Hasta La Creative!

Subway, whose former spokesman Jared Fogle last year was convicted of child pornography, on Friday introduced a campaign focused on how it it wiping its slate clean with “fresh locally grown produce” that is “free of artificial preservatives.”

The company is also recasting its logo with a design it said “stands up tall, bold and confident, capturing the essence of the brand in a fresh, contemporary look.”

Interestingly, the commercial was not created by BBDO, which took over as agency of record last August, but by MMB, the shop it replaced. “BBDO is our agency of record and they are working on a number of projects for us,” Subway said today in an email. “We also maintain a relationship with MMB, as well as other agencies, and often use them for creative projects as well.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

You know how sometimes people fish on Twitter in hopes that a brand will give them free stuff? For the last few months, Kanye West’s been doing that with Ikea. And Ikea Australia finally gave him an answer—one so packed with lulz you could use it as a throw pillow. 

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(TrendHunter.com) This quirky loft apartment in Los Angeles is extremely unconventional in its design.

While loft apartments are often on the smaller side, this one takes up approximately 4,000 square feet. This is…

It seems the Olympics Opening Ceremony may reach Super Bowl proportions when it comes to the advertising, from what we’ve seen so far. Nike, Gillette, Samsung, Powerade, Apple and more have come out with powerful, engaging stories that will likely keep viewers entertained when the camera takes a break from the first-day festivities.

Below, get a preview of some of the best work you’ll see tonight.

Nike goes even beyond Nike in the spectacular “Unlimited You” ad, which shatters the brand’s famous “Just Do It” tagline and shows athletes from all walks of life reaching new (and unbelievable) heights. Wieden & Kennedy Portland was behind the spot, directed by The Daniels of Prettybird.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Like a true nature’s child, Flo was born to be wild. Or something.

Progressive’s iconic ad character, played by Stephanie Courtney, revs up the va-va-vroom in this tongue-in-cheek motorcycle-themed print campaign created by Arnold Worldwide with Buffalo Art Co. and custom bike builder Chase Stopnik. (The work marks another departure for Flo from her familiar white-and-blue aproned commercial appearances, following her ectoplasmic turn in spots touting the insurer’s sponsorship of the Ghostbusters reboot.)

Now, Flo goes the sexy/rebel biker-chick route—which, of course, yields some high-octane kitsch, as she poses on custom-built “Chrome Thrones” made from motorcycle parts designed to represent different rigs.

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(TrendHunter.com) Disney business inspirations can be seen across many industries and services. Consumer brand awareness and connection to Disney is strong, long-lasting, and international. It’s no wonder…

With the 2016 Rio Olympics opening today, W+K Portland launched a new spot for Nike as the latest in its “Unlimited” campaign for the brand.

The spot, entitled “Unlimited You” starts out familiarly enough, with a voiceover introducing a baby who will “win a state championship one day.” Things get unusual fairly quickly, however, as the voiceover’s next subject asks, “Who will? Me?” when he hears that he’ll run a marathon. “All of these athletes are terrible now,” he continues, over footage of a father lifting a young toddler to slam dunk a basket, “but they’ll all do great things one day.” Aside from the voiceover interacting with its subjects, this is still a pretty standard message for a sports brand. But things take an unexpected turn when the voiceover’s subjects ambition’s eclipse what he’s comfortable with. While the voiceover keeps trying to wrap things up, athletes keep pushing boundaries.

Directed by The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the spot features celebrity athletes including Kevin Durant, Neymar Jr., Mo Farah, Aaron Gordon, Nyjah Huston, Serena Williams and Giancarlo Stanton. Williams and Stanton can be seen swatting tennis balls back and forth at ridiculous speeds with their chosen equipment (racket and baseball bat) as the voiceover asks “What kind of training is that!?” as he’s in the middle of losing composure over the various ridiculous stunts athletes are pulling off.

Clearly the idea is to illustrate the “Unlimited” possibilities of both professional and amateur athletes, with the spot taking the idea to comic extremes. In addition to the full-length online spot (above), “Unlimited You” will also run as a 60-second broadcast spot, debuting during NBC’s coverage of the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremonies tonight. 

