Woman Applies Makeup in Zero Gravity in This Beauty Brand's Fun, Baffling Stunt

Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe she applied it in zero gravity.

In this weird little gem of absurdism, Korean agency Innored—makers of the famous North Face stunt with the disappearing floor—promotes a beauty product called IOPE Air Cushion by having a woman apply it while weightless and plummeting to earth in a giant airplane.

Is it difficult to apply makeup in zero gravity? Who knows?! Does it say much about the product if you can? Not really! But stop asking questions—this is one impressive stunt. (And it does, at the very least, get the point across that Korean women aren’t just “naturally beautiful,” as other women around the world seem to assume.)

Check out the full ad below, and wonder at the science!

CREDITS
Brand & Client: Amore Pacific / Iope Air Cushion
Agency: Innored

Infiniti Spoofs the Highway Flirting From National Lampoon's Vacation, With a Special Guest

Infiniti recreates the “flirting on the highway” scene from 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation with one of that film’s original stars (not Chevy Chase, unfortunately) in this Crispin Porter + Bogusky ad tied to the Vacation remake coming later this month.

Here, Ethan Embry (who played Rusty in Vegas Vacation back in ’97) replaces Chase in the Clark Griswold role, rolling down the road with his family en route to Walley World for some R&R. Instead of a crappy station wagon, however, they’re ensconced in a comfy, high-tech Infiniti QX60 SUV.

Embry is soon distracted by an attractive blonde woman in a sleek convertible, and some intensely silly flirting ensues. (Sorry, Ethan, but nothing tops Chevy’s self-consciously goofy grin. Nothing. Ever.)

In the movie, Christie Brinkley played the blonde. Will she show up here? Perhaps in an ironic punch line that makes me feel ungodly old?

Um, maybe. Cute enough ad, though.

Babies' Poop Faces Captured in Glorious Slow Motion in Award-Winning Pampers Ad

Everyone knows babies make hilarious faces when they poop. For that matter, so do most adults. Whether or not knowing this universal truth entices you to watch a medley of babies’ faces as they poop is a gamble that Saatchi & Saatchi London decided to take. Its “Pooface” video for Pampers baby wipes is literally 75 seconds of what I just described.

Oh, and it was filmed in slow motion (400fps!) and set to Strauss’ “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” which we all recognize from every other film project that either aspires to or mocks maturity. It’s also “Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s theme music. I honestly can’t decide which of these is the less dignified use of that song.

In any case, the spot won a bronze Lion in Film at Cannes, and a silver and a bronze in Film Craft, so clearly Cannes judges are into this kind of potty humor. Not bad for a glorified YouTube Vine compilation with better production values. (The concept has also been floating around for years, mostly in scam ads.)

Also, is it me or does the baby at 0:44 look like a young Nathan Lane?

What's the Worst That Can Happen? New Mexico Shows You in Brutal Road Safety Ads

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

That’s a loaded question, especially for a road-safety campaign. And it’s posed in a series of graphic spots from Albuquerque agency RK Venture for the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

Director Sean Broughton, a Hollywood visual effects expert, delivers three 30-second PSAs about drunk driving, seat belts and texting while driving, respectively. (There’s also a 45-second mashup of the first two ads.) Tires shriek, glass shatters and crimson spurts in all directions. The texting spot is the real corker, presenting a nightmare vision I hadn’t previously seen in such spots. (“It’s not my blood!? IT’S NOT MY BLOOD!” You’ll be hearing those words in your dreams.)

Warning: All four ads are very graphic.

“We wanted the ‘What’s the Worst That Can Happen?’ campaign to reflect the reality of just how deadly impaired and distracted driving is [and hopefully] instigate behavioral changes among drivers,” says RK Venture executive creative director Richard Kuhn.

This realistic, upsetting approach rises above category clichés owing to a strong element of hope that’s lacking from many similar initiatives (the NWDOT’s classic “ghost girl” spot creeps to mind). Here, each story presents the possibility that disaster can be avoided, if only people ask the right questions—and think carefully before they answer.

CREDITS
Agency: RK Venture
Principal and ECD: Richard Kuhn
Broadcast Creative Director and Writer: Nick Tauro
Executive Producer: Akash Khokha
Director: Sean Broughton
Director of Photography: Dean Mitchell
Editor: Phil Perri
Effects and Color: Left Field Labs
Flame, CGI and SFX: The Brigade

Nike Celebrates the 'Real Girls of Moscow' With Empowering Ads, Murals and GIFs

Back in April, Nike Women launched its popular “Better for It” motivational campaign in the U.S. Now, the sportswear giant is expanding the tagline in Russia.

A half-dozen new spots from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam feature the same playful attitude and general message—that the benefits of exercise outweigh the challenge—but take a slightly different tone, as you might expect from ads that feature professional athletes instead of the average exercisers represented in the U.S. work.

The camera work, from director Carlos Serrao, is a little more dramatic in its attention to detail, with scenes like yogi Olga Markes holding a particularly brutal pose while dripping sweat and boxer Kate Izotova getting punched in the face while sparring (a moment featured, naturally, in slow motion).

The copy, meanwhile, comes across as less overtly vulnerable than in the U.S. ads, where women explicitly tolerated their own misery (largely manifest as insecurity) for the promise of self-improvement in the end. Instead, the Russian athletes seem to be a bit more defiant in their vanity—embracing pain in pursuit of perfection or glory.

“What are you doing here?” says Izotova’s voiceover. “You could have stayed at home, been someone’s trophy…. Screw that. I’ll earn my own trophy.”

In other words, the ads hew more closely to traditional endorser-driven sports marketing (even if they’re not celebrities with wide global name recognition)—a strategy that speaks more of a “Be like this” inspirational strategy than a “We know it’s hard but we’re with you” motivational one.

In addition to the pro athlete ads, Nike also turned Instagram posts of real girls working out into street posters around Moscow. Indeed, the campaign’s title is “Real Girls of Moscow,” and it aims to capture the spirit of what Nike describes as a growing sports movement in Russia, featuring women who are “free-thinking and free-spirited,” and “are more comfortable in sneakers than heels, preferring exercise to fad diets.”

Whether drawing that kind of line—or calling a bunch of accomplished women, at least four of whom are in their 20s and 30s, “girls”—is a smart or deliberately provocative move isn’t clear. But it is at least understandable, given the brand sells selling running shoes that also tend to double as fashion statements—and not stilettos.

Regardless, Nike is also touting a 25,000-person turnout for a 10-day sporting event at Gorky Park in Moscow. And the new campaign features top athletes in a broad range of disciplines (ballet, choreography, long-jumping, skateboarding and sprinting) showing up variously on giant outdoor murals, and in nifty GIFs for online distribution—probably because if you really want to do that sweet kickflip, you’re going to have to get used to doing it over and over again, stuck on infinite loop, for the rest of time.

CREDITS
Client: Nike

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy
Creative Director: David Smith, Alvaro Sotomayor, Craig Williams
Art Director: Ignasi Tudela
Copywriter: Zoe Hawkins
Head of Content : Joe Togneri
Planner: Danny Feeney, Michelle Arrazcaeta
Communications Planner: Josh Chang
Group Account Director: Kirk Johnsen
Account Director: Kathryn Addo
Senior Account Manager: Jorge Fesser
Broadcast production / Head of Art Buying : Maud Klarenbeek
Art buying / broadcast production: Javier Perroud
Head of Studio: Jackie Barbour
Retoucher: Dario Fusnecher
Project Manager: Janna Harrington
Business Affairs: Michael Graves

Production Company: Terrie Tanaka Management
Director/Photographer: Carlos Serrao
Director of Photography: Monica May
Producer: Amy Lynne
Executive Producer: Terrie Tanaka
Vogue Shoot Make-up: Mark Williamson at artist-management using Mac
Vogue Shoot hair: Hanjee at Jed Root for Hanjee Hair Gallery

Editing Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Sam Gunn

Audio Post: Wave Amsterdam
Sound Designer/Mixer: Alex Nicholls-Lee

Music: Glintshake / MassiveMusic
Katya Izotova: Glintshake
Olga Markes: Glintshake
Adelina Sotnikova: MassiveMusic
Diana Vishneva: MassiveMusic
Darya Klishina: MassiveMusic

Postproduction: Glassworks
Flame: Morten Vinther
Telecine: Scott Harris
Producer: Jane Bakx

Media Buy: Mindshare Russia

Digital Production + Social Activation: Instinct BBDO Moscow

Under Armour Honors Misty Copeland With Hashtag That Led to a Car Full of Flowers

Under Armour couldn’t sit idly by on Tuesday when Misty Copeland was named the first African American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history—not after the famous TV spot that helped burnish both dancer and brand.

The sports apparel brand organized a social congratulations campaign, beginning with this simple tweet:

Thousands of tweets later—including love notes from UA NFL star Eddie Lacy and Zappos—and the brand had an SUV full of flowers to deliver to Copeland, who was clearly thrilled by the gift.

More pics below.

Designer Shows Off His Big Talent in the World's Smallest Portfolio

Michael William Lester, a London-based freelance designer and illustrator, isn’t afraid to think small. We’re talking minuscule here, people!

Lester created “The World’s Smallest Portfolio,” a self-promotional piece that is 24 millimeters wide by 19 millimeters tall. That’s barely the size of a postage stamp. The project originated as a brief from Jelly London for the D&AD New Blood Festival, challenging students to get people talking about their work.

“They say the best ideas fit on a Post-it note,” Lester tells AdFreak, “so I decided to take it a step further, seeing how little could tell the most.”

What was his work process like?

“I had to be very selective, as the ideas had to be extremely sharp and quick to understand,” Lester says. “I then ran about 100 print tests to get it right. I printed it on my little home printer, as I didn’t want the quality to be that sharp, in order to get that nice ink-bleeding texture when magnified. I hand-bound it, packaged it and voilà.”

His itsy-bitsy book features art and single lines of copy on facing pages. For example, an eyeball-like rendering of the Brazilian flag is accompanied by the text “Monitoring the World Cup in Brazil,” while an illustration of a reporter’s notepad, its top sheet flapping like a cape in the wind, is captioned, “The reporter as a hero.”

Lester, who has done illustration work for IBM and U.K. charity Water for Africa, says he’s bowled over by the reaction to his tiny portfolio. “The project has over 5,500 views on Behance, and 1,100-plus appreciations, as well as 70-plus comments. I really didn’t expect it. It’s been a bit crazy.”

It just goes to show that when it comes to building some buzz, size doesn’t matter—as long as you’ve got a big enough idea.

Via Design Taxi.

This Remarkable Ad Shows Just How Science Can Improve Real People's Lives

If you think rigorous scientific research is boring or self-serving, this short film from the Netherlands just might change your mind.

Amsterdam-based agency 1Camera and director Hugo Keijzer employ some deft storytelling as they follow five scientists from different fields around the world, all working to improve people’s lives in significant ways. Running more than four minutes, the film is the cornerstone of “Science Can Change the World,” a new campaign from Royal Dutch DSM, a life and materials sciences company.

The film, “Unsung Heroes of Sciences,” will be shown at more than 50 events throughout the year, and has been seeded to blogs and uploaded to DSM’s digital channels. The target audience is the scientific community, governments, NGOs and, perhaps most importantly, the general public.

“People often think that science is there for the sake of science,” says DSM global brand, digital and communications director Jos van Haastrecht. “We really would like to shift the perception to science for a societal purpose.”

To achieve that aim, the five scientists—selected from a list of 100 candidates—are shown in a mix of documentary footage and vignettes in which they recreate episodes based on their actually experience. Richard Little and Robert Irving of New Zealand design bionic legs for those who have lost limbs, while in Tanzania, Bart Knols develops an affordable way to fight malaria. Saumil Shah grows algae on Thailand rooftops as he strives to eradicate hunger, while San Francisco’s Molly Morse converts methane gas into biodegradable plastics.

Knols nails the overarching message when he says at one point, “This is not about research. This is about the lives of real people.” Indeed, science isn’t placed on some grand pedestal. Instead, we see complex, driven folks using their intellectual gifts to help others, and we gain insight into their motivations and the personal and professional hardships they strive to overcome.

“Showing the real scientists in the film makes it all the more powerful, but also somewhat challenging since they had no acting experience,” says 1Camera partner J.P. de Pont. “So getting these non-actors to act in their own story was a concern. However, because the struggles are such an everyday reality for these and most scientists, the emotion was already in them. And with the help of supporting actors, director Hugo and producer Ellen to make them feel comfortable, they performed great—at times, so great that it’s easy to forget that they are not actors.”

Some of the scenes are hugely compelling, notably the segment where Amanda, a paraplegic, tries on Little and Irving’s bionic legs and says, “It just felt like I got to reclaim a bit of me that’s been lost.” De Pont recalls, “When she stood up for the first time, the whole room, including the crew members, were fighting back their tears because of the sheer emotional impact.” The crew knew they had captured “a beautiful moment that gave the most tangible proof that science can in fact change the world.”

One fictionalized scene, where Morse gets turned down for funding and tells a roomful of suits that “people like you are the reason our planet is going to hell!” veers into TV-movie territory. But it still works, because, for whatever reason, you don’t expect a dedicated scientist to express frustration so strongly from the heart.

Overall, we’re treated to crisply edited, heartfelt filmmaking, with just enough dramatic tension to keep viewers involved and entertained.

At times, the film resembles commercials from sneaker companies that show athletes going through their painstaking routines (running for miles at dawn, pumping iron, etc.) as they overcome adversity and emerge as winners.

“We were inspired by the perseverance that scientists show in facing endless challenges, much like top athletes,” says 1Camera creative director Jasper Claus. “But unlike top athletes, you’ll probably never hear about these scientists, even though their work affects our daily lives and actually changes the world for the better.”

Thanks to this film, we’re hearing about five of them now.

Facebook Just Updated Its Logo Ever So Slightly. Can You Tell the Difference?

Facebook has basically used the same logo since 2005—its name in white, in Klavika font, on a blue background. But this week, the company, which is now allegedly worth more than Walmart, decided to change its logo font, opting for a custom font designed in-house, according to Mashable

Click the play button in this tweet to see the old and new logos overlaid on each other:

The new typeface is an attempt to “modernize” the logo and make it appear more “friendly and approachable,” says Josh Higgins, Facebook’s creative director. Higgins also noted that Facebook explored many options but ultimately landed on updating its logo instead of redesigning it completely.

So, what’s different? The changes might be hard to spot until you focus on the “a” in the logo, which is now rounder and thinner. 

It’s definitely a subtle change, though not as subtle as Google’s most recent logo tweak.

What do you think? 

Norwegians Object to Giant Penis Squirting Them With Confetti in PSA Stunt

Believe it or not, there are a few situations where dressing up as a giant penis and spraying people with confetti is inappropriate. Promoting condom use on behalf of a sex education charity is one of those situations, according to thirtysomething Norwegians.

To clarify, sex education charity RFSU hired ad agency Involve! to come up with something for a condom use campaign, which began as a response to rising chlamydia rates in Norway. Involve! then hired 19-year-old student Philip van Eck because he was tall enough to fit in the giant penis suit they’d built. Once properly fitted, Philip ran around spouting golden confetti at total strangers in service of the campaign’s tagline, “Tiss kan overraske,” which means “Penis can surprise you.”

If they’d set the ad to Da Vinci’s Notebook’s “Enormous Penis,” it would have been perfect.

Involve! meant for this to be cheeky and fun, and kind of gross, and they succeeded, but not across all audiences. Young people apparently loved it, but the over-30 crowd didn’t like it one bit, and many of them called the stunt pointless and banal.

Philip thought the whole thing was hilarious, because he’s 19. But it wasn’t without a few hiccups. “If I can do a good thing for others, just by being a dick, there is nothing better,” Philip said. “The filming was not unproblematic, as passers-by wanted selfies with the giant penis. Suddenly, lots of people wanted to touch the penis and take pictures with the penis. I almost felt harassed.”

Have I mentioned how fortunate we are to live in this time?

Nike Makes One of the Fastest Ads Ever to Sell the Zoom Air Sneaker

A super-fast sneaker deserves a super-fast commercial, and Wieden + Kennedy delivers one here for the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8 running shoe. Blink and you’ll miss it.

The 60-second “Find Your Fast” spot—directed by Neal Brennan, co-creator of the Chappelle Show, who also did this fun campaign for Jordan Brand—features 13 all-star athletes getting their speed on. The larger “Find Your Fast” campaign challenges runners everywhere to log their fastest-ever mile by Aug. 30 through the Nike+ community.

If the spot itself is fast, there’s a spot-within-the-spot that’s even faster—a quirky little old-timey diversion starring Kobe Bryant and the magician David Blaine.

Check out the spot below, and the list of athletes below that.

• Kobe Bryant: 5-time NBA champion (basketball)
• Wayne Rooney: 3-time England player of the year (soccer)
• Richard Sherman: Super Bowl champion (football)
• Marlen Esparza: Olympic bronze Medalist (boxing)
• Odell Beckam Jr.: Offensive rookie of the year (football)
• Rafael Nadal: 14-Time Grand Slam champion (tennis)
• Serena Williams: 20-Time Grand Slam champion (tennis)
• Marcus Mariota: 2nd overall NFL draft pick (football)
• Katarina Johnson Thompson: 2014 world No. 1, heptathlon (track and field)
• Shane O’Neill: Pro Skater (skateboarding)
• Mo Farah: Olympic Gold Medalist: 5,000M/10,000M (track and field)
• Allyson Felix:  Olympic Gold Medalist: 200M/4x100M/4x400M (track and field)
• Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce: Olympic gold medalist,100M (track and field)

Kids' Wildest Dreams Come True in This Beautifully Imaginative Airline Ad

Here’s a fun spot from earlier this year that picked up a silver Lion at Cannes last week. For S7 Airlines from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, it features cute kids being themselves, namely by describing wonderful places or things they’d like to visit, but are also impossible … or so they think.

Asked to let their imaginations run wild, the kids cook up with flight destinations that, if they had their way, would feature mammoths, mermaids, space rockets, giant sandpits, superheroes, dragons, wizards, bogeyman, a space kitty (Nyan Cat?) and subterranean cities. (It’s not clear if she’s thinking of Demolition Man, The Matrix or Twelve Monkeys, but she doesn’t seem to have dystopian tendencies at all.) There would also be underground whales and, says the smartest kid by far, chocolate lakes.

Relaying on the charming ad-libs of kids is a familiar trick, reminiscent of past ads like Wes Anderson’s animated interview with an 8-year-old on the inner workings of a Sony smartphone (though it probably also owes a decent amount to the Fine Brothers “Kids React” series, as well).

But the W+K sequence is exceptionally well edited, and features a twist that anchors it nicely in the brand. All the fantastical things and places—or approximations of them—actually do exist, if you allow some creative interpretation of reality.

Sure, the ad’s reach exceeds its grasp ever so slightly, and might particular bother literalist viewers. But it really does distill what the spirit of travel can be at its best—an eye-opening, awe-inspiring experience that unlocks natural and manmade wonders. And beyond the stunning landscapes, some of the translations are particularly spectacular—Space Kitty, it turns out, is actually a yak, and underground whales are geysers.

In fact, the only real dubious one is that brown bubbling “chocolate” lake. If what you really want is fondue, you’re better off staying home and dropping a few Hershey bars into a pot.

Can McDonald's Turn an Awkward Blind Date Into Something That's Actually Fun?

McDonald’s won’t just sate your hunger and comfort you when you’re down. It will actually save your aborted love life.

Or so claims a new U.K. ad from Leo Burnett London. The burger chain plays matchmaker, featuring a couple with basically no chemistry on what appears to be a first date. That is, at least, until the end, after they’ve parted ways unceremoniously and slunk off separately to grab a bite at McDonald’s, where … well, you’ll see.

It’s a nice thought for a brand that trades in tasty greasiness and the illusion of happiness. He’s like a British Bradley Cooper. She’s like a British Alison Brie. The tight scenes—a nonsense art gallery, a botched trip to the bowling lanes—contribute to the credible sense of awkwardness. And coincidences that might serve as ice(berg) breakers (sorry) could easily be mistaken for fate (especially because the relatively small menu seems to improve the odds of alignment).

Unfortunately, the ending really is nothing but a deus ex (big) mac-hina (sorry, again). Given their social skills—or lack thereof—running into each other again would probably, in reality, just make the whole situation even worse.

Are they really going to sit together at that point? How long can they talk about french fries and barbecue sauce, when they clearly have nothing else in common? Plus, even if it goes well, they’re probably just replacing heartache with stomachaches. Then they’ll have to say goodbye all over again—and it’s highly doubtful either is carrying a breath mint.

In all seriousness, though, it’s a sweet story, especially if you like that fake strawberry flavor.

Gay Marriage Opponents Act Like an Oppressed Minority in Despicable New Ad

About halfway through this two-and-a-half-minute film from conservative nonprofit the Catholic Vote, its treacly, overlystylized message becomes clear. These Catholics are nervous about revealing their stance on same-sex marriage because they’re (spoiler alert!) against it.

That stance is nothing new. What’s galling is the ad’s appropriation of LGBTQ themes to marginalize LGBTQ people and their rights under the law. The ad, with a straight face, position Catholics as a persecuted group for not having their message of intolerance (here ludicrously recast as its opposite) widely accepted these days.

The video even plays like a coming-out video for Catholics who are afraid to take the “brave” step of voicing their objection to equality. That’s a shockingly audacious tactic—disrespectful and despicable, to say the least.

Beyond that, it is rather illogical. You can’t reposition a group as oppressed when there is no movement to oppress them. And you certainly can’t equate being called a bigot for spouting intolerance with anything near what members of the LGBTQ community have experienced for decades. 

The empowering music is on point, though. 

Oh, and thankfully there’s already a parody…

Chance, the Wheelchair Bound Dog, Will Inspire You to Tears in This Kleenex Ad

With over 23 million Facebook video views in less than a week, this new ad from Kleenex is helping to make sure that the Kimberly-Clark brand’s plot to keep America crying into its tissues is going deviously well.

The latest video in the “Someone Needs One” campaign by VSA Partners was created by Vimby, and it combines dogs and disabilities—two of this year’s successful Super Bowl ad themes. It’s more than a tear-jerking testament to our love of a good cry. It’s proof that Facebook is still a viral sharing force despite cluttered feeds and an algorithm that seems to block a lot of branded content.

Vimby, working in partnership with VSA and Facebook, is creating all the online videos for the “Someone Needs One” campaign by leveraging its local documentary filmmaker network to collect the actual content. But the tale of an adorable dog who got a second chance at life by finding the perfect home has become a standout.

Perhaps more interesting than the story of how yet another tear-jerking inspirational video went viral is the story in the comments. People who have adopted special-needs pets have been sharing pics of their own animals who got a second “Chance.” It’s one thing to be inspired, but it’s another to be inspired to share your own story. It’s that sort of word of mouth that gives this video its wow factor.

So, give it a chance and see if you can keep from shedding a tear.

CREDITS
Client: Kleenex
Agency: VIMBY/Facebook Creative Shop
Media Agency: Mindshare
Kleenex AOR: VSA
Executive Creative Director: Adam Reno
Producer: Carrie Stett
Director of Photography: Ed Wu
Production Company: VIMBY
Editor: David Rowe, VIMBY

This Faucet Brand Just Set a World Record for Most People Showering Together

Getting covered in mud is a big part of obstacle races like Warrior Dash. So, faucet company Delta set up a giant product demonstration after Saturday’s event in Indiana—and claimed the Guinness World Record for most people showering simultaneously.

Some 331 runners, including 1992 Olympic gold medalist and television personality Summer Sanders, helped Delta cinch the title in Crawfordsville. The previous record was apparently held by Thailand’s 12Plus Shower Cream, which got 300 people wet at Dor-Shada Resort in Pattaya. (Yes, offbeat world records seem to exist primarily to add an air of legitimacy to marketing stunts.)

The activation, part of Delta’s “HappiMess” campaign, was created with help from sports marketing firm Revolution and media agency Spark. It’s a pretty clever place for Delta to show up—but it’s nowhere near as hardcore as Reebok bribing runners in another adventure race to get giant tattoos of its own triangle-shaped “delta” logo.

All photos by Steven Mitchell/AP Images for Delta Faucet Company.

How Do You Improve Sex on the Cannes Red Carpet? Bring Along a Mattress and Pillows

“It is your last night in Cannes. Make it more comfortable.”

That’s the message, printed on the pillows, that awaited Cannes Lions attendees who discovered a mattress on the event’s red carpet during the festival’s final hours.

The stunt was a well-played callback to this year’s much-buzzed-about moment when two unidentified people had sex on the red carpet of the Palais des Festivals around 4:30 a.m. last Tuesday.

While re-enacting the public sex became a frequent gag in photos from the event, one creative team decided to take it a step further.

Valery Volchetsky, group creative director for Moscow-based agency Hungry Boys, said he brainstormed the idea while talking about the sex photo with Romanian creatives Razvan Ghilencea, Anca Wirdy, Robert Capraru and Bianca Dumitra?cu. A gathering at the Gutter Bar turned into a brainstorming session as they tried to think of a way to play off the growing conversation around the sex act.

Initially thinking they’d make a spec bit of guerrilla branding for a brand like Ikea (“We even thought about PornHub, but they definitely do not need any comfort for sex”), the team instead decided to simply turn the whole thing into an attention-grabbing joke.

They created pillow cases printed with the message about making your last night in Cannes more comfortable, then brought their mattress and pillow setup to the entryway of the Palais. About 60 people gathered to photograph the stunt, Volchetsky said.

Here’s a brief video clip they created from the prank:

Adweek responsive video player used on /video.

brightcove.createExperiences();

This Clever Browsing Tool Lets You Replace Banner Ads With Images You Actually Like

A new company is hoping to put an end to obnoxious banner ads by letