A page to submit proposals for changes to our guidelines.

Guidelines

1. Mentioning a product outside of Ubuntu is a big no-no, we cannot mention, suggest or even nod towards Apple, Microsoft, Microsoft Office...the term 'Mac' is also trademarked...World of Warcraft, iTunes, Amazon, iPod or even Podcast. Legally speaking if we want to mention a product, we're going to have to seek permission, for those I just mentioned (and similar) this could turn into thousands of dollars/pounds worth. Likewise, things like Banshee, OpenOffice...we're going to have to look into seeing how they feel about others using their name. We could of course, just use those names, but then we'll also have to deal with the fallout created by a lawsuit directed against us. This also applies if we're going to do a live action video; we CANNOT have shops in the background like Starbucks, etc.

Suggestion from Barry Drake to replace 1) above: " All advertising MUST be positive. We are aiming to present the strengths of Ubuntu, not the shortcomings of other systems. No other product names may be used in adverts. If we need to indicate compatibility, we need to say something like 'compatible with most commonly used word-processors, spreadsheets and presentation software'. "

2. It must be short on dialogue: We're not writing a movie here, having a paragraph of text to speak is NOT going to help. We're going to bore the viewers if we do this. Keep it short, simple and use easily understood visual metaphors where possible.

3. Special effects; We either do it right or don't do it at all. Doing a half-cocked job will only degrade the advert. Having helicopters and people disappearing through walls would be ok if we were a bunch of 3D effects gurus with a MASSIVE rendering farm, but we're not and we don't!

4. DO NOT act in public, this can complicate things, as many people being filmed in public WILL want to send a lawsuit our way for invading our privacy. The local authorities may not look too kindly on it, either.

5. NO CLICHÉS! This means NO CHEESY ADVERTS! No remakes of popular adverts, no 'Hey Michelle! I love what you've done with your hair!" sort of adverts. We want to inspire people to use Ubuntu, not make them vomit, and AGAIN, remaking a popular advert WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION AGAINST US.

6. NO TECHNICAL JARGON/ITEMS! This includes LiveCDs, no use of the words 'operating system, interface, text commands, update manager, ' or any such language. It HAS to be original, it HAS to be done properly, it HAS to be done without running the risk of legal action and by god, it MUST have an emotional impact! This is Ubuntu's first attempt at advertising to a mass audience. I also strongly discourage use of 11.04 in the advert, as Unity is still being designed and we'll just have to wait till the UI freeze is done.

Guidelines Created by Danté Ashton