Mad Women

Advertising: Colorful and projected on a large scale. The new era begins at the beginning of the 20th century in Berlin, Munich and Vienna. Lucian Bernhard, Ludwig Hohlwein and Julius Klinger put the products of industrialization in a new light: cars and cigarettes, fashion and cosmetics. The story of the three exceptional graphic artists and how their poster art revolutionized advertising.

Advertising shits in your head. London artists are taking to the streets to reclaim public spaces and challenge passerby's to think differently about everything from capitalism to gender.

Programming the Nation? takes an encompassing look at the history of subliminal messaging in America. According to many authorities, since the late 1950s subliminal content has been tested and delivered through all forms of mass-media including Hollywood filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock and William Friedkin. Even our modern military has been accused of these practices in the "war on terror" against soldiers and civilians both abroad and at home. With eye-opening footage, revealing interviews, humorous anecdotes, and an array of visual effects, the film categorically explores the alleged usage of subliminals in advertising, music, film, television, anti-theft devices, political propaganda, military psychological operations, and advanced weapons development. Director Jeff Warrick makes it his personal mission to determine if these manipulative tactics have succeeded in "programming the nation?" Or, if subliminal messaging belongs in the category of what many consider urban legend.

From 1996 to 1998, a low-budget TV commercial for Saskatoon’s Great Buffet of China aired relentlessly. Featuring a Caucasian pitchman introducing the phrase “How Chee” and a group of amateur young actors repeating it, the ad became infamous. Some laughed. Others cringed. Many called it the worst commercial ever made. Thirty years later, it still resurfaces—at one point even going viral in China. How Chee! explores the unlikely origins of the ad, the friendship between an immigrant restaurant owner and the professor who tried to help save his business, and the now-adult actors who became locally famous long before going viral was a thing.

A travelogue through the diverse neighborhoods of Madrid, its picturesque streets and its history; and an approach, with a sense of humor, to the lighted signs and advertising slogans of the shops: an unusual portrait of the city and its people.

A series of visual paradoxes between the names of the streets of Madrid and those of the shops located in them.

Once upon a time... consumer goods were built to last. Then, in the 1920’s, a group of businessmen realized that the longer their product lasted, the less money they made, thus Planned Obsolescence was born, and manufacturers have been engineering products to fail ever since. Combining investigative research and rare archive footage with analysis by those working on ways to save both the economy and the environment, this documentary charts the creation of ‘engineering to fail’, its rise to prominence and its recent fall from grace.

Early 1960s documentary into the spending habit of 'screenagers' (young cinema-goers aged between 16-24). Based on Mark Abrams' 1959 report, 'The Teenage Consumer'.

A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.

Film commissioned by the Chicago-based publisher of Negro Digest, Ebony, Tan, and Jet to encourage advertisers to reach out to African American consumers. The Secret of Selling the Negro depicts the lives, activities, and consumer behavior of African American professionals, students, and housewives. A Business Screen reviewer noted that the film focused on the “bright positive” aspects of the “new Negro family.” The sponsor issued a companion booklet offering the “do’s and don’ts of selling to the Negro.”

Every year, thousands of commercials are made that never reach our TV screens, deemed too shocking to see. In order to make it onto the screen, they must clear all manner of obstacles, from fussy clients to obsessive regulators and restrictive rights issues. X-Rated takes a look at these outlawed pieces of advertising, revealing the most explicit, controversial and shocking ads never seen. These are ads that break all manner of taboos, from sex, violence, blasphemy, homosexuality, animal cruelty, rapping pensioners, swearing children, suicidal toys and naked athletes to Kylie in her undies on a bucking bronco. Amongst the contributors are advertising executives, producers and censors. The programme also takes a look at the embarrassing world of western celebrities in Japanese ads.

Featuring interviews with Sir John Hegarty, Lord Tim Bell and Robert E. Jacoby, The Real Saatchis: Masters of Illusion chronicles the rise and fall of Britain's largest advertising agency,

The personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of all time and the stories behind their campaigns.

A documentary about the legendary Japanese filmmaker.

Focusing directly on the world of commercial images, Sut Jhally asks some basic questions about the cultural messages emanating from this market-based view of the world: Do our present arrangements deliver what they claim -- happiness and satisfaction? Can we think about our collective as well as our private interests? And, can we think long-term as well as short-term?

A documentary on the marketing of pop culture to Teenagers.

TVTV turns its critical eye to the world of advertising in Adland, subtitled Where Commercials Come From. Focusing on the reality behind the image, and specifically on the strategies of Madison Avenue, they interview prominent 1970s admen such as George Lois and Jerry Della Femina. They also go behind the scenes of commercial shoots, where such figures as Ronald McDonald and the precocious child actor Mason Reese are put through grinding routines, only to reveal themselves as jaded pros off-camera. In this clear-eyed look at the manipulation inherent in advertising, the TVTV crew meets its match in the relentless cynicism and masculine braggadocio of the seasoned admen; ultimately, TVTV conveys respect for the savvy and skills of these shrewd veterans.

This documentary celebrates the work of illustrator Reynold Brown, whose colorful and compelling art graced over 300 movie posters during the 1950s and '60s, ranging from star-studded westerns and studio epics to sensational creature features and low-budget B-movies. Art historians, writers, and movie producers discuss Brown's art within the context of the post-war social climate and an ever-changing movie industry.

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Commissioned by developer Harry Macklowe to promote properties at 432 Park Avenue in New York City, this short film tells the story of a ballet dancer who travels from her mansion estate to the city to move into the building where certain famous faces come up along the way.