Wook at the poochies! Wook at the widdle poochie-woochies! What else do I really need to say about Deep Focus's "Dog Goldberg Machine" commercial for Purina's Beneful dog-food brand? It's doggone adorable the way those mutts manipulate toys, food tins and tennis balls to operate a Rube Goldberg device that ultimately spells out the tagline, "Play. It's good for you," in dominoes. My jaw drops in a massive "Awww!" when I watch the ad, which has garnered nearly 1.5 million YouTube views in less than a week. You could never get cats to do this stuff. They'd claw the director's eyes and chew through the camera cords. But check out the choreographed canines. Oooh, does pooch-ums wike his Fwisbee? This is way cuter than the Honda "Cog" spot, which started the whole Goldberg trend in advertising. In fact, there wasn't a single dog in that commercial, though "Cog" spelled backward is … "Goc." So cuuute, I'm woozing my mind! Awww! Credits below.
CREDITS Client: Purina Beneful Agency: Deep Focus Chief Executive Officer: Ian Schafer Exeuctive Creative Director: Ken Kraemer Creative Director: Matt Steinwald Art Director: Scott Jones Copywriter: Micky Treutlein Producer: Sean Fleming Account Director: Jamie Julian
Production Company: Quiet Man Director: Johnie Semerad
Britain had to wait 77 years—until Sunday's win by Andy Murray—to celebrate another British male singles champion at Wimbledon. So, BBH London should feel fortunate that it had to wait only four years to add the proper ending to its now-famous Wimbledon commercial for Robinsons drinks. The spot, which dreams of the day when a British player would once again win the prestigious London tennis tournament, was originally put together in 2009. Murray made it to the semifinals that year, losing to Andy Roddick. He made it to the semifinals in each of the following two years as well, reaching the final in 2012, only to fall to Roger Federer. This year, finally, he triumphed—over Novak Djokovic. "Worth the wait, wasn't it?" says BBH's newly added voiceover at the end.
I did not. Maybe the trophy will get lucky tonight! RT @jode_d@andy_murray did you go to sleep with the trophy in bed next to you? #AskAndy
CREDITS Client: Britvic Robinsons Campaign Name: Wimbledon "Imagine" Original Client: Lesley Davey, Brand Director Current Client: Helen Gorman, Brand Director
Original Launch: June 1, 2009 Updated Film: July 7, 2013
Original BBH Team: TV Producer: Ben Davies Account Director: Sylvia Pelzer? Account Manager: Corina Cuddihy Account Planner: Nina Rahmatallah Engagement Planner: Darius Karbassion Creative Director: Nick Gill Creative Team: Daniel Schafer, Copywriter; Szymon Rose, Art Director
Original Production Team: Production Company: Blink Director: Benito Montorio Director of Photography: Antonio Paladino Postproduction: Phil Oldham @ Absolute Post Editor, Editing House: Andy Mcgraw @ Cut and Run Sound: Aaron Reynolds @ Wave
William and Kate's incoming royal baby has been a hot topic of conversation in England for a while now, but apparently it's also the subject of high-stakes betting. In fact, gambling website Paddy Power is still taking bets on pretty much everything about the baby's life, and dressed up four people as ugly babies to reflect the current hair-color odds as a weird and somewhat tasteless promotional tactic. The babies even made a stop at Buckingham Palace, so at least Paddy Power is as gutsy as it is coarse. Via Copyranter.
British brands, understandably, don't have much to say around the Fourth of July—until now. Newcastle Brown Ale, among the cheekiest of U.K. marketers, has turned America's most patriotic holiday to its advantage by inventing a new, completely made-up holiday: Independence Eve on July 3. The idea of the tongue-in-cheek campaign, created by Droga5, is to "honor all things British that Americans gave up when they signed the Declaration of Independence," Newcastle says.
To mark the new holiday, the brewer is introducing the "Revolutionary Koozie," which will be handed out at bars around the country this evening. It features the British flag on one side and the American flag on the other. At the stroke of midnight, you're encouraged to turn your beer 180 degrees and go "from honorary British subject to proud American with the twist of a fist." The campaign extends to digital with a transformation of the brand's Facebook page and a series of daily GIFs highlighting the differences "between British America and American America."
