Hasta La Creative!

Mullen has launched a new campaign for Acura entitled “Catch It If You Can” with the new spot “Bottle.”

The 60-second “Bottle” is set to that most over-used (and overrated) of Pixies songs, “Where Is My Mind,” and features a scientist capturing lighting in a bottle (yes, literally) to power the Acura ILX. To be fair, Mullen and Acura got Pixies lead guitarist Joey Santiago to rework the song, and it actually fits the mood and action of the ad pretty well. The spot, directed by Johnny Green, who recently helmed Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” ad from Droga5, is well shot and does a pretty good job of setting a mood. Unfortunately, it never really goes anywhere, feeling disjointed, held up by a flimsy premise and, as Adweek put it “less than the sum of its parts.”

Credits:

Brand: Acura
Client: Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President, General Manager
Client: Ed Beadle, Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Leila Cesario, National Advertising Manager
Car Model: 2016 ILX
Spot Title: “Bottle”

Agency:  Mullen
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Margaret Keene
Creative Director, Art: Paul Foulkes
Creative Director, Writer: Adam Calvert
Senior Art Director: Sean Stell
Writer: Natasha Hugeback
Senior Vice President, Director of Integrated Production: Jon Drawbaugh
Senior Broadcast Producer: Meagen Moore
Content Producer: Elaine Russell
Business Affairs, Music Supervisor: Danica Bates
Managing Director: Cameron McNaughton
Vice President, Account Director: Nicole Neopolitan
Account Supervisor: Courtney Calvert
Account Executive: Kylie Mugg
Product Specialist: Curtis Milward

Production Company: Reset
Director: Johnny Green
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Producer: Betsy Oliver
Director of Photography: Paul Cameron

Editorial: RPS
Editor: Damion Clayton
Assistant Editor: Benjamin Cline
Producer: Rebecca Baker

Color Correction, Visual Effects: A52
Colorist: Paul Yacono
Visual Effects Supervisor, Lead Flame Artist: Andy McKenna
Head of Production: Kim Christensen
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Audio Post: Lime Studio; 740 Sound Design
Mixer: Joel Waters
Original Music: The Pixies, Joey Santiago
Name of Track: “Where Is My Mind”

In its early days, the Internet was sort of the Wild West. Message boards, chatrooms and newsgroups were huge. Browsers, apps and social media were just a twinkle in its eye. 

Well, what if Facebook—which launched in 2004—were around a decade earlier, in the primordial ooze of the Internet? The pretty hilarious fake commercial below imagines just that—and is actually a parody of the cult favorite America Online spot from 1995 (that’s “AOL” to you teens).

The Facebook parody, from comedian Brent Weinbach, features some pretty amazing dialogue which comes off as absurd but gives us some profound perspective on how far we’ve come—and how good we have it 20 years later.

“How about just clicking on your Mom’s profile and saying ‘Happy Birthday’—it’s the same thing as sending her a package,” our hero informs his buddy. He then sounds off on some of its other features: “Simply ship a few photographs to The Facebook, they’ll cover the postage, and an operator will set up your profile.” (It’s referred to as “The Facebook” throughout, which indeed was Mark Zuckerberg’s original name for it.)

Replete with VHS warping, crappy lettering and a terribly cheesy soundtrack, this is a pretty perfect, almost shot-for-shot parody of the AOL original (which you can see below). For an extra treat (and if you’re super bored), sync them up and watch them at the same time.

Advertising Age is pleased to debut the first season of its “Anatomy of an Ad” video series with a special Super Bowl edition.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

(TrendHunter.com) The announcement of Club Nintendo’s demise may have fans scrambling, but those who express their fandom out of pure love will be satisfied enjoying these Nintendo products on their own. Club…

Unilever’s Dove Men + Care released an extended 60-second version of its upcoming Super Bowl commercial, “Real Strength,” on Monday, putting dads in the spotlight. A shorter, 30-second spot will air during the big game. The ad was created by The Marketing Arm.

