Watch the Newest Ads on TV From GoPro, Target, Grubhub and More


Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from more than seven million smart TVs. The ads here ran on national TV for the first time over the weekend.

A few highlights: A shade dubbed “millennial pink” factors into tree decorating (spoiler: Mattel’s Barbie is involved) in Target’s latest holiday ad. An epic windstorm is, in the end, no match for a food delivery guy who struggles to bring a Grubhub order to a parking lot attendant. And pro snowboarders including John Jackson, Iikka Backstrom and Tom Wallisch use their GoPro Hero6 cameras to shoot exhilarating his-res footage from the Baldface slopes of British Columbia.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Translating Facebook's New Ad Policy Manifesto


Facebook is laying down the law on ads this week with a new mission statement that is meant to clarify how it operates in the marketplace.

On Monday, an ad policy manifesto attributed to VP of ad product Rob Goldman appeared on the Facebook blog. It also was reposted on Facebook by executives like Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. “We’re publishing the principles that guide our approach to advertising across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger,” Sandberg wrote. “We want our platforms to be a place where people connect with the businesses they care about in safe and meaningful ways.”

So what are these ad principles and why is Facebook focused on delivering them at precisely this moment? Well, as with all things public relations, the corporate speak could use some plain translation. Here’s what Facebook is trying to say, and why it’s saying so now:

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Risking New Backlash, Dove Acquires SheaMoisture


Two marketers that faced racially charged social-media smackdowns this year over their ads are joining forces: Unilever, marketer of Dove, announced Monday that it’s agreed to acquire Sundial Brands, marketer of SheaMoisture.

Dove faced a wave of social-media criticism last month over a Facebook video for its body wash that appeared to show a black woman turning into a white woman. Sundial faced a similar backlash over ads in April that showed SheaMoisture hair-care products being used by white women, which was seen by many on social media as moving the brand away from its core African-American consumers.

The companies didn’t address those controversies in announcing the deal, but did reveal steps that could help thwart more backlash. This includes a $50 million New Voices Fund to back women-of-color entrepreneurs, with a goal of attracting an additional $50 milliion from outside investors.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Lego awards global media to Initiative

Lego has appointed Initiative as its global media agency after a worldwide review of its planning and buying business.

Ram "Parade" (2017) :30 (USA)

Did you know Ram is the official truck of the Macy’s Day Parade? Now you do. Happy Thanksgiving!

Marie Keating Foundation "Listen to your lungs" (2017) 1:00 (Ireland)

DDFH&B created the first billboard that coughs. Why? To create awareness about lung cancer. Indeed, the red letters also spell out “I had cancer,” to grab your attention.

Ohio Lottery "A little cheer" (2017) :30 (USA)

A little cheer goes a long long way, especially when you’re sitting in an airport waiting for your delayed flight when the lights go out.

Koio "Starstruck" (2017) 3:12 (USA)

Love this.

Go Fund Me has a spam problem. Who is policing it?

YouTube insists it can’t police itself because it is too big.

In Japan, you can marry your Waifu or Husbando

Gateboxlab has launched a clever little market research portal that has already gotten press worldwide. They launched a portal that will recognize marriages between you and your waifu or husbando.

Apple "Sway" (2017) 1:30 (USA)

Boy, Apple really likes dancing, don’t they? It’s like they want to own dancing.

The Adpocalypse part 2: YouTube faces advertiser boycott over videos that attracted sexual predators

A few weeks ago James Bride wrote “Something is wrong on the internet”, where he delves into the mysterious world of automation and kids videos on youtube and finds content ranging from

NatGeo Kids Magazine reminds you there's more to life than Black Friday

field print: 

Clevel idea from National Geographic Kids Magazine in South Africa.

R.I.D.E. Checks "Consequence Strains" (2017) 2:30 (Canada)

More than half a million Canadians admitted driving while high in the past year. Since marijuana is set to become legal in 2018, R.I.D.E.

Adchat: John Ryland: Making Motorcycles Out Of Lemons

Back in 2011 copywriter/art director John Ryland found himself laid off from the Martin Agency.

Intermarché "J'ai tant rêvé" (2017) 2:30 (France)

In this oh-so-charming spot, a brother and sister visit Santa only to realize that the jolly old fat man might not fit down their chimney.

Glass for Santa | Dairy Farmers of Canada (2017) 1:00 (Canada)

The Dairy Farmers of Canada take us on a stop-motion journey in time for the holidays, featuring Santa collecting all those glasses of milk to take back to the North Pole so he can share it with h

Droga5 Boosts Creative, Design Departments with 4 New Hires, 2 Promotions

Droga5 has bolstered its creative and design departments with a series of four new hires and two promotions.

Brandon Pierce and Amee Shah join the agency’s creative department as group creative directors, while Dino Sanchez and Anna Fine join Droga5 as executive design director and design director, respectively. The agency also promoted Rich Greco and Devin Croda to roles as group design directors.