"Newcastle is a very British beer, and needless to say, it doesn't sell that well on July 4. So why not establish it as the beer you drink on July 3?" says Charles van Es, senior director of marketing for Heineken USA portfolio brands. "Unlike the Redcoats in the 18th century, we're picking our battles a little more wisely. By celebrating Independence Eve, we're taking liberties with America's liberty to create a new drinking occasion and ensuring freedom on July 4 tastes sweeter than ever."
Van Es adds: "Like Cinco de Mayo or Thanksgiving Wednesday, Independence Eve is just another excuse to enjoy good times with good friends, but now with a new purpose. On July 3, we're lifting a Newcastle to our British heritage and the American freedom we all appreciate."
Young & Rubicam placed an "Upper Class Bench" on Broadway and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, in the pedestrian park near the Flatiron Building, as the centerpiece of its experiential campaign designed to show people what it's like to fly Virgin Atlantic. Passersby who sat on the bench were serenaded by a string quartet and served champagne and haute cuisine by flight attendants. A period costume drama was performed, complete with noble steed (representing in-flight movies), and a flashmob of shiny-suited "aliens" acted out a video game. This stunt won a Silver Lion in PR at Cannes, but I'm not sure if I'm a fan. If I collapse on a public bench, it's because I've been busting my hump all day and need a few minutes to clear my head, without assaultive brand-boosting street theater breaking out around me. (That horse took a nasty dump on the sidewalk—you just know it did. That's what horses do.) On the plus side, Virgin's bench appears to be clear of gum and vomit—a rarity in the city—and I could surely use a drink before resuming my soul-crushing day. Screw the fancy glasses, just leave the bottle with me.
It was only a matter of time. YouTube's gurus of gluttony, the EpicMealTime guys, have partnered with the burger pornographers at Carl's Jr./Hardee's to promote the chain's new Super Bacon Cheeseburger. EpicMealTime host Harley Morenstein, fresh off a stint as AdFreak's guest judge of the world's grossest fast-food abominations, joins costar "Muscles Glasses" (aka Alex Perrault) in a series of TV and Web-only clips from 72andSunny unveiling the new burger. The promotion will also feature placement on EpicMealTime's YouTube channel, and customers can reportedly request an "epic" upgrade that ratchets up the bacon count from six strips to 12. The burger's actually pretty wimpy by EpicMealTime standards, but it's good to see that at least one chain was willing to embrace the show's gleeful gluttony. Check out one spot below and another, plus credits, after the jump.
CREDITS Client: Carl's Jr./Hardee's Campaign: "Bacon to the 6th Power"
AGENCY: 72andSunny Glenn Cole – Chief Creative Officer/Partner Matt Jarvis – Chief Strategic Officer/Partner Mick DiMaria – Creative Director Justin Hooper – Creative Director Rebecca Ullman – Jr. Writer Sarah Herron – Designer Sam Baerwald – Director of Film Production Molly McFarland – Senior Film Producer Brooke Horne – Film Producer Matt Johnson – Group Strategy Director Josh Hughes – Strategist Latanya Ware – Business Affairs Manager Sherri Chambers – Group Brand Director Alexis Varian – Brand Director Mandy Hein – Brand Manager Tim Sekiguchi – Brand Coordinator Melissa Harris – Sr. Print Producer Emily Hodkins – Communications Manager
Production Company: Christina Productions Justin Hooper – Director Christina Ritzmann- EP Jenny Lenz- Line Producer
The Jack Daniel's biker bee is back in this new spot from Arnold in Boston, and this time he brought a whole swarm of friends to tear through a weirdly empty city to find a bottle of Tennessee Honey. The music is less bikery than last time, and I can't say the overall vibe is as effective, but it's short enough to still work. Kinda wish they had to weave through traffic or chase people off the sidewalk, though. The agency says the ad was "pre-released" on Twitter and Facebook and generated more than 10 million impressions before hitting TV. Credits below.
