Veterans For Peace - "Battlefield Casualties" Ad Campaign

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

http://battlefieldcasualties.co.uk/

One of the best pieces of Morris-like social satire I've seen in ages. Breathtakingly shocking and funny and never misses a beat. And kudos to Matt Berry for getting involved (and doing a terrific Serafinowicz-channelling advert voice).

Watch, and then at the very least, like UK Veterans For Peace on Facebook.

[ThickAndCreamy]

Very much agreed. The whole campaign is just fucking great really, and a very brave move for a charity like this to make as it could have easily gone so wrong. I'll probably pop down to the little exhibition in London about it all by Veterans for Peace.

It's such high quality stuff considering it's just a short advert for a small charity and it's got me looking much closer at the other stuff Darren Cullen has done. He has a website here with a load of great artwork and past material. Plus he made this terrifically funny website Pocket Money Loans alongside a pop-up shop exhibition last year based on pay-day loans for kids.

I've never been so taken by artwork like this before, but it's so well observed, offensive and funny that it reminds me of Morris and PFFR.

[Petey Pate]

Nice stuff.  I'm always a sucker for 'found footage' comedy filmed with archaic VHS equipment.  Definitely in the vein of Morris and PFFR, bringing to mind Hobo Ops; a similar brutal satire on the treatment of military veterans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZQEJblS6tI

It also reminded me of the Occupy Wall Street Lego Set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtQKcM48hnw

[Twibbie]

Brilliant stuff. I was hoping for the last one would get a mock-Wootton Bassett send-off, but great all the same.

[Petey Pate]

It's such high quality stuff considering it's just a short advert for a small charity and it's got me looking much closer at the other stuff Darren Cullen has done. He has a website here with a load of great artwork and past material. Plus he made this terrifically funny website Pocket Money Loans alongside a pop-up shop exhibition last year based on pay-day loans for kids.

Might have get one of his mugs for the office.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I'm just going to keep bumping this until everyone on the forum posts their opinion about it.

[neveragain]

Fantastic. Sharing on Facebook now.

[Mijkediablo]

Brilliant. Funny, heart-breaking, thoughtful, bleak, cutting. It gives you a real feel for the tortures these people undergo, shows you life from the perspective of a PTSD sufferer. Too many charities rely on pity and condescension to raise funds; this gives you a glimpse into the inner world. Very effective and affecting.

[BlodwynPig]

blobby for peace!
loved it.

[QDRPHNC]

Wonderful.

[neveragain]

Reminds me of this beauty from the RSPCA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMeDp530O54

[jenna appleseed]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark as fuck - but good dark.
funny, brutal, real/ genuinely biting/angry satire & they got the whole 80s/90s old crap quality video recordings & Action Man / kids toys advert nostalgia - especially the happy, smirky kids - perfect. Offensive for a reason instead of just for the sake of being offensive. Shared on fb.

It's such high quality stuff considering it's just a short advert for a small charity and it's got me looking much closer at the other stuff Darren Cullen has done. He has a website here with a load of great artwork and past material. Plus he made this terrifically funny website Pocket Money Loans alongside a pop-up shop exhibition last year based on pay-day loans for kids.

I've never been so taken by artwork like this before, but it's so well observed, offensive and funny that it reminds me of Morris and PFFR.

checked the guy's site out & saw his (Don't) Join the army comic http://www.spellingmistakescostlives.com/bethemeat/index.htm
saw the deluxe version comes with a mockup Action Man battle field casualties mag / toy shop ads poster so spunked a tenner on it.
http://www.spellingmistakescostlives.com/bethemeat/actionman.htm
eta: Having a seriously guilty laugh (again at the "legs really don't work" tagline.

oh & neveragain, I'd totally forgotten that rspca ad & how wonderfully funny & ouch it is. eta2: was that genuinely shown on tv commercials (late night only?) or just internet/part of one of those funny/offensive/banned ads shows?

[neveragain]

I've just had a little binge watch of similar spoof-ad PIFs. Some get their message across starkly. Most of them aren't very good. This, however, is bloody hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51OxZF1ltI

There are several other ads by the ACC in the same vein, which work a lot better.

[greenman]

Brilliant. Funny, heart-breaking, thoughtful, bleak, cutting. It gives you a real feel for the tortures these people undergo, shows you life from the perspective of a PTSD sufferer. Too many charities rely on pity and condescension to raise funds; this gives you a glimpse into the inner world. Very effective and affecting.

Ban this sick flith! evil ad mocks out brave boys!

Coming to a headline near you.

[madhair60]

Small smile at "thousand yard stare action", otherwise fairly upsetting, really.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

First thing in ages that's made me feel the same barrage of unfettered subversion Brass Eye did. The beat and tempo is always one step ahead of your reactions, like a multiplier for each laugh. The PTSD one especially is merciless, absolutely amazing.

[neveragain]

An article about this showed up in the news-feed on me phone just now.

Anyway, I don't know where else to put this, as there isn't a dedicated Public Information Film thread and nor do I really want to start one, but these 30 or so seconds have been haunting me since I saw them. Firstly, because I had exactly the same idea for a PIF[nb]It was actually for a sketch but with exactly the same target[/nb] when I was about eleven and, what else can I say... it's extremely effective. Basically, it uses real camcorder footage in a way that totally shows You've Been Framed up for what it is (at least half of the time, and I've always despised this element of it). A very pointed and unsettling[nb]Viewer discretion is advised![/nb] parody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ngbwGkq-b8

[clingfilm portent]

Amazing, thanks for sharing.

