Hasta La Creative!

W+K has a new spot for Old Spice’s “#SmellcometoManhood” campaign entitled “Dadsong,” a follow-up to to the goofy musical “Momsong,” in which mothers lament Old Spice turning their sons into men while engaging in some pretty creepy behavior.

The follow-up, with music and lyrics written by Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords, The Muppets), reprises the sad moms of that spot, but with an answer from the dads. It opens on one of the moms from “Momsong” singing, “Where’s my little boy, I miss him so? Who’s this man living in our home?” while clutching her sons teddy bear as he slow dances with a girl. Soon a chorus of fathers replies that they’re “overjoyed” that they’ll be using their son’s room “for storage pretty soon.” The song is a step up from its predecessor — not a surprise given McKenzie’s involvement — and strikes more of a balance between goofiness and creepiness (which mostly comes across through visual gags). And while it deals in over-the-top portrayals of stereotypical motherly clinginess and fatherly aloofness, it’s also pretty clear that it isn’t dealing in anything resembling reality. Fans of McKenzie’s distinct style of musical comedy, and anyone who enjoyed the original “#SmellcometoManhood” installment, should get a kick out of “Dadsong.” (more…)

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W+K Portland got Richard Sherman to star in its new spot “Never Finished” for Nike, following on the heels of Sherman’s recent appearances for Neff earlier this month and Campbell’s in August.

The new spot deals with the hype train surrounding Sherman, as he is constantly bombarded with media discussions of whether or not he is “the best.” “Never Finished” does a good job at finding humor in the situation, aided by a believably exasperated Sherman. The highlight is probably the made for TV biopic, starring Damon Wayans Jr.

Sherman’s roles in ads so far have mostly seen the Seahawks star not taking himself seriously and playing with his public persona. That definitely continues with “Never Finished,” but the schtick is much less over the top than some of his past roles, and the more nuanced characterization fits Sherman well as the spot, more than anything, mocks the media hype that surrounds star players. It makes for an entertaining ad, and Sherman’s most enjoyable performance by far.

The campaign, which runs until October 9th, also includes five additional videos, with special cameos from Johnny Manziel, Victor Cruz, Ndamukong Suh and Ken Griffey Jr.
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Heat and their production partner Hungry Man have released a new spot for Xbox One crown jewel exclusive and E3 critical darling Titanfall, which just had its North American release yesterday.

The new, 60 second spot (there’s also a 30 second version), entitled “Shadow,” imagines what it would be like to constantly be shadowed by a 25-foot Titan that obeys your every command. Following in the recent trend of inserting gamers into the real world, the spot attempts “to capture the ear-to-ear grinning invincibility you feel when you first climb into your very own Titan and start dominating the world.” “Shadow” follows a man with a shit-eating grin walking through a city trailed by his own personal Titan. Everything is just peachy until he runs into another Titan owner, at which time, as you might expect, shit goes down.

The spot manages to capture the overall “Life is Better with a Titan” theme of the campaign, while also demonstrating Titanfall‘s unique features, like verticality. What really makes the spot work, though, is the perfect transition to gameplay footage during the final 15 seconds. While there’s nothing revolutionary about Heat’s approach here, they find a balance between live action and gameplay footage that a lot of similarly minded ads miss. And they certainly succeed at making the game look like a lot of fun. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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If you were watching the Golden Globes last night, you may have caught the debut of W+K Portland’s “Join Together” spot for Sony, which will run for the next six weeks.

The new work (perfectly set to The Who’s “Join Together”) celebrates Sony’s longtime practice of joining a “steadfast passion for artistry and commitment to engineering” in a matter of 90 seconds. Directed by Imperial Woodpecker Stacy Wall , the spot also comes equipped with its fair share of star power, whether it be director/Knicks mascot Spike Lee (filming with Sony’s 4K CineAlta camera), Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhane Wallis (now starring in Sony Pictures flick, Annie), actor Grizz Chapman of 30 Rock and Columbia Music artist, DJ Cassidy. In the process, the spot highlights a wide range of Sony’s most iconic products and innovations.

The broadcast effort is supported by the “Be Moved” brand experience site, and four product-focused online videos: “Inventing Furniture,” “Eyeballs,” “Skeptics” and “Floor Plan.” These online videos highlight some amazing new technology from Sony with a dash of light humor. Check out “Skeptics” below, and stay tuned for “Eyeballs” and “Floor Plan,” along with credits, after the jump.

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If there’s one thing the Internet loves (aside from cats and pornography), it’s cheesy celebrities from bygone eras. This has accounted for the revival of figures like Rick Astley, who has reemerged in the public consciousness thanks to rickrolling. RPA seeks to cash in on the phenomenon with their “Happy Honda Days” campaign, featuring Michael Bolton, the man once referred to as a “no-talent ass clown” in Office Space who returns to advertising after stints in spots like the one for Optimum earlier this year.