CREDITS Client: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Spot: "Swarm"
Agency: Arnold, Boston Chief Creative Officer: Pete Favat Executive Creative Director: Wade Devers Group Creative Director: Pete Johnson Director of Global Marketing, Jack Daniel's: Carmen D'Ascendis Creative Director: Jose Luis Martinez Art Director: Alyssa Wilson Copywriter: Peter Hughes Producer: William Near Assistant Producer: Alex Saevitz Business Affairs: Maria Rougvie Planners: Lisa Borden and Angus McCoubrey Marketing Producers: Paul Nelson, Emily Brooks & Shannon Coletti
Production Company: Smuggler Production Company Executive Producer: Allison Kunzman Production Company Line Producer: Michael Schlenker Director: Laurent Ledru – Psyop Cinematographer: Robert Elswit Editorial Company: Lost Planet Editor: Max Koepke Colorist: Tom Poole Sound Designer: Max Koepke, Mike Secher Sound Engineer: Mike Secher Animation – Psyop
The only downside to Steve Lovelace's Corporate States of America map, showing the most famous brands founded in each of the 50 states, was that there wasn't enough liquor involved. Only two were alcohol brands: Coors and Anheuser-Busch. Thrillist has decided to rectify that with its Red, White & Booze map, "plotting the biggest/most high-profile liquor or beer companies" in each of the 50 states. Check out it out above, and see a much larger PDF on the Thrillist site. Let the debates begin. First of all, why not Magic Hat in Vermont?
Not pictured and/or hard to read:
Alaska: Alaskan Brewing Hawaii: Kona Vermont: Hill Farmstead New Hampshire: Smuttynose Connecticut: Willimantic Rhode Island: Narragansett New Jersey: Jagermeister Delaware: Dogfish Head Maryland: Flying Dog
Nike's "Just do it" slogan, unveiled 25 years ago this month by Wieden + Kennedy, might be the last great tagline in advertising history.
Yes, other notables have come since—among them, Apple's "Think different" and Volkswagen's "Drivers wanted"—but none have come close to duplicating the cultural impact and mass appeal of "Just do it." I frankly doubt that any ever will.
When 80-year-old Walt Stack jogged across the Golden Gate Bridge in Nike's first "Just do it" spot, chatting about his daily 17-mile run and joking that he kept his teeth from chattering in winter by leaving them in his locker, we lived in a more homogenous media world. At the time it seemed complex and cluttered, with some cable systems sporting 100 or more channels, and the recently launched Fox network broadening the broadcast funnel by 25 percent. All that was small potatoes, however, compared to today's ever-expanding digital/mobile/shareable/wearable mega-sphere, which has turned each consumer into his or her own media production and distribution channel, and to a large extent—despite the vaunted "social" nature of it all—isolated us instead of bringing us together.
Back in '88, a news image, song lyric, sitcom catchphrase or advertising slogan could spring to life in a way that's nearly impossible with today's media fragmentation. Modern content may be "snackable," but for the most part it doesn't stick to the ribs. Most of the lists, memes and apps are quickly, often instantly, discarded. Ideas have no time to build the momentum or gain the traction needed to become ubiquitous or, like "Just do it," beloved.
The "big idea" is, of course, a marketing cliche. It's considered old-school and somewhat outmoded, frequently derided by today's data-driven practitioners. That's a shame. Big ideas are, first and foremost, big. From a brand standpoint, they add rather than subtract, lending weight and substance to campaigns that can become unfocused and diluted by too many moving parts. Big ideas strengthen individual executions and provide platforms that make campaigns more than the sum of their parts.
"Just do it" was one of the biggest ad ideas ever, destined to cut across all conceivable psycho/socio/demographic lines in ways author Dan Wieden couldn't have envisioned when he tossed off the phrase in 20 minutes, concerned that the initial half-dozen ads in the campaign, spotlighting various subjects and different sports, had no unifying message.
