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  • Be an organ donor

    Thought this was pretty awesome as far as commercials go:



    Coleman Sweeney’s a good guy. Really, he is.

    Not the fictional Coleman Sweeney depicted in the new, edgy, obscenity-titled marketing campaign by The Martin Agency for Richmond-based Donate Life America: the urinating-while-driving, women’s-bathroom-polluting, trick-or-treat-stealing “World’s Biggest Asshole” referred to in the campaign’s title.

    That’s the Coleman Sweeney that people will get to know through the online video released to the world this week. Ideally, those people will include millennials, men specifically: the target audience for the organ donation advocacy group’s campaign.

    But the real Coleman Sweeney – the character’s namesake – is actually an associate broadcast producer at The Martin Agency. And he’s the opposite of his cigar-smoking on-screen counterpart, promised Wade Alger, a creative director at Martin and one of four co-writers on the campaign.

    “He was kind enough to lend us his name,” Alger acknowledged at a launch party at The Broadberry this week. “Coleman, if you’re (reading this), I promise you’re a great guy, you’re amazing, and you’re nothing like the guy that we portrayed in this thing.

    “It just was a great name, and he knew it was a great cause and it would make a difference. That’s why he allowed us to use his name,” he said. “The real Coleman Sweeney is not an asshole.”

    A year and a half in the making, the two-minute video – filmed by California-based production studio Furlined and featuring Thomas Jane, of the HBO series “Hung,” music written by Coldplay and a voiceover by actor Will Arnett – was posted on YouTube on Thursday with the goal of creating buzz and ultimately going viral, said David Fleming, CEO of Donate Life America.“We want the audience to be self-selected. We want people sharing this with people that they think will appreciate it and will understand the humor,” Fleming said. “Our goal is to not offend people that may not jive with this sort of edgy humor, but we hope that if it grows virally, it’s going to grow on its own merits.”

    Fleming and Alger said the group wanted a campaign that targeted young men specifically because organ donations from that demographic have been down. The use of edgier, darker humor and visuals is meant to connect with those viewers who will find it online, while not offending other viewers who may not pick up on it.

    While the campaign will include some out-of-home displays, such as billboards and bus wraps in a few select markets, it is centered primarily on the online-only video, with no television or radio spots involved.

    The ads, created for a blood donation organization, target millenials via "the world's biggest asshole." (Courtesy of The Martin Agemcy)
    Wednesday’s launch party at The Broadberry was presented as a wake for the organ donor character.
    “I think millennials like darker, edgier storytelling, and that’s what we were trying to do with this,” Alger said. “That’s why we embraced using the word ‘asshole’, to hopefully break through that barrier and get them to go, ‘Oh, I should wake up and pay attention to this.'”

    Added Fleming: “We can’t keep doing the same thing expecting different results, and the different results that we need is to save more lives. The phrase that we’ve been using as we’ve been pitching this campaign is: ‘This is being different to make a difference, not just to be different.'”

    Fleming cited statistics that more than 120,000 Americans are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant and hundreds of thousands more stand to benefit from an organ, eye or tissue donation to restore sight or health. He said 22 people die every day waiting for a transplant – about one person every hour.

    “We hope this is an opportunity to give people who see this permission to talk about a serious subject in a not-so-serious way – to break down that wall that blocks the conversations in talking about this,” he said. “We’re probably going to get a little heat from some folks out there, but it’s going to be worth it.”

    The group reached out to The Martin Agency, which it had worked with on a project specific to social media, and the agency responded by offering the work pro bono, as did everyone else involved in the project. Fleming put the value of the production at about $1.5 million.

    “The Martin Agency stepped up to the challenge, pushed us to do something that we never would have imagined doing, but for the purpose of reaching these young Americans” Fleming said.

    Wade Alger, left, and David Fleming present the video’s premiere.
    Among those who embraced it was Chris Mumford, Martin’s managing director of account management, whose late brother, Fleming said, lived longer after receiving a heart transplant. The son of Martin employee Julie Garner, was an organ, eye and tissue donor, and Fleming said at least two other Martin employees’ spouses are transplant recipients.

    The campaign was launched nationally with help from Sigma Pi Fraternity and the National Kidney Foundation. And locally, it’s getting additional exposure with a mural painted by Richmond illustrator Duncan Robertson on the Boulevard-facing side of The Broadberry building.

    Depicting a beer-bottle-tossing, mailbox-smashing Coleman Sweeney, the mural is tagged with the caption: “Even this guy can save a life,” along with the address of Donate Life America’s donor registration website: registerme.org.

    While he described the campaign as edgier than anything the group thought it would ever do, Fleming said he expects the results will be worth it.

    “If this saves one person who wouldn’t have gotten a transplant otherwise, it’s going to be worth it,” Fleming said. “We think this is going to help register thousands of donors that wouldn’t have contemplated registering, just because we weren’t able to reach them in a manner that they’re used to being communicated to. And we’re confident that it’s going to save lives.”

