Hasta La Creative!

Facing revelations that his source for a book about voyeurism was not completely candid, Mr. Talese says he is distressed but will not disavow the work.

Casual dining burger chain Red Robin has named MDC Partners’ KBS its new lead agency after a review.

KBS will be responsible for creative and brand strategy, along with digital media planning and buying via its media unit, the Media Kitchen. Interpublic’s Initiative handles offline media. San Diego-based MDC sibling Vitro previously worked on the account, though the shop did not participate in the review, which was handled by Janet Bustin’s Mzyme Marketing in Dallas.

Red Robin chose the agency because “one of the things that resonated was this whole idea that they help companies modernize for a tech-infused world,” said Jonathan Muhtar, chief marketing officer at Red Robin.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Droga5 New York launched a Fourth of July effort for Dixie entitled “We, the Salad Men.”

The 60-second anthem ad opens with the voiceover, “Every barbecue season, men everywhere are made to feel like lesser men for eating salad.” Going on to take a stand against such “salad shaming,” which the spot claims is “driving a wedge between us,” it  tell guys to proudly reach for a plate of leafy greens if that’s what they desire.

The approach is a bit ridiculous, addressing a problem we’re not convinced exists (Seriously, who makes fun of someone for eating a salad?) to present Dixie plates as perfect for stacking high with various types of greens and veggies. But then the spot does sort of revel in its over-the-top nature, complete with slow-motion plate flipping, so clearly nothing here is meant to be taken too seriously. Still, the approach makes the eventual tie-in to the brand feel more than a little forced.

The spot will be promoted on the brand’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels through the holiday weekend, with supporting efforts including a Facebook ad presenting a variety of salad recipes to try without shame.

Credits:
Client: Dixie
Campaign: We the Salad Men
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Director: Devon Hong
Creative Director: Jeff Scardino
Junior Art Director: Tommaso Fontanella
Junior Copywriter: Ted Meyer
Chief Creation Officer: SallyAnn Dale
Social Producer: Luke Bumgarner
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Strategy Director: Elaine Purcell
Strategist: Newman Granger
Senior Communications Strategist: Delphine McKinley
Senior Data Strategist: Brad Mumbrue
Data Strategist: Remy Lupica
Executive Group Director: Brett Edgar
Account Director: Ross Gillis
Account Manager: Andrew DeMatos
Associate Account Manager: Kyra Gembka
Project Manager: Lindsay Larson
Client: Dixie/Georgia Pacific
Senior Director of Content: Shari Neumann
Senior Brand Director: Andrew Noble
Director, Brand Building Leader: Teresa Bossong
Associate Brand Manager: Nandini Subramanya
Social Media Coordinator: Brooke Lujano
Production Company: D5 Films
Director: Brian Lannin
DOP: Brian Lannin
Producer: Sara Vander Horn
Editor/Sound Mixer: Eric Harnden

(TrendHunter.com) At first glance, this modern suburban home does not look too different than the standard suburban homes that can be seen in England and North America.

After a family decided they needed more space…

The New York and Atlanta offices of BBDO launched a new campaign for AT&T, introducing the network’s new Ticket Tuesdays offer, which allows AT&T customers to bring a friend to the movies for free on Tuesdays.

A series of comedic spots promote the new program, showing how the deal lets you bring along any type of friend.

Maybe it’s just that we find it the most relatable, but the approach works best in the down-to-earth “Married Friend.” In the ad, a chef calls up his married buddy and asks if he can join him at the movies on Tuesday, describing the Ticket Tuesdays deal. He asks his wife, who tells them they made plans to “sit on the couch together on Tuesday,” but then tells him to go anyway. The decision waffling then continues until the man eventually decides to go.

Two 15-second spots, “Sentimental Friend” and “Impulsive Friend” apply a similar approach to an overly-sentimental friend and a friend who impulsively decides to leave his hospital bed to go to the movies. In the 30-second “Boyfriend,” a college guy asks a girl to the movies, but she decides she’d rather borrow his phone and bring her boyfriend. It kind of feels like a scene that would  go down in a modern version of Undeclared. Each ad manages to fit in a description of the offer in a fairly convincing way while also getting to the point with its comic narrative, even if the humor doesn’t always land as intended.

The campaign arrives amidst a U.S. creative and media review, which AT&T launched last month. It launched today on AT&T’s social channels and will roll out soon on broadcast, pre-roll and, naturally, in cinemas. Digital and social components from BBDO and Organic will support the effort.

Credits:
Chief Creative Officer Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Matt MacDonald
Creative Director//Copy Writer: Kevin Mulroy
ACD//Art Director: Bianca Guimaraes

Head of Integrated Production: Dave Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Julie Collins
Senior Content Producer: Whitney Collins
Executive Music Producer: Melissa Chester

Managing Director, BBDO North America: Mark Cadman
Managing Director: Doug Walker
Group Account Director: Lesley Brown
Account Director: Khari Mpagazehe
Account Executive: Jenn Wang

Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Director: Matt Aselton
Director of Photography: Corey Walter
Executive Producer: Marc Marrie
Managing Director: Mal Ward
Head of Production: Christa Skotland
Producer: Zoe Odlum
Production Supervisor: Bailey Reeves

Editing Company: Arcade Edit
Editor: Dave Anderson & Sean LaGrange
Executive Producer: Sila Soyer
Assistant Editor: Elizabeth Parsons

Visual Effects: Spontaneous
Head of Production: Chris Decker
Executive Producer: Bryce Edwards
VFX Supervisor: Andy Milkis

Sound Design (Impulsive Friend): Trinitite
Sound Designer (“Impulsive Friend”): Brian Emrich

Audio Mixing: Sonic Union
Audio Engineer: Steve Rosen

Google reorganized into Alphabet Inc. last year partly to give each new business, such as its fiber internet service or life sciences group, the independence to operate more like a startup. But there was an important part missing: how to incentivize executives and other employees with stock tied to their performance.

Alphabet is fixing this. Divisions within the company’s “Other Bets” group are creating new types of stock that will rise and fall in value depending on how each unit performs, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Executives of these young businesses are at different stages of implementing the compensation system, but in coming months, this new equity will be awarded to more employees as a big part of their pay, instead of the publicly traded Alphabet shares they currently get, the people said.

Verily, a health care business, is adopting the new approach, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing plans that haven’t been made public yet.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

(TrendHunter.com) ‘Inked Disney’ is the title of an Instagram account that works to compile Disney tattoos from around the globe. With over 168,000 current followers, it appears that social media users…

(TrendHunter.com) This cat hoodie made by Unihabitat was created to give loving feline owners the ability to cuddle their pets as they go about their day.

The ‘Summer Mewgaroo Hoodie’ even makes owners…

(TrendHunter.com) In order to show how the extremely high cost of rent is crippling London’s creative community, architects Tomaso Boano and Jonas Pris?montas teamed up to create a pop-up studio space for the…

In new TV spots from Quicken Loans that launched this week, “Star Trek” Vulcan characters use the company’s Rocket Mortgage app to apply for a mortgage and buy a house on Earth.

The “Star Trek”-themed campaign was created by Pitch, Los Angeles, and is the result of a partnership between Quicken Loans and Paramount Pictures. The ads promote the upcoming “Star Trek Beyond” movie that opens in theaters July 22.

“Rocket Mortgage has this technology that is really ahead of its time,” said Art Steiber, VP-marketing and sponsorships at Quicken Loans. “When the opportunity came up to talk to the people at Paramount for the ‘Star Trek’ movie, it felt like it was a perfect fit. ‘Star Trek’ is an iconic brand, and we thought it could bring some attention to our product as well.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com