Carvspianoan independent magazine about media, advertising and viral experiments

An independent magazine about media and advertising. This is not the website of any brand, agency or advertising campaign that may previously have used this domain.

Articles

Articles

This section brings together the magazine's main topics and a catalogue of standalone articles. We write about advertising and media as a craft: what goes into a spectacular video, why some on-camera experiments go viral and others don't, how festivals work and who stands behind a campaign. You won't find specific reach or budget figures here: they are almost impossible to verify from public data.

Advertising is not only about what is being sold, but also about how the story is told. We are interested in the latter.

— From the editors

How this section works: a topic is included if it can be covered using open, verifiable sources, without invented stories about specific campaigns, without naming living people and without advice that encourages dangerous behaviour.

Magazine topics

Six areas around which the magazine's content is built.

Spectacle advertising

Videos built around a striking event on screen: a fall, a smash, an unexpected collision. We look at how such spectacle is tied to a brand idea and why it sticks in the memory.

Breakdowns

On-camera experiments

"What happens if…" videos, from popular science demonstrations to advertising dramatisations. We explain how an experiment differs from a staged scene and why it matters who filmed it.

Breakdowns

Media literacy

How to check a video's original source, date and author, where to look for "ad" and "staged" labels, and why an unattributed re-upload is a red flag.

Breakdowns

Festivals

How advertising industry festivals work: categories, shortlists, juries. How to check whether an award you read about actually existed.

Events

Professions

Creative director, copywriter, art director, producer, director, stunt coordinator: who is responsible for what in making a video.

People and credits

History

From the first paid film screenings and TV commercials to festivals and video platforms: how the way we talk about products has changed.

History

Article catalogue for English-speaking readers

This section will feature standalone articles written for English-speaking readers. They are written with their interests in mind and are not translations of articles from other language versions of the site.

Topics the editors are planning

  • How big televised sports finals turned the TV commercial into a cultural event
  • Disclosure labels on social video: what "#ad" and "paid partnership" really tell you
  • From pre-roll to vertical video: how short-form platforms changed the length of an ad
  • Hoax or campaign: how newsrooms verify viral videos before reporting them

Editorial rules

  • Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
  • Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
  • We do not publish unverifiable ratings of campaigns or agencies, reach figures or reviews.
  • Collections

    Themed collections of magazine sections for getting started with a topic.

  • Breakdowns

    How to break down an advertising campaign step by step and tell a staged video from documentary footage.

  • History

    A timeline from the first paid film screenings of 1895 to video platforms and viral videos.

Sources

  • Cannes Lions — official festival history
  • Smithsonian / Library of Congress (history of TV advertising)
  • Encyclopedic sources on media history

Historical information is based on publicly available official and encyclopedic sources. Festival rules, categories and entry conditions change — check them on the organisers' official websites.