'Babel' Director Heads to Montana For New Anti-Drug Anti-Masterpiece
A few pops of crank were really the only thing that kept us awake during director Alejandro González Iñárritu's excruciating Oscar bait exercises Babel and 21 Grams, so imagine our shock today upon receiving a press release announcing that the Mexican filmmaker has signed on as the creative force behind three anti-meth ads in infamously meth-friendly Montana:
The television ads directed by Mr. Iñárritu, along with four print and nine radio ads, will begin airing in Montana immediately and will reach at least 80% of the state's teens three times each week.
The Meth Project is a large-scale prevention program aimed at reducing first-time meth use through public service messaging, public policy, and community outreach. Central to the program is a research-based marketing campaign that graphically communicates the risks of meth use.
Alas, the ads' respective directors aren't noted at the campaign's Web site, forcing us to view each 30-second spot to find the interweaving melodramas about scabby tweakers "graphically" embroiled in the kind of hand-held, quick-cut, tear-streaked, overblown "research-based" intrigue by which Iñárritu made his name. Thankfully, the Gael Garcia Bernal cameos gave the game away in the end. On the bright side, we do plan to stick with straight booze tonight, so hey — lesson learned.