[emmett85]

That's great. There are loads of things on his shop I would buy.

[Zetetic]

I've just written to my MP using the Write To Them link on that page.

I highlighted some of the work that I've been involved with to do with the mental health of ex-Service personnel, tried to appeal to the MP's own experience (since they'd worked for solicitors that had done stuff on Military injuries), and pointed out some of the research on mental health risks done by the KCMHR - specifically regarding early leavers, young recruits and those from deprived backgrounds.

I also intend to write to some of my Assembly Members (since the Health and Education sides of this issue are devolved for me).

If you do give a toss about the recruitment of 16- and 17-year-olds, amongst other things, I think you should probably write to your MP too (and then post back here to encourage others too).

[jenna appleseed]

Surprisingly non twatty article from Vice letting people describe the reality behind the campaign.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/action-man-battlefield-casualties-ptsed-soldiers-348

etsL it's get a bit of re-blog & fb group shares action.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Great stuff. There's a level of incision here that is meeting surprisingly little resistance.

No doubt when it's jingoism time again all this will be conveniently forgotten by the flag-waving morons.



This is still Comedy Chat though, so I repeat- please watch the fantastic, hilarious and excruciating video at the top if you haven't already.

[Zetetic]

No doubt when it's jingoism time again all this will be conveniently forgotten by the flag-waving morons.

Which is why I would suggest writing to your MP now, while there's some surge of feeling, as the Battlefield Casualties site asks you to - whether that's about the Armed Services more widely, or the specific issue of recruiting people at 16 and 17.

[Zetetic]

For what it's worth, here's the body of the response that I got from my MP:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the wellbeing of individuals in our armed forces.

While as you mentioned, this issue is partly devolved, as your MP, I appreciate and admire the tremendous commitment, skill and sacrifice of our armed forces and I agree it is vital that we properly support veterans and their families. Like you, I have long been aware that significant recruitment takes place in some of our most deprived areas and targets 16 and 17 year olds.

I also believe, though, that the Government urgently need to address the growing crisis in our social care system, which is leading to spiralling costs for patients and the removal or reduction of key support services. Indeed, £3.5 billion has been removed from council care budgets since this Government came to power in 2010, which has led to the removal or cut back of some key services.

I hope that the Government carefully consider the important points that the Royal British Legion, of which I am a member, and others have raised surrounding social care costs for injured military veterans.

I fought the election on a manifesto that promised that a Labour government would test all policies against the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant in order to prevent further disadvantage for the armed forces and veterans, and undertake a review of the different compensation schemes and payments made to veterans to establish where improvements can be made.

Thank you once again for writing to me and for sharing your views. I can assure you I will continue to follow this issue closely and bear in mind the points you raise.

[Chriddof]

My apologies for bumping this ancient thread, but I felt what I want to say was best put in here, and if I don't make a post about it it'll be rattling around my brain and pissing me off all day.

So I came across this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P75eIXAMto ...it's a "reaction video" to the very thing this thread is about. Reaction videos are generally absolutely exasperating, but this one is especially bad, because the "reactor" absolutely does not get it. At all. Not once does he twig the very serious message behind it, not once does he feel the grim shudder that's meant to accompany the laughs. Also he pauses before the end caption revealing it's for Veterans For Peace.

Naturally, the comment section is an absolute train wreck.

I wasn't around to see those advertisements; Which is a shame because that would never be allowed to air in the UK today. Bloody hilarious! 🤣

I use to have an action man doll but this is over the top but I love it.

Lemme guess ..
have SJWs complained about any of these yet ? lol

To be fair, there are some people in the comments who understand it and point it out for the hard of thinking - someone also mentions Veterans For Peace. But they're swamped in a torrent of people just blankly stating how funny and (most importantly) offensive they thought it was.

Again, apologies for the bump, but I had to vent. I've always felt these films were amazing and it's brutally disappointing to see so many people just treat it as some kind of zany surface level dArk HumOuR thing.

[Blue Jam]

Love Darren Cullen's stuff. He used to do the Crystal Baws spoof horoscopes in The Skinny and I was sad to see those go but I guess he was just too busy being successful with other projects. Good to see.

I got this signed giclee print for my home office/mancave a while back, I hope he ends up being the next Banksy:

https://www.spellingmistakescostlives.com/product-page/keyboard-guide-limited-edition-giclee-print

[Poobum]

My apologies for bumping this ancient thread, but I felt what I want to say was best put in here, and if I don't make a post about it it'll be rattling around my brain and pissing me off all day.

So I came across this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P75eIXAMto ...it's a "reaction video" to the very thing this thread is about. Reaction videos are generally absolutely exasperating, but this one is especially bad, because the "reactor" absolutely does not get it. At all. Not once does he twig the very serious message behind it, not once does he feel the grim shudder that's meant to accompany the laughs. Also he pauses before the end caption revealing it's for Veterans For Peace.

I'm confused because he spent the whole end of the video describing it as a great way of illuminating the horrors of war using dark humour, and then going into how he agrees that the realities and consequences of being a soldier needs to be addressed.

[Chriddof]

Alright, I missed the ending because I was too pissed off at the comments and stopped it before then. Bit ironic of me, obviously. Sorry everyone. Still, the point about some of the commenters still stands.