Portal A spoofs the metaverse—Agency Brief

The metaverse has no doubt been one of the hottest topics in the ad industry right now. One of the most noteworthy players in the space has been Meta, which has received some criticism since its name change from Facebook. The latest knock against the multibillion-dollar company is a spoof video produced by the digital content company Portal A.

The “Facebook’s Metaverse. How Bad Could It Be?” video was launched on the AdHoc YouTube parody channel, which spoofs the ad industry. The parody utilizes footage and characters from Meta's metaverse platform Horizon, with new narration and animation, to tell an “uncompromising story about the platform’s motivations for launching Horizon,” according to a statement by Portal A.

The video starts off with an upbeat and cheery host saying, “Facebook already has access to all my personal information and data so why not give them access to my face,” as she wears an Oculus headset. The host then continues to sarcastically explain how wonderful the metaverse is because users won’t have to subject themselves to issues that have been raised about Facebook, such as disinformation, politicking, or friends from high school posting “the most f-ked up conspiracy theory you ever read—and then seeing your mom like that very same post.” The video also pokes fun at some Horizon design choices like the lack of legs for individual avatars.

"Across our team, we have a mammoth dose of skepticism about Facebook running a virtual world, given how they've impacted the real one – our privacy, political systems, personal relationships, and what's left of a shared version of reality have all suffered at the hands of this company,"  Zach Blume, co-founder, and president of Portal A said. "Sometimes you just need to say out loud what everyone is already thinking."

Meta did not comment directly on the spoof video, but it held an event with ad agencies on Thursday in which it spoke to advertisers about its plans for the metaverse. Meta's representatives did address brand and user safeguards it was building in virtual reality, according to agency execs at the meetings. Facebook has been working on brand safety in general across the social network, and last year it started testing new controls for advertisers to avoid appearing near content in the news feed that offends their sensibilities.

Read more: Meta offers a glimpse of the metaverse

Meta has been criticized for years over concerns about some of the conversations on social media, with watchdogs claiming it is responsible for amplifying hateful messages and degrading civil discourse. Some of those same critics are now voicing their fears about the same troubles following Meta into the metaverse. But it's an issue Meta is hoping to nip in the bud before it takes hold. It recently deployed new tools, like a block button to avoid unwanted interactions. There also is a new force field around avatars to ensure virtual personal space isn't violated.

“Privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Meta's virtual Connect conference in October. "You’ll get to decide when you want to be with other people, when you want to block someone from appearing in your space, or when you want to take a break and teleport to a private bubble to be alone."

In previous years, Portal A parody projects on the AdHoc channel have included comedic mockeries of Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, Tronc Media’s launch video (remember Tronc?), TBWA’s Airbnb ad, Carnival Cruises’ Super Bowl ad, and other ads that have collectively amassed more than 2 million views.

Small Agency Awards and Conference 2022

Another year, another small agency conference! Entries are now open for the 2022 Ad Age Small Agency Awards, the only program of its kind that honors small, independent ad agencies. This year in particular we are looking for shops that survived and thrived despite challenges that resulted from working remotely, production restrictions, client uncertainties, and more. We're looking for agencies that broke creative boundaries, motivated employees, earned new clients, and persevered financially, as well as shops that have found new ways to adapt and grow in changing world of media and marketing.

We’ve also added new categories to honor the people behind the work and the agency's success. New categories include Creative of the Year, Account Director of the Year, Media Planner of the Year, Strategic Planner of the Year, as well as Purpose-Led Agency of the Year. 

The deadline to enter this year's awards is April 27, 2022; click here to apply.

Winners of this year's Small Agency Awards will be honored both in Ad Age's print and online editions in July.  An awards ceremony to honor the winners will also be held at Ad Age's Small Agency Conference, which will be in-person this year, July 26-27 in Chicago. Stay tuned for more details on tickets for this year's conference. 

R/GA enhances leadership team 

R/GA is elevating its global creative leadership team by creating three new positions for the agency. 

Gabriel Cheung is a new global executive director at R/GA, where he has worked for over 14 years. He is the global creative lead for Nike and American Express. Chapin Clark takes on the same title and has been with the agency since 2001, where he started as a copywriter on the IBM account. Since 2009 he has been the distinctive voice of R/GA on Twitter. 

Nikhil Mitter now takes the title of global creative director. While at R/GA, he has helped shape experiences for clients including Verizon, Nike, Samsung, and Goldman Sachs. He has previously held positions at a biotech startup, AREA 17 and Tribal Worldwide.

All three will work with the other global creative leads on the team, Daniel Barak and Ari Halper, along with Global Chief Creative Officer Tiffany Rolfe.

A new multicultural agency has launched 

Former advertising executives of the multicultural agency Lerma/ have teamed up to create a brand new agency called BeautifulBeast, which officially launched on Feb. 15, with hubs in Dallas and Miami. 

The agency was founded by Aldo Quevedo, the CEO and creative chairman of the new company, Flor Leibaschoff, chief creative officer, and Salma Gottfried, VP of brand leadership. The three have worked together for more than 20 years, first at Dieste and then Lerma. The trio said they waited until after the Super Bowl before launching as they were finishing up digital work for Avocados From Mexico. Mauricio Del Castillo has also been named chief digital strategist for the agency. 