"It was a simple thing," Wieden recalls in a 2009 Adweek video interview in which he discusses the effort's genesis. Simplicity is really the secret of all "big ideas," and by extension, great slogans. They must be concisely memorable, yet also suggest something more than their literal meanings. Rather than just putting product notions in people's minds, they must be malleable and open to interpretation, allowing people of all kinds to adapt them as they see fit, and by doing so, establish a personal connection to the brand.
Exchanging tweets is no substitute for helping people think, dream, or in Nike's case do things in a new way. "Just do it" was open to interpretation, and many folks adopted it as their private mantra. And not just in the realm of fitness and exercise. They just did all sorts of things as they strove toward personal goals. These ranged from starting businesses to popping the question, and in some cases extricating themselves from bad relationships. As a result of the line's resonance, Nike's brand image soared.
It's worth noting that "Just do it" is not a typical feel-good marketing tagline. There's a hard-edged, suck-it-up aspect to the phrase that runs counter to most advertising pablum. It's empowering but makes no promises, implying, in fact, that tough, hard work and personal sacrifice might be involved. On that level, it's an honest slogan, more so than most, and that's a big part of its appeal.
Perhaps the line's attitude stems from its ironic and unlikely origin. Wieden says he channeled, of all pop-culture figures, double murderer Gary Gilmore, who in 1977 became the first American executed in a decade, and famously told his executioners "Let's do it!" before facing the firing squad. That says something about the obscure, inexplicable nature of creativity—and brings me to my final point about why we might never see a slogan on the magnitude of "Just do it" again.
Big data doesn't necessarily kill big ideas, but it can thwart inspiration by attempting to quantify the unquantifiable. Because media is so splintered compared to 25 years go, brands will continue to target based on statistics, eschewing bold strokes for brief inroads in the hope of quick sales. Few creative teams "just do it" these days. They study, filter and refine their ideas into narrow bits of communication—lists, memes, apps—which, while seemingly focused and on point, are ultimately fleeting and insubstantial, little more than static.
"Just do it" belongs to an era when brands were brave enough to run with their visions and invite consumers to dream along with them.
In 1957, when Elvis recorded "All Shook Up," grinding and groping was referred to as heavy petting. Today, it's called an ad campaign for adult sexual aids. To launch a trio of new lubricants, Church & Dwight's Trojan brand picked a dreamy, breathy, super-slow cover of the classic Elvis hit by the indie duo Avila. The result is a pretty darn effective set of spots from agency The Joey Company featuring couples in various stages of romantic dry humping. But it's OK, viewers, because they're married, as evidenced by the prominent wedding rings on display. (There must still be backlash against TV ads for this genre of products, or marketers might be able to skip this too-obvious prop altogether.) The attractive folks in the ads aren't the only ones getting lucky. The song shot to the top 10 on iTunes, where it's been for six weeks. It found its way into the Trojan campaign via L.A.-based music marketing and licensing firm MediaHorse, which also landed Avila's cover of "My Favorite Things" for a Victoria's Secret holiday campaign. See all the spots below.
If you're ever tired on a subway or train, be careful—a new advertising medium might put some ideas in your head. Literally. BBDO Düsseldorf has developed a special window for public transportation that uses a transmitter to silently release high-frequency oscillations that your brain will convert into sound. Futurama fans will note the similarities between this and Fry's Lightspeed Briefs dream, and Transmetropolitan fans could draw parallels to Information Pollen. I'm sure people who aren't huge nerds also have something to compare this to, but hell if I know what it is.
This ad for golf's European Tour pits Northern Irish phenom Rory McIlroy against a wise-cracking golf-ball-hitting robot named Jeff in a contest to see who can chip the most balls into washing machines on a driving range. (As a kid, McIlroy practiced this way for some reason. Perhaps he was raised in a laundromat.) "Losing to a robot is a bit like losing to Martin Kaymer," Jeff quips. Golf humor—as lame as the game itself. When a washer lights up and sounds like a pinball machine, the bot asks, "Is that the same noise you heard when you signed your sportswear contract?" Yeah, paying Rory $100 million to wear the Swoosh and battle better-known cyborgs is much better than feeding starving people around the world. Thanks, Nike! The video has gone viral with almost 2 million views in four days. The washing-machine imagery is goofily memorable, but the video's four-minute running time feels like 40 minutes to me. McIlroy giggles incessantly. I kept hoping the robot would chip the guy into one of the washers, or maybe tear off his arms and use them as clubs. I guess we'll have to wait until Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia are paired up again to see something like that on a golf course.
Downton Abbey is hopping on the branded beverage bandwagon (alongside Breaking Bad, The Simpsons, Game of Thrones and some other shows), but in a unique way that's sure to make the program's fans even more insufferable. Wines That Rock and Dulong Grands Vins de Bordeaux will be joint producing Downton-branded Bordeaux Clarets and Blancs, with the blessing of the show's North American licensing company. The grapes used will be "grown on the same vines and from the same soil as the era depicted in Downton Abbey," they say, because authenticity is very important when dealing with a TV program about people who never existed. It's a really good show, granted, but still, this is getting a little ridiculous. At least it's in better taste than the Breaking Bad beer.
"He can't ball, he just tall." With smack talk on his sneering lips, 5-foot-9 forward Anton Barrels makes his commercial debut in this Nike Basketball spot from Wieden + Kennedy, set during a shirt vs. skins draft in the Maryland hometown of real-life 6-foot-9 superstar Kevin Durant. The ad, directed by David Gordon Green of Chelsea Pictures and edited by Geoff Hounsell of Arcade Edit, introduces Durant's KD VI Nike shoe, and he gets chosen first for the local game. It's all a big in-joke, because Durant was famously taken second in the 2007 NBA Draft, trailing Greg Oden, who's probably worn casts more often than sneakers during his injury-riddled pro career. (Where's Greg's new footwear line, you heartless bastards!? Dude's got doctor bills to pay!) The commercial is amusing even if you don't know the backstory, though it helps. Frankly, I was rooting for Barrels, a sweat-soaked, tie-and-tank-top-wearin' everyman, to be the top pick, because his misplaced moxie steals the show. Sorry, Kevin, but in my book, you're still No. 2. Credits below.
CREDITS Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke Art Director: Jason Campbell Copywriter: Nathaniel Friedman Account Supervisor: Jordan Muse Account Executive: Jessica Shaw Executive Producer: Matt Hunicutt Producer: Chris Capretto
Production Company: Chelsea Pictures Director: David Gordon Green Director of Photography: Eric Treml Executive Producers: Allison Amon, Lisa Mehling, Pat McGoldrick Head of Production: Adam Guliner
Editorial: Arcade Edit Editor: Geoff Hounsell Assistant Editor: Sean LeGrange Managing Director: Damian Stevens Executive Producer: Nicole Visram Visual Effects: Airship Post Visual Effects Producer: Greg Heffron Color: Sean Coleman at Company 3 Sound: Jeff Payne at Eleven Sound Color Company: MPC Colorist: Mark Gethin
Environmental debates are touchy, and often noticeably lacking in nuanced dialogue. Interesting, then, that The Nature Conservancy, which says it's committed to taking a creative and balanced approach to solving environmental issues, would frame its latest ads as the opposite of that. Portland, Maine, ad agency Kemp Goldberg Partners recently rolled out ads for the group in Boston that ask people what the "future of nature" will be—in each case, prompting them to choose between two apparently incompatible options. Loggers or forests? People or wildlife? Fishermen or fish? Ecology or economy? The campaign points to a landing page, futureofnature.org, where visitors learn that, in fact, they might not have to choose at all—that a healthy economy and a healthy natural world might both be possible. The "Tastes great, less filling" approach of the ads is a provocative one when the subject isn't beer but rather the future of the planet—though it will surely draw people into the conversation. And the audience's brief trip from black and white into gray mirrors the larger one this client hopes the population at large will eventually take, too. More images below.
