Hasta La Creative!

Ms. Swift has the best-selling new album of the year, and has taken center stage in the industry war over streaming services like Spotify.

JWT London teamed up with production company th2ng (pronounced “Thing 2,” even though the number 2 looks nothing like an “I”) and directorial team “The Queen” (Dan Lumb and Crinan Campbell) for a new spot for Listerine.

The ad is based around the idea that, since teeth only make up a quarter of your mouth, brushing only cleans 25 percent of your mouth. It opens on a man holding balloon receiving a pizza delivery. When he opens the box he finds only two slices and exclaims “25 percent!?” This opens up with concept for a series of sight gags showing how unsatisfying 25 percent is: including a mini martini, unfinished haircut, an incomplete spray tan and a punchline-less joke. It ends with the man walking in on a woman brushing her teeth and informing her she’s only cleaning 25 percent of her mouth, really hammering home the ad’s message.

The ad was filmed over the course of just two days on a crowded beach on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Despite having to conted with throngs of beachgoers, land to water shots, children and cats, the crew enjoyed the shoot.

“This was a fun and challenging shoot,” said Dan Lumb. “We were determined to hit all of the humor notes on this one, which was so contingent on comedic timing and working around the elements. With such a limited shoot time, we had to rely on the talent and preparedness of the team to make this a success. I think everybody did their part to make it come together in a hysterical way.” (more…)

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BLITZ has a new campaign for CiCi’s Pizza, touting the pizza buffet chain’s recent improvements following the arrival of new CEO Darin Harris last year.

The “Better. Believe It.” campaign acknowledges that the brand “listened to and acted upon its customers’ desire for product improvements.” At the beginning of the spot a CiCi’s manager says, “At CiCi’s pizza, we notice things,” like how a customer named Cristy would always look for the cheesiest slice, so CiCi’s made improvements like a garlic butter crust, more meat toppings and “to see Cristy smile, more real cheese.” Speaking of cheese, the ad ends with the man crooning to Cristy in a reworked version of a certain disco hit.

The ad represents the first broadcast work for CiCi’s by full-service digital agency BLITZ, and is part of a larger brand revitalization effort which aims to “enhance the brand’s engagement with its customers online.” English and Spanish language versions of the ad break on national cable today.

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Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, a company that catalogs, tags and measures activity around TV ads in real time. The New Releases here ran on TV for the first time yesterday. The Most Engaging ads are showing sustained social heat, ranked by SpotShare scores reflecting the percent of digital activity associated with each one over the past week. See the methodology here.

Among the new releases, Ashley Furniture Homestore explains the concept of a “statement piece,” while Chevrolet brags about its Silverado being the “most awarded pickup” of the year. Ram Trucks, meanwhile, takes a folksy approach to reaching out to its heartland base, in a spot that celebrates hunting “brothers” who aren’t actually related.

As always, you can find out more about the making of the best commercials on TV at Ad Age’s Creativity.

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If there ever were a case for injecting fine-art theory into advertising, and vice versa, it’s these latest short spots from Gap. The 10 mini-spots, from Wieden + Kennedy New York, promoting the clothing retailer’s holiday gift guide, are so odd—but could totally pass as an MFA thesis or be seen at a gallery in Chelsea.

Gap—which last week rolled out four proper holiday commercials directed by Sofia Coppola, also from W+K—ditches human models here and clothes ordinary objects in its newest threads, aided by some perfectly matched sound effects and tracks. They’re delightful and ridiculous and playful, and among my favorite ads this year. 

If Marcel Duchamp were still alive to make ads, this is what he’d make. 

 
Lightning Scarves: Thunder is God bowling, and lightning is scarves.

 
Jacket Drones: Giving new meaning to the bomber jacket. 

 
Sweater Dance: This is literally the best ad for a sweater ever. 

 
Sweater Speaker: All about that bass.

 
Racing Shoes: Almost as awesome as Magic Carpet Cat.

 
Hula Hoop PJ’s: The weird crowning jewel of Gap’s odd thesis project.

 
Windshield Gloves: Kind of wish these were a real thing. 

 
Treadmill March: What if OK Go made a Gap ad?

 
Hi-5 Machine: No seriously, art collectors would buy the crap out of this. 

 
Flower Shower: American Beauty, but with no people in it. 

Fashion Entertainments est une start-up japonaise, spécialisée dans la mode digitale, qui a fait appel à la firme Takt Project (basée elle aussi au Japon) afin de concevoir ensemble la FES Watch : une montre neutre en noir et blanc pouvant changer de couleurs et de motifs quand on appuie dessus.

Photos by MASAYUKI HAYASHI.

Stopp, “an integrated production company that combines creativity, technology and VFX disciplines to create innovative work with emotional connections” has launched a new broadcast and digital campaign for Adidas Outdoor promising the brand is “Open All Winter.”

For the campaign, Stopp partnered with extreme sports stars Hayley Ashburn (slackliner), Jean-Baptiste Chandelier (paraglider) and Junhee Han (ice climber) to show off Adidas’ range of Climaheat products boasting an insulation design that keeps the wearer warm in extreme winter conditions. The spot opens on a seemingly abandoned town as a sign reading “Closed for winter” swings in the breeze. A group of determined runners bust through, undeterred. Then the spot focuses on ice climber Junhee Han as he takes on a steep slope, followed by the other featured extreme athletes showing off their skills, before ending with the “Open All Winter” tagline.

In addition to the broadcast spot, which also runs online, the campaign is supported by digital elements and a competition running over the course of twelve weeks, inviting participants to share winter pics on Instagram and Twitter. A new winner will be picked every week, with an athlete jury selecting one grand prize winner to receive a winter road trip across Canada with four friends.

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