    As for the real Coleman Sweeney, he’s gotten used to the idea of sharing his name with “The World’s Biggest…” – you know what.

    He said when Alger approached him with the idea a year ago, he was hesitant at first but got on board as the concept developed.

    “I could see that this guy ended up really helping a lot of people, even though he’s a terrible person. I thought it was a really interesting and unique story, and I thought it was a really good opportunity to help out.”

    Already an organ donor, Sweeney said he initially thought he had already done his part, but later saw a personal privilege in lending his name.

    “I thought if I can donate my name, then I’m sure others can donate life,” he said. “Hopefully my name will stick in people’s minds and remind them of the spot and, hopefully, save lives.”
    An obscenity-titled marketing campaign for a local organ donor advocacy group is turning heads on West Broad Street, and online. But the real Coleman Sweeney isn’t really a bad guy.

  • #2
    With a Brother who is a kidney transplant survivor, I can't thank the donor, and their family enough. BE A DONOR! PLEASE. Not for you or your family, but for others. It really is a selfless act and what do you care? You're dead!

    Donor since 2010. I hope I don't have to give the organs up for many years. But when that eventuality does finally come, I can only hope I help someone else live a little longer.
    Originally posted by Taya Kyle, American Gun
    There comes a time when honest debate, serious diplomatic efforts, and logical arguments have been exhausted and only men and women willing to take up arms against evil will suffice to save the freedom of a nation or continent.

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    • #3
      My brother got an extra 5 years thanks to a lung donor. An 18 year old high school senior.

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      • #4
        I think I've been a donor since i started driving, it's a good thing to do but i hope i won't be giving them up for years....

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        • #5
          If you're a donor they'll try not to save your own life just to get your organs....or so I've heard.

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          • #6
            Lived in Germany during the 1982-85 and1987-1990 they won't let me give blood or organs. Due to mad cow scare lol.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by David View Post
              If you're a donor they'll try not to save your own life just to get your organs....or so I've heard.
              That is actually a concern of mine. Call it paranoia, but it worries me enough to not be an official donor. I did tell my wife to sign the consent if something happens and she knows for sure I am a gonner, but make sure they fucking try to save me first before she signs.
              I don't like Republicans, but I really FUCKING hate Democrats.


              Sex with an Asian woman is great, but 30 minutes later you're horny again.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by David View Post
                If you're a donor they'll try not to save your own life just to get your organs....or so I've heard.
                Maybe in China. People are usually on life support with zero brain activity for several days before families decide to pull the plug and let the harvest teams do their work. That and most people in hospitals under continual treatment have other ailments that can damage their organs to a point where they aren't suitable for transplant.

                In my brother's case the donor was murdered 3 days before his lungs and heart were harvested. I know this because he met the family and I read the news reports. The poor kid was shot in the head and had massive brain damage.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by LANTIRN View Post
                  That is actually a concern of mine. Call it paranoia, but it worries me enough to not be an official donor. I did tell my wife to sign the consent if something happens and she knows for sure I am a gonner, but make sure they fucking try to save me first before she signs.
                  Same boat. I feel like an LS1 z28 that has been rear ended. I COULD be fixed, but I am worth a hell of a lot more parted out.

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                  • #10
                    Epic commercial
                    If you can read this thank a teacher. If it's in English thank a soldier.

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                    • #11
                      I wouldn't be here without a donated organ. I was told I may have a year or so left but I needed to be in the hospital to wait for the transplant. It was a very tough time for me being 21 at the time but I got through it thanks to an organ donor.
                      2004 Mustang GT: BBK shorty headers, BBK O/R X, Flowmaster catback, JLT cold air, Trickflow 75mm TB and Plenum, UD pulleys, upper and lower CA's, 3.73, SCT XCal 2 ---- SOLD

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                      • #12
                        I've always been a donor.. I certainly won't be needing any of it and anything left over is going to be torched anyways.

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                        • #13
                          Bumping this back up.

                          Has anyone here donated a kidney (besides Talisman)? If so, how long were you out of commission, like before you could return to work? I hear anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, that seems longer than I thought it would be!

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                          • #14
                            I spent many years growing my parts to be immune from alcohol. I think I'll keep them.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by David View Post
                              If you're a donor they'll try not to save your own life just to get your organs....or so I've heard.
                              They need to get off their asses with the "clone the organ from your own dna" stuff. No more harvesting concerns, no more rejection of the organ.


                              Now for the weird side. Some of the people have reported cravings (and other thoughts) that the previous owner of the organ used to have. Some lady who got a heart transplant used to hate spicy food, then after heart transplant, she loved it. Just as the previous owner did. Somewhat common phenomenon.
                              WH

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