"BeautifulBeast was born amid the pandemic, so flexibility is a fundamental part of our DNA in every way. The world has changed, and we decided that this was the best time to launch because clients and talent are demanding a new way of working," Quevedo said. 

The brand new agency has already picked up its first client: the Colon Cancer Coalition. 

Dear Black Talent

The 4A’s Foundation has partnered with VMLY&R to launch “Dear Black Talent,” a recruitment platform geared toward attracting new diverse talent into the industry and elevating diverse talent as well. 

Upon entering the site users are tasked with answering a questionnaire focused on how their skills can be used in advertising. On completion, they can learn more about roles as well as apply to a range of job listings provided by agency partners. Other launch partners include Group M, Yahoo, Partners + Napier, Kettle, Hill Holliday, Campbell Ewald, BBH USA, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Omnicom Health Group and Day One Agency. 

Brooklyn-based illustrator and designer Sophia Yeshi led the creation of the “Dear Black Talent” graphics displayed throughout the site. The initiative also includes a targeted social campaign to drive talent to the site, out-of-home promotional assets, and a series of promotional panels and events.

On February 25, the 4A’s Foundation and VMLY&R will host a virtual event offering participants resources and networking opportunities to find their next career moves.

More Key Hires

Agencies were on a roll this week when it comes to executive hires and promotions.

GSD&M has promoted two key executives. Group Creative Director Tom Hamling and Head of Experience Design, Maria D’Amato, were elevated to executive creative directors, new roles at the agency. Hamling has been a key part of leading Popeyes’ Chicken Wars work and D’Amato has been credited with establishing and formalizing the agency’s XD practice.

WPP’s Hogarth has named Mehta Mehta as its first-ever global executive creative director. He joins from Media.Monks, where he was its creative lead for the APAC region starting in 2018. He left that role in September last year to form his own consultancy. He is currently based in Hogarth’s head office in London but will move to the company’s New York office later in 2022.

VMLY&R Commerce has brought on Laura Mignott for the newly created role as global chief experiential officer. “The future of immersive entertainment is here, and it's already changing the way brands interact and engage with communities across multiple channels," said Beth Ann Kaminkow, global CEO of VMLY&R Commerce regarding the role.  “Laura’s appointment gives us more firepower across physical, digital and hybrid experiences—from trade to the metaverse—to usher in a new way of bringing brands to life connected to consumer behavior today.”

McCann New York has brought on Pete Johnson as executive VP, Global executive creative director for its New York office. The move is part of a restructuring of the office’s creative department after Shayne Millington and Pierre Lipton were elevated to co-chief creative officers in November. Prior to this role, Johnson served as an executive creative director at Deutsch New York for over five years.

Coming together 

The Gate, a full-service advertising agency, just launched its newest campaign for one of its long-standing clients, The Military Officers Association of America, the nation's largest association of military officers. The digital video campaign includes three different videos, each representing a thing that MOAA is fighting to improve, such as health care, family programs and retirement pay. Each video is an aerial shot of thousands of military officers gathering together to create symbols related to each topic. 

The first one shows them forming a stethoscope, the second a dollar sign, and the third a family with two parents and two children. Each video concludes with a message saying the more members MOAA has, the more influence they will have over the things they want to improve. The campaign will launch nationally across multiple digital channels, including Roku, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

No Love Lost

With the Super Bowl taking place a day before Valentine’s Day, some of the love for Cupid’s Day might have been drowned out. Here are some V-Day campaigns that you might have missed.

Ogilvy U.K. and relationship charity, Relate teamed up to show how communication is key to a happy and healthy relationship. 

In the latest campaign from Pereria O'Dell, Mini Cooper drivers get a new way to express the love they have for their cars. 

The social campaign involved GIFs that Mini owners could give to their cars to express their love in a silly and steamy way. The e-Cards say things like “You’ve got the perfect amount of junk in the trunk,” “I love how dirty you get,” “I love making you squeal” and “I live to turn you on.” On top of the e-Cards, Pereria O'Dell encouraged Mini owners to share photos of the “love of their driveway” on their social media apps using the hashtag #MINILOVERS.

Armstrong Cheese gave couples a way to celebrate their love for each other and their love for cheese with a custom-made song.  DentsuMB teamed up with the Canadian company to invite people from Instagram and Facebook to submit the name of a loved one and in return, 100 plus lucky fans received a personalized love song made just for that person, which also features their love for Armstrong cheese.

Just Briefly

Omelet has brought on Ali Alvarez as its new chief creative officer, replacing Mike Wallen, who left last year to become the chief marketing officer of Luma.

Publicis Poke has brought on Alison Hoad as its new chief strategy officer, replacing Jo Arden, who left to join Ogilvy. Prior to this, Hoad was consulting for the past two years, working with commercial and not-for-profit sectors on growth strategy, brand strategy and digital transformation projects. Prior to this, she was chief strategy officer at BBH London.

Design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie has promoted JB Hartford to group creative director after nearly six years of building the design team in New York. Rich Greco, former executive design director at Droga5 and Rich Tu, former VP of digital design at MTV, both join in the same role, all of which are new positions.