Hasta La Creative!

Sponsors of the Sochi Olympics don’t seem to be experiencing the backlash that some had predicted over Russia’s anti-gay laws, new research suggests, and non-sponsor Chevrolet has achieved big boosts among gay and lesbian consumers by introducing a commercial showing gay families during Olympics coverage.

Lesbian and gay purchase consideration for Chevrolet has skyrocketed, according to YouGov BrandIndex, which says it conducts online polls of 4,300 adults each weekday from a representative sample of the U.S. population. Chevy’s perception and purchase consideration have barely moved among consumers more broadly, YouGov BrandIndex said.

No official international or U.S. sponsors of the Olympics have increased purchase consideration to a significant amount, YouGov BrandIndex said, but Chobani has increased its purchase consideration and positive buzz more than any other official sponsor. Chobani also grew word of mouth more than any sponsor but Coca-Cola, according to YouGov BrandIndex.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

While we’re not sure at this point if this is new Rosetta chief creative officer Lars Bastholm‘s doing, we have received confirmation that the Publicis Groupe-owned agency has parted ways with executive creative director, Dave McClain, who worked out the Los Angeles office. Here’s a brief statement from Rosetta: “Dave McClain and Rosetta have parted ways. We are truly grateful to Dave for the huge impact he had on the agency in the last 3 years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

To address the tips we’ve received this afternoon, from what we’ve been told, there have been no other ECD departures to report as of yet. As for McClain, the creative served as an art director early on in his career at the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi and Deutsch before moving into senior CD roles at Razorfish and Blitz.

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Neil Patrick Harris goes all Miley Cyrus on a bottle of Neuro Sleep in this goofy music video for the brand's "Sleep With Neuro" campaign.

The video was directed by Jon Jon Augustavo, who also did Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" video, and has NPH in full Barney Stinson mode, silk pajamas and everything. I guess that nightshirt phase he went through didn't last.

There's a fair amount of corny R&B video tropes to be found here, both in the visuals and Neil's delivery, which is top notch as always. That's the nice thing about him—you never feel like he's phoning it in, no matter what ridiculous or beneath-his-talent thing he's doing.

NPH's appearance in the video came from a Neuro customer survey that asked people who they would like to have a slumber party with—35 percent of the responses went with Neil. It also didn't hurt that he and Neuro Sleep founder Diana Jenkins are friends.

Plus, How I Met Your Mother is finally finishing up, so he needs to keep the wolves off his doorstep somehow.

The comments on AdWeek’s Ad of the Day review of Old Navy’s new Chandelier-created ad featuring MADtv comic Debra Wilson sum it up perfectly.

“Interesting. I didn’t laugh once. Nevertheless, I think this actually COULD be funny if they cut it to a :30 and simplify by focusing on the fake wand sounds gag. That’s the only comedic idea I see here. The rest of this spot is just trying way too hard.”

“Meh. You can tell the client added the ending.”

“Reno 911 stereotype transferred to TSA situation, and realized as a SNL sketch. Sure why not the jeans are only $19.”

“REEEEAAAAALLLLLYY could’ve done without the circus music at the end.”

Conversely, AdWeek’s Tim Nudd says, “Old Navy just made its best commercial in a long time.”

We beg to differ. It’s just not funny. In fact, it’s really, really creepy. Having your ass ogled by a TSA agent? Yea, it’s supposed to be a joke but, again, it’s not funny. And the ending is just plain stupid.

Well, the number’s slightly less than what we were hearing on the Spy line, but sources familiar with the matter confirm that San Francisco-based agency Pereira & O’Dell has had to cut six staffers. While we were hearing that financial issues might have played a role in the cuts, our sources tell us otherwise, saying that it was nothing more than “adjustments being made” and that no specific department was targeted. Current headcount stands at 190 at P&O’D, which has had a pretty productive last six months, from assuming lead creative duties on the Fox Sports 1 account to expanding ops in Brazil to dishing out efforts for Intel/Toshiba, Skype and its newest client, Airbnb.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Facebook today said it plans to let advertisers target users based on their job titles, welcome news for b-to-b marketers looking to reach prospects on the platform.

The company has previously allowed advertisers to target based on workplace and email addresses, but the new functionality will allow b-to-b marketers to go even further, narrowing campaigns to the specific titles they believe can influence the buying decision.

“This is a shot across LinkedIn’s bow,” said Russell Glass, CEO of Bizo, the only b-to-b focused partner in Facebook’s FBX ad exchange.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Students at the VCU Brandcenter are back, launching a campaign promoting the AICP Show and AICP Next Awards for the 9th straight year.

The campaign takes a humorous route to displaying the lasting quality of an AICP award, showing top creatives like Gerry Graf, Co: collective partner/chief content officer Tiffany Rolfe and Droga5′s Ted Royer waxing on the perceived perks of yesteryear. While these perks may have vanished, their AICP awarded work is in the permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.

“Every generation hears about the halcyon days when perks were free-flowing – perhaps they were, or perhaps it’s all wishful thinking. But through it all, the one constant is that no one can ever take away your AICP honor and recognition,” explained Matt Miller, President and CEO of AICP.

“Ty Montague of Co:Collective, Susan Credle of Leo Burnett, and Diane Jackson of DDB Chicago (all VCU BrandCenter Board members and either current or past AICP Show Curators)” collaborated with Miller, AICP Director of Events Ileana Montalvo and AICP Chief of Staff Kristin Wilcha in selecting the campaign from among those presented by second year student teams at VCU Brandcenter. The results are pretty funny, with Graf commenting on vanishing drum kits, Rolfe wondering where the prostitutes went, and Royer lamenting the ever-shrinking office. The entry deadline for the awards is March 7. Both the AICP Show and the AICP Next Awards will take place June 10-12, during AICP week. You can check out Graf’s video above, and stick around for Royer and Rolfe’s two cents, along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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