Hasta La Creative!

Arnold Worldwide has a new campaign launching the new Brushing Chews for Milk-Bone, which feature “a patented shape that has been developed over the past three years, earning them the trusted Veterinary Oral Health Council’s (VOHC) seal of approval.”

To introduce the new product, Arnold keeps it simple, telling the story of a man and his dog (Ted and Rudy), and explaining how their new Milk-Bone Brushing Biscuit is designed to work as well as a toothbrush to keep dogs’ teeth clean. Because no one wants to brush their dog’s teeth, this is a pretty effective selling point. Ted and Rudy’s story extends beyond the broadcast spot above to a series of online videos, all set against the red backdrop matching Milk-Bone’s packaging, and following roughly the same formula. The campaign strategy is based on the insight that “The more you care for your dog, the happier and healthier he’ll be.” Ted and Rudy’s relationship is intended to to be “funny and adorable” but arrives at something closer to “hokey, but kind of cute.”

“They’re very much a classic comedy duo, with Rudy being the straight man and Ted as the accidental comedian,” explains Arnold creative director Tristan Kincaid. “We put them on a bright red background to give them a simple but visually striking stage for them to tell their stories.”

The campaign also includes social elements, with each of the six online videos (which act as pre-roll video assets on sites including Hulu, AOL, Discovery, TubeMogul and Yahoo) featuring an end card driving traffic to Milk-Bone’s Facebook page. Future social posts will also include Instagram and Twitter. Stick around for credits and a pair of online spots after the jump. continued…

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Arnold Worldwide tapped actress/comedian Grace Helbig, who recently starred in the film Camp Takota, for a 1:47 ad.

The long form ad sees Helbig extolling the virtues of St. Ives’ new “Fresh Hydration Lotion Spray” — which was just released on February 25th — with her brand of manic humor. St. Ives’ new spot plays off the inherent ridiculousness of lotion ads, amping things up to 11 and letting Gerbig riff of that and generally run around like a lunatic. After using the spray, Helbig is whisked away to the magic “land of St. Ives,” a sort of tropical paradise. She tracks down a waterfall made out of lotion, at which time the apparent psychedelic effects of the spray wear off and she’s transported back to her house.

Whether or not you like the new St. Ives spot, which Helbig describes as “wonderfully stupid,” will depend in large part on how you feel about Helbig’s brand of humor. Her fans, who must make up a sizable portion of the video’s 100,000-plus views, will undoubtedly find the spot endearing (and just may purchase the product on her recommendation), while those who find Helbig’s personality grating won’t find anything to enjoy here. As the YouTube views indicate, the spot is certainly getting some eyes on it. Helbig has also garnered attention for the new product by mentioning it on her YouTube series, and even posting a behind-the-scenes video on her channel that has garnered more views than the ad itself. Stick around for that behind-the-scenes video, along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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