The campaign contains four new spots, all of which feature Bolton singing. Each spot begins by asking “What does it feel like to get a great deal at Happy Honda Days?” before answering with an original holiday song from Michael Bolton. (These would have been much funnier if they had made Bolton sing “When a Man Loves a Honda,” but I digress…) Our favorite is the spot featured above, in which Bolton’s singing is met by blank stares (probably the most honestly depicted reaction of the four spots/how we would react in that situation). As you can surmise, RPA went for the goofy approach with this campaign, in the hopes that people find the spots memorable. It would help if there was a little more variation among the four 30 second ads, as they all feel like basically the same spot. In addition to the TV campaign, there will be a live social media event on November 22nd featuring Bolton delivering personalized messaged under the promoted hashtag #XOXOBolton, as well as print and radio campaigns.

We don’t know about you, but we can’t see or hear anything about Michael Bolton without thinking of this. Credits and second “Happy Honda Days” spot after the jump. continued…

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GSD&M has Zales’ “Let Love Shine” holiday campaign with the spot “Balloon,” featuring the surprisingly not terrible music of Lord Huron. I say “surprisingly not terrible” because of the band’s name, but the diamond store chain boasts that in 2010, it did help propel The Black Keys (not my favorite but certainly not terrible) to stardom by using their music in an ad (and newer indie darlings like Alabama Shakes in subsequent campaigns).

While jewelry commercials are sentimental by nature, this one tries not to be too cloying about it. It shows a man trudge across a snow-covered city to propose to his girlfriend by holding a bunch of balloons to get her attention and then take out the engagement ring. It’s kind of cute, even if it’s a little perplexing to not be in the same room for a proposal.

I’m not quite ready for the onslaught of holiday advertising yet, but I know what I hate, and I don’t hate this spot for Zales “Celebration” bridal collection. And that’s rare for a jewelry spot, especially one around this time of year. Credits after the jump.

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I may be something of a Sony loyalist, but I’ve got to admit CP+B’s new spot “Invitation” makes the Xbox One shine. Even some of Sony’s biggest fanboys might concede it looks a lot better than the recent PS4 spot.

Directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley, the commercial vet who recently helmed the R&B-inflected DirecTV spot starring the Manning bros (and who earned an Emmy nod for Grey Poupon’s “The Chase,” also from CP+B),  “Invitation” features users invited into the world of several different games, and one movie. The spot opens with a giant robot warrior crashing a business meeting and making a “come here” gesture to a man giving a presentation. Then we see soccer player Steven Gerrard inviting a fan down from the stands. Spock invites a girl along for some sci-fi adventures. A sports car parks itself in front of some dude’s car and opens its door for him. (This is the automotive equivalent of “come here” apparently.) A zombie attempts to cajole a student in a library to join him, loses an arm, and then tells him to come along with the other arm.

Emphasizing the immersive nature of the next-gen platform, the spot announces, “This is an invitation to a new generation: where your games and entertainment are no longer separated, but together, in one.” Showing Xbox One users utilizing the system’s voice activation to launch games like Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, and the movie Star Trek: Enter Darkness gives fans an idea of what they can expect on launch day. The spot also shows users making use of the motion sensitive Kinect. You know, the camera that might be spying on you.

Mixing live action with just the right amount of actual gameplay, “Invitation” is slickly produced and should have Xbox fanboys chomping at the bit for the console’s Nov. 22 release date. My biggest problem with the spot is that the one woman featured uses the Xbox One not for gaming, but to watch a movie. Aside from this perpetuation of the gaming industry’s prevailing sexism (which most people won’t even notice), it’s a really solid ad. The whole “invitation” approach works to emphasize both the immersive nature of the system and the all-in-one entertainment value it offers. The $499 starting price, however, is less inviting. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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In April, we covered the first piece of ambiguous viral ad content for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, a 2K Games and 2K Marin video game. We’re back to report another promo, titled “Orbit & The Asteroid,” and produced by Team One. This 90-second spot isn’t any less ambiguous than the first ad, most of it about a 1960s era creepy clown television show and the young boy who watches it. According to the creators, there are a number of easter eggs that contain clues for the future of the video game series. The game won’t be released until August 20, which means there are four weeks left for more curious marketing spots, creepy clowns and all. Credits after the jump.

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From Apple and TBWA/Media Arts Lab comes the spiritual sequel to last month’s “Photos Every Day” spot for the iPhone.

“Music Every Day” uses the exact same formula as its predecessor, with similarly excellent execution. We’ve come a long way from Apple’s original iPod commercials. No longer do we have silhouetted dancers projected against green screens with a loud, indie-rock soundtrack. Instead, just like “Photos Every Day,” we have a simple concept that, more than anything, humanizes iPhone users. What are these people listening to? It doesn’t matter; the important thing is that they’re enjoying it. We see them smile, nodding their heads along to a beat, something that we see occur is real life every single day.

Again, it ends with a single-sentence VO: More people listen to music on the iPhone than any other phone. The entire concept seems obvious, but sometimes it’s the obvious that needs to be said. Credits after the jump.

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No, it’s not the ass-whooping you’re thinking of that he received from back in the day. We can’t really expound this time, though, except to say the timing is perfect with this latest EA Sports spot from San Francisco-based Heat for the former’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 installment. Woods, if you didn’t know, won his eighth Arnold Palmer Invitational title yesterday in his home turf of Orlando and reclaimed his throne as the top-ranked golfer in the world in the process. Not sure if he’s doing his own stunts or that his sports star acting skills are on par with his good pal, Roger Federer, but we’re sure those are Arnie’s knuckles cracking. Credits after the jump.

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