The brand, which is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since its U.S. introduction in 2010, is using the ad to kick off a “Real Strength” campaign with the tagline, “Care makes a man stronger.” Other elements include a study about masculinity and a hashtag, #realstrength, to curate photos depicting the caring side of men.

Dove’s messaging continues to challenge traditional stereotypes, and with the Super Bowl commercial celebrates men who embrace their caring side.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Film
Go RVing Canada

Go RVing Canada wants to encourage parents to reconnect with their long-lost sense of freedom, adventure and wonder that they all knew so well growing up. And perhaps more importantly, we want to urge them to pass those same experiences on to their children.

Advertising Agency:Dougserge+Partners, Toronto, Canada
Executive Creative Directors:Denise Rossetto, Todd Mackie
Art Director:Raj Gupta
Copywriter:Lynn Sparrow
Account team:Adam White, Jorge Velis, Sean-Paul Brady, Tom Stephenson
Agency Producer:Margaret John
Production Company:Untitled Films
Director:John Mastromonaco
Line Producer:Tom Evelyn
Editorial:Saints Editorial
Editor:Ross Birchall
Music And Sound Design:Rmw Music
Audio Producer:Ted Rosnick
Composer:Mark Rajakovic
Transfer:Alter Ego
Online:Alter Ego

A concorrência do YouTube com a TV vai ficando cada vez mais evidente. A rede social de vídeos se prepara para exibir o seu próprio show do intervalo durante o Super Bowl, que no ano passado se tornou o programa mais assistido da TV americana, arrebanhando mais de 111 milhões de espectadores.

Enquanto na NBC os artistas Katy Perry e Lenny Kravitz ficarão responsáveis pelo show do intervalo do jogo, na web o YouTube prepara uma programação divertida, composta pelos principais nomes do YouTube nos EUA. A apresentação youtubesca, que acontecerá simultaneamente ao intervalo da NBC, ficará por conta de Harley Morenstein, do canal EpicMealTime, que contará com a companhia de pelo menos outros 20 criadores e músicos do YouTube para entreter a audiência que preferir se divertir online durante o intervalo do Super Bowl.

Entre as atrações, estarão apresentações musicais, pegadinhas, maluquices como saltos em uma piscina de cerveja (!) e em outra piscina de queijo (!!) e até mesmo comerciais falsos, que provavelmente vão tirar sarro dos spots que aparecem no canal de TV, onde é considerado o intervalo comercial mais caro dos EUA.

“Vamos mostrar nossos talentos, nossas celebridades e nossos criadores”, celebra Suzie Reider, diretora de soluções para marcas do Google. Segundo ela,

o show do intervalo no YouTube será como uma espécie de ‘contra-programação’ do que vai aparecer na TV, feita para quem se importa mais com os comerciais do que com o Super Bowl em si.

O chamado YouTube Halftime Show será exibido no canal AdBlitz, que concentra os teasers dos principais comerciais que são exibidos no Super Bowl. Em 2014, o AdBlitz foi um tremendo sucesso – os visitantes assistiram mais de 6,3 milhões de horas de anúncios do Super Bowl daquele ano. Ou seja, se ao menos parte dessa audiência estiver por ali para assistir ao show do intervalo, terá sido um grande sucesso para o YouTube.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Samsung has hired Jay Altschuler, a top media executive from Unilever, to handle global media planning and buying.

Mr. Altschuler, who joined Unilever in 2006, served on the media operations teams in London and New York for the brand. Most recently, he worked as director of global media innovation with VP Babs Rangaiah. Mr. Altschuler started work at Samsung this month and will be based in New York, according to two executives familiar with the company.

Samsung declined to comment. Unilever did not respond to a request for comment.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

A couple of weeks ago we learned that Dan Treichel, a well-respected (per our sources) creative director at Barton F. Graf 9000, would be leaving New York City for Amsterdam.

