Hasta La Creative!

Miller High Life would like you to meet Rich, the least interesting man in the world.

The champagne of beers, absent on national TV since 2012, is returning to the airwaves Monday with a new campaign from Leo Burnett, themed "I Am Rich." The concept, on its face, is that you don't need lots of money, or fancy drinks, to be happy.

More subtly, it's also a dog-whistle shot at Dos Equis: You don't need to be an international man of mystery to have a rewarding life.

Instead of the aspirational charm of a high-flying, larger-than-life jet-setter, there's grainy footage of dive-bar billiards, shot on 35mm film, which somehow comes off as both artsy and mundane.

The core, populist idea is a nice one and makes you really want to like the ads. The opening of "Central Park," one of two spots, shows promise. It's endearing that the dude likes to think of the scraggly tree outside his window as a Fifth Avenue penthouse view. And what sane person doesn't consider his or her gregarious dog to be a butler?

Unfortunately, Rich is pretty obnoxious, thanks to purple prose masquerading as cleverness. "My helipad is being resurfaced, so tonight we travel by more humble means," says Rich. "At my country club, we play parlor games with members of the royal family."

Walking to the local dive, drinking Miller High Life, and shooting pool with the owners seems like fun. So does hanging out with Rich's dog. But listening to Rich while he's spewing anxious nonsense about how awesome his life is? Not so much.

In fact, Rich doesn't really seem that happy at all. Or maybe, the voiceover is just a little too real. The kind of deadpan inside jokes that might fly in a casual conversation among friends don't quite work as persuasive ad copy for the masses, especially when the grit and sincerity of the footage end up working against the try-hard irony of the voiceover.

The ad ends up feeling like it's mocking the demographic it's trying to court. At least Rich can rest assured that he isn't making any beer execs richer by spending what little money he has on High Life.

Film
IndieJunior

IndieJunior is a section of IndieLisboa (International Independent Film Festival) dedicated to kids.

Advertising Agency:Leo Burnett, Lisbon, Portugal
Executive and Creative Direction:Luciana Cani
Head Of Art:Nuno Salvaterra, Nuno Salvaterra
Creativity:Steve Colmar, Nuno Salvaterra, Jaime Nascimento, Zé Gouveia, Manuel Crespo, Natasha Hellegouarch, Steve Colmar, Nuno Salvaterra, Jaime Nascimento, Zé Gouveia, Manuel Crespo, Natasha Hellegouarch
Audiovisual Production Direction:Cristina Almeida
Production Company:STOPLINE FILMS
Executive Producer:Francisco Saalfeld
Director:Telmo Vicente
DoP:Luis Branquinho
1st Direction Assistant:Luis Pedro
Head Of Production:Susana Lourenço
Art Director:Rui Pina
Postproduction coordinatior:Ricardo Montez
OffLine Studios:Stopline
Offline Editor:Paula Miranda
OnLine Studio:Loudness Films
Sound Studio:Loudness Films
Illustrator:The Rain, Zé Gouveia, Fireflies, Lip Comarella, Joao Faria, Salon Alpin

(TrendHunter.com) The ‘Sorry I’m Not Sorry’ Tee by Print Liberation lets the world know that you’re unrepentant for your sins. Whether it be a fashion “faux-pas,” (because isn’…

If DirecTV is trying to position its Wireless Genie Mini device as a high-tech toy for doofy bros who view women as puppets—mission accomplished!

Perhaps that's a tad harsh or too literal. Still, there's something unnerving about these new ads from Grey New York, directed by Bryan Buckley, featuring a life-size blonde marionette. In one ad, she struggles with her wires while pouring lemonade for a pair of DirecTV-lovin' dudes. In a second spot, our heroine dangles from the bedroom ceiling in a sexy negligee, concerned her human beau is more attracted to DirecTV.

Self-conscious oddness is the obvious goal, and the campaign certainly works on that level. Even so, there's a touch of mean-spiritedness that doesn't sit right. The puppet is the most appealing part of these commercials, and it's easy to sympathize with her plight. This, in turn, kind of keeps me from feeling good about the Wireless Genie itself, which lets multiple TVs share HD-DVR programming over WiFi (so first-worlders won't trip over unsightly wires and fall flat on their Google Glass).

Cut those cords and free yourself, my wooden sister! Today, there are so many ways for a marionette to be fulfilled—like rapping for JCPenney or blogging for Target. Don't let some half-wit string you along!

CREDITS
Client: DirecTV
Campaign: "Marionettes"
Agency: Grey, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Tor Myhren
Executive Creative Director: Dan Kelleher
Vice Presidents, Creative Directors: Doug Fallon, Steven Fogel
Art Director: Marques Gartrell
Copywriter: Kim Nguyen
Agency Executive Producer: Andrew Chinich
Agency Producer: Lindsay Myers
Agency Music Producer: Zachary Pollakoff
Account: Chris Ross, Beth Culley, Anna Pogosova, Aaron Schwartz, Meredith Savatsky
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Bryan Buckley
Executive Producer: Mino Jarjoura
Producer: Rachel Curl
Production Supervisor: Colette Findley
Director of Photography: Scott Henriksen
Editor: Tom Scherma, Cosmo Street
Assistant Editor: Dave Otte, Cosmo Street
Editorial Executive Producer: Maura Woodward. Cosmo Street
Editorial Producer: Heather Richardson, Cosmo Street
Visual Effects: The Mill
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Sue Troyan, The Mill
Visual Effects Producer: Anastasia Von Rahl, The Mill
Casting Director, Los Angeles: Kathy Knowles, Kathy Knowles Casting
Casting Director, New York: Fay Shumsey, Fay Erin Casting
Audio Mixer: Tom Jucarone, Sound Lounge

British Airways has partnered with the founder of the Rooftop Film Club, Gerry Cottle Jnr, to bring a summer programme of outdoor film screenings to consumers across the capital.

Olivier Ottevaere et John Lin de l’université de Hong Kong ont imaginé The Pinch, une bibliothèque et centre située dans le village de montagne de Shuanghe en Chine. Avec un toit courbé, il propose à la fois un lieu de culture et d’évasion pour les enfants de ce village dévasté par un tremblement de terre.

A female superhero that can fly with a jetpack and protect dinosaurs using a helmet with retractable spikes is just one of the genius ideas put forward by small children for a completion that argues “girls can be superheroes too”.

Land Rover has signed up as the first global sponsor of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, with the car brand linking its association with “adventure” to the world’s first commercial space programme.

If political races have become data wars, conventional wisdom has it, the Democrats clearly have the advantage in 2014 and 2016. After all, the stockpiles of data from President Barack Obama’s two campaigns have been deposited in the party’s armory alongside the software to put it to good use.

But it’s not so simple. While the party as a whole navigates a newly treacherous political landscape — none other than Nate Silver predicted the Democrats could actually lose control of the Senate — individual campaigns across the country may struggle to use something as big and complex as Obama’s data trove, which was built for a nationwide campaign. Think of taking a fire hose to your flower garden, or asking the local marina’s security guy to dock a submarine.

The fact is, even if the political topics had stayed the same, most state legislative or U.S. House candidates can’t possibly use all the data that’s been given to the party. And, just as important, a single candidate simply doesn’t have the resources to hire more than one internal data handler, much less replicate the 50-plus crew that steered the Obama analytics ship.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Andrew Morley, Motorola’s vice-president and general manager, has resigned after seven years at the business and is set to take on either a marketing role at a “very well known European luxury brand” or a managing director post at a mobile business.