: Stephanie Gilgar
Head of 2D/Flame Artist: Patrick Ferguson
Producer: Jason Cohon
Coordinator: Nicole Saccardi
Nuke Artists: Alex Gitler / Grady Campbell
Matte Painting: Roger Kupelian / Rich Mahon / Zach Christian
FX Artist: Travis Harkleroad
Tracking: Apirak Kamjan / Rachan Chirattanakornkul
Roto: Kenneth Liu / Scott Crafford
Music+Sound Company: Stimmung
Sound Designer: Gus Koven
Producer: Ceinwyn Clark
Mix Company: Lime Studios
Mixer: Mark Meyuhas
Producer: Jessica Locke
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Posted in Ad of The Day, Advertising & Branding, Syndicated Articles | agency, automotive, cable, creative, dodge, television