Not just brands but ad agencies, too, are marking the historic Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and California's Prop 8. As you can see above, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners turned its own office building into an out-of-home display—a rainbow to celebrate gay pride. A young senior communication strategist named Krista Miyashiro came up with the idea, and Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein "immediately jumped on board to make it happen," the agency tells us. The display will be up all week.
I'm not sure I'd swipe my passport through a vending machine, regardless of the reward, but perhaps I would if I were Canadian and needed a beer badly enough. Molson Canadian recently visited several European cities and placed fully stocked beer fridges in public places there. The catch? The fridges could be opened only by scanning a Canadian passport. Footage from the sites was then cut into the 90-second online ad below, from ad agency Rethink and director Jonty Toosey of Partners Film. A :30 broke on TV during the Stanley Cup Finals. The campaign also brings back the classic tagline, "I am Canadian."
It's a fun idea, and continues the trend toward more installation-based public branding and entertainment stunts. Coca-Cola has always done that very well, of course, but these days everyone's trying it—from Hot Wheels to those crazy Fantastic Delites stunts. Beer fridges that won't open are particularly galling, of course, and wondrous when they finally relent—as we learned last year with the JWT office fridge that only opens when everyone has done their time sheets.
Making-of video and credits for the Molson effort below.
CREDITS Title: "The Beer Fridge" Client: Molson Canadian
Agency: Rethink Creative Directors: Aaron Starkman, Chris Staples, Dré Labre, Ian Grais Associate Creative Director: Mike Dubrick Art Directors: Joel Holtby, Vince Tassone, Christian Buer Writers: Mike Dubrick, Aaron Starkman, Matt Antonello, Dave Thornhill Account Director: Ashley Eaton Broadcast Producer: Clair Galea
Production Company: Partners Film Director: Jonty Toosey Executive Producer: Aerin Barnes Line Producer: Neil Bartley Director of Photography: Bruce Jackson
Postproduction: Rooster Post Executive Producer: Melissa Kahn Editor: Marc Langley Assistant Editor: Nick Greaves
Postroduction: Fort York VFX Music, Sound Design: RMW Music Producer, Composer: Steven MacKinnon
Would you like an NHL championship with that? Leo Burnett in Chicago found an appetizing way to support the Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run this summer, creating a special bus-shelter display for McDonald's featuring custom hockey sticks shaped like french fries. The copy reads, simply, "Go Blackhawks." (McDonald's may have had something of a rooting interest—the company is based in Oak Brook, Ill., after all.) As part of the campaign, the chain will donate hockey sticks (though not the actual ones from the ad) to local youth hockey programs.
The Discovery Channel is already promoting Shark Week, which doesn't happen until August, but the first ad is a doozy. It features a fake local news broadcast about an injured seal being returned to the ocean. Remember when they fed the lamb to the T-Rex in Jurassic Park? It's kinda like that. "It's a bad week to be a seal," begins the on-screen copy. "For the rest of us it's pretty awesome." (PETA might argue with that.) I don't know how they're going to top this spot, but if they can keep this kind of momentum going, there's a chance I won't be totally sick of hearing about Shark Week by the time it starts.
"Feed me, or I will shoot you and burn down your establishment." How many times have I shouted that at Carl's Jr. and still had to wait for service? The line doesn't work any better for the cowboy in Rhett & Link's commercial for Frontier Wok, a Wild West-themed Chinese eatery in Burbank, Calif. The guy winds up on the losing end of a quick-draw food shootout with the restaurant's manager, felled by the Kung POW! chicken. "That is some tasty Kung POW! chicken. I'm glad I had my last meal at the Frontier Wok," the cowboy says as he expires. Frontier Wok's entrees probably aren't deadly in real life, though the place does promise "Chinese food so good, it'll blow you away," so you never know. The spot sends up both Westerns and Asian martial-arts movies with out-of-sync dubbed dialogue, which is horribly cliched at this point, but still funny. At the end, the manager rides off into the sunset on a small pony, determined no doubt to set up a franchise in the British Isles.
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