Pierce (pictured, top right) arrives at Droga5 from 72andSunny New York, where he has served as a creative director for over two and a half years, working with clients including Smirnoff, Samsung, ESPN and Adidas. He first joined 72andSunny as an associate creative director in March of 2014, following around two years with Sid Lee as an associate creative director and then creative director, working on Adidas, Absolut, New Era and new business ventures. Prior to Sid Lee he spent four years as a senior copywriter for W+K, working with brands such as Nike, Old Spice, EA and Powerade.

“I’ve always admired Droga5’s creatively ambitious spirit,” Pierce said in a statement. “I look forward to learning from and working with fearless people who are down to make the insane a reality.”

Shah (pictured, top left) arrives at Droga5 following over seven years as a freelance creative director and art director with agencies including W+K Portland, Ogilvy & Mather New York, JWT New York, Saatchi & Saatchi New York and McCann New York, as well as Droga5. Before going freelance she spent over six years as a creative director and art director with BBH New York, working with brands including Axe, Levi’s, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Sprite. Prior to that she served as an art director with CP+B Miami and KBS+.

“I’ve been lucky to work for incredible people and at incredible places in my career. To be able to join Droga5 and work alongside so many insanely talented people who are doing incredible work is a no-brainer,” Shah said in a statement.

Sanchez (picture, bottom left) joins Droga5 from Brand Bureau, the brand division of hospitality and interior design firm AvroKOm which he established and grew into a full-service brand agency over the course of over two and a half years serving as managing director and creative director. Prior to that he spent over six and a half years as creative director for global design and strategy agency frog, working with clients including ABInBev, GE, Verizon, AT&T, Staples and Equinox.

“Throughout my career, I’ve maintained the belief that design is a vastly powerful tool, one that can have a profound impact on how we perceive ourselves, the world around us and our relationships with one another,” Sancehez said in a statement. “I’m incredibly excited to join Droga5, a creative agency that delivers on this belief, time after time, in stellar ways.”

Fine (pictured, bottom right) arrives at Droga5 following a brief period as a freelance product designer with Tech Ladies, following ten months as a design director with R/GA New York and six months as a freelance design director with the agency prior to that. At R/GA she focused on new products for Verizon, as well as R/GA Ventures, the agency’s startup accelerator. Prior to R/GA, Fine worked as a freelance product designer for Dash Labs Inc. and a creative director/designer in residence for Human Ventures Co. She also teaches digital design and design ecosystems at School of Visual Arts.

In a statement, Fine said, “Droga5 has always been full of future thinkers, and the result is an agency full of smart, optimistic people continually escalating what constitutes original and innovative creative work. I look forward to participating in and executing the ‘next generation’ of work as we continue to redefine the parameters of our offerings and the impact they have.”

Panda Express Launches Creative Agency Review After Nearly 4 Years with Bailey Lauerman

Upscale Chinese chain Panda Express has issued an RFP for its creative advertising business and invited incumbent Bailey Lauerman to participate.

“We have launched a creative agency review and have invited a small number of agencies with a West Coast presence to participate including our current agency, Bailey Lauerman,” said a Panda Express spokesperson in a statement. “We expect the process to wrap-up by the end of February 2018.”

A spokesperson for Bailey Lauerman declined to comment. It’s unclear which other agencies were invited, though we hear the California-based company has reached out to some West Coast shops.

Panda Express spent nearly $5.4 million on measured media in the U.S. last year and $4 million in the first six months of 2017, according to Kantar Media.

Omaha-based independent agency Bailey Lauerman has served as the brand’s creative AOR since the beginning of 2014. Its recent work for the client includes this past January’s Chinese New Year-themed campaign in collaboration with Pepsi and ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat.

Back in May, Bailey Lauerman expanded to the West Coast with a new Los Angeles office, following the arrival of former RAPP U.S. president Greg Anderson as CEO in September, 2016. Anderson replaced Andy Fletcher, with whom the agency parted after more than four years that July.

Two months earlier, a Nebraska auditor found that the Nebraska Tourism Commission “took advantage of taxpayers,” but the agency said Fletcher’s departure was unrelated to that report.

Lego: Build it Together

As LEGO Christmas Town prepares for the big day, a foot interrupts the celebrations and sees Santa flung far away from home.

With miles to cover (although about a meter) and Christmas just around the corner, Santa relies on an unexpected friend and some creativity with LEGO bricks and discarded objects from under the couch, to build a solution that will get him home in time for Christmas. The film is part of a wider APAC and ANZ Christmas campaign that includes TV, Digital, OOH, Social, PR, Print and In-Store POS.

LEGO Australia Christmas Film 2017

Video of LEGO Australia Christmas Film 2017