While we didn’t have much to go on at the time, we can now fill in the blanks: Treichel and his BFG colleague Dave Canning have landed at 180 Amsterdam, where they will be co-executive creative directors. Check out the lede from the press release, which refers to the duo as “the most awarded US creative team in 2014?:

“Following weeks of global speculation, today sees the appointment of New York creative duo Dave Canning and Dan Treichel to 180 Amsterdam…[the hire] comes on the back of the agency’s recent high profile work for global brands…”

The release also tells us that the agency’s search for a new executive creative team took more than a year and involved “meeting prospective candidates in China, Africa and Asia.”

Prior to the move, the duo had been working together at BFG for over a year. Canning, who began his career as a freelance art director at Droga5, joined the agency after spending a combined five years writing copy for Y&R and W+K while Treichel held the art director position at CP+B and Droga5 and the ACD title at Y&R New York before moving to BFG in 2012.

The two will report to Al Moseley, W+K Amsterdam veteran and current president/CCO at 180 Amsterdam (whose client list includes DHL, Qatar Airways, Asics, Playstation, Lilly, and more).

In other 180 Amsterdam news, the agency won attention in late 2014 for campaigns promoting PS4 and Replay, among others; its co-founder and original partner Guy Hayward also recently left Havas property BETC Worldwide to lead KBS in New York.

No word on Barton F. Graf 9000’s plans to replace Canning and Treichel.

An engineer ventures out during a thunderstorm and literally catches lightning in a bottle to power the Acura ILX in this cinematic spot from Mullen.

Johnny Green of Reset Productions—much lauded for his Under Armour ad last year with ballerina Misty Copeland—directed the automaker’s 60-second clip, which also features an orchestral reworking of the Pixies’ 1988 track “Where Is My Mind” (which pops up quite a bit in ads). In fact, Joey Santiago of the Pixies recorded this version with Acura.

“Innovative performance is a core quality of the Acura brand, and the spot captures that essence in a visually compelling and emotional way,” says Acura general manager Mike Accavitti.

Indeed, the music and images are well matched, and Green’s storytelling is top notch. Even so, the effect is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. We’ve got lightning blots, a zippy car, a stirring soundtrack … yet the spot feels restrained—bottled up, if you will—when it could have been dazzling.

Ah well, this is just the first strike in a broader Acura campaign themed “Catch It If You Can.” Perhaps subsequent ads will pack more of a charge.

CREDITS
Brand: Acura
Client: Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President, General Manager
Client: Ed Beadle, Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Leila Cesario, National Advertising Manager
Car Model:  2016 ILX
Spot Title: Bottle

Agency:  Mullen LA
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Margaret Keene
Creative Director/Art: Paul Foulkes
Creative Director/Writer: Adam Calvert
Sr. Art Director: Sean Stell
Writer: Natasha Hugeback
SVP, Director of Integrated Production: Jon Drawbaugh
Senior Broadcast Producer: Meagen Moore
Content Producer: Elaine Russell
Business Affairs/Music Supervisor: Danica Bates
Managing Director: Cameron McNaughton
VP, Account Director: Nicole Neopolitan
Account Supervisor: Courtney Calvert
Account Executive: Kylie Mugg
Product Specialist: Curtis Milward

Production Company: Reset
Director: Johnny Green
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Producer: Betsy Oliver
DP: Paul Cameron

Editorial: RPS
Editor: Damion Clayton
Assistant Editor: Benjamin Cline
Producer: Rebecca Baker

Color Correct: A52
Colorist: Paul Yacono

Animation/Graphics:
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Andy McKenna

VFX: A52
Head of Production: Kim Christensen
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Audio Post: Lime Studio
Mixer: Joel Waters

Audio Post: 740 Sound Design
Original Music: The Pixies, Joey Santiago
Name of Track: Where is My Mind