Credits:
Client: Nike
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Interactive Director: Dan Viens
Copywriter: Edward Harrison
Art Director: Susan Land
Global Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Senior Agency Producer: Ross Plummer
Agency Post Producer: Shelley Eisner
Agency Production Assistant: Emily Knight
Digital Producer: Keith Rice
Art Production: Amy Berriochoa, Krystle Mortimore, Jennifer Spillers
Project Management: Christina Kim
Studio Design Manager: Alicia Kuna
Studio Designer: Edgar Morales
Retoucher: Frazer Goodbody
Motion Production, Design: Tori Herbst, Carlos Enciso
Strategic Planning: Andy Lindblade, Nathan Goldberg, Brandon Thornton, Reid Schilperoort
Media, Communications Planning: Danny Sheniak, John Furnari, Brian Goldstein, Jocelyn Reist
Account Team: Chris Willingham, Alyssa Ramsey, Corey Woodson, Anna Boteva, Carly Williamson
Production Company: Prettybird
Director: The Daniels
Executive Producers: Ali Brown, Suzanne Hargrove
Line Producer: Jonathan Wang
Director of Photography: Larkin Seiple
Production Designer: Mark Snelgrove
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Assistant Editor: Lauren Dellara
Post Producer: Chris Noviello
Executive Post Producer: Helena Lee
Visual Effects, Color: Mill, Los Angeles
2-D Lead Artist: John Leonti
2-D Artists: Brad Scott, Alex Candish, Peter Sidoriak, Rob Winfield, Joseph Zaki, Tommy Smith, Daniel Thurreson, Glyn Tebbutt, Greg VanZyl, Tim Bird, Jake Albers, Sam Evenson, Don Kim, Jake Albers, Adam Lambert
Matte Painting: Andy Wheater, Jie Zhou
Art Support: Dylan Streiff, Gary Marschka
Visual Effects Supervisor: Will Lemmon
Colorists: Greg Reese, Adam Scott
Color Producer: Thatcher Peterson
Music
Artist: FNDTY
Track Title: “Never Die”
Music, Sound, Mix: Lime Studios
Audio Mixers: Rohan Young, Jeff Malen
Audio Assistants: Ben Tomastik, Lisa Mermelstein
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Snapchat star DJ Khaled raves about Ciroc vodka. Fashion lifestyle blogger Cara Loren Van Brocklin posts a selfie with PCA Skin sunscreen. Internet personality iJustine posts Instagrams from an Intel event. Missing from their messages: any indication about whether they’ve been paid.

This uptick in celebrities peddling brand messages on their personal accounts, light on explicit disclosure, has not gone unnoticed by the U.S. government. The Federal Trade Commission is planning to get tougher: Users need to be clear when they’re getting paid to promote something, and hashtags like #ad, #sp, #sponsored — common forms of identification — are not always enough. The agency will be putting the onus on the advertisers to make sure they comply, according to Michael Ostheimer, a deputy in the FTC’s Ad Practices Division. It’s a move that could make the posts seem less authentic, reducing their impact.

“We’ve been interested in deceptive endorsements for decades and this is a new way in which they are appearing,” he said. “We believe consumers put stock in endorsements and we want to make sure they are not being deceived.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Eastman Chemical Company is making use of the latest technology to introduce its own latest technology — avra, an ultra-thin fiber that can be woven into unprecedentedly breathable, silky fabric that could be a breakthrough development in athletic apparel.

The “Never Before” campaign developed by Mekanism includes two virtual reality experiences captured with a drone carrying a Nokia Ozo, a 360 camera rig. Mekanism’s executive creative director Ian Kovalik said the shop has been using drones to capture 360 degree film for two years.

Whereas many VR experiences position the user as a stationary onlooker, using drone-captured footage allows users to move through the environment and “follow” the athletes featured on their journeys. “The idea was to create something that was as innovative as the fabric itself,” Mr. Kovalik said of the spots.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Film
Emirates NBD

DirectRemit is an innovative and effective money remittance product by Emirates NBD, one of the leading banks in the UAE. Through DirectRemit, customers can send money to their country, within 60 seconds, for free, at the best exchange rates, from the convenience of a smartphone or a personal computer, wherever and whenever. 

It is currently operational in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Egypt. Given the high percentage of expatriates in the UAE, this product is very relevant. After data analytics by the agency into money remittance habits to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Egypt and ascertaining reasons why each nationality sent money home, 5 unique real-life stories were crafted to share the convenience benefit of the product. 

And to highlight the truth that sending money with Emirates NBD DirectRemit was as easy and instant as sending instant messages, the vehicle chosen was that of ‘Emojis’ – a common ‘language’ in instant messaging across the 5 different nationalities – creating a purposeful role for emojis in the story and a relevant connection to the product. 

The campaign is currently being scaled out through 5 films, on-ground and Facebook activations (emoji story competitions) as well as other social content formats that are being promoted through nationality and behavior-based targeting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine and other web platforms relevant to the 5 nationalities.

Advertising Agency:FP7, Dubai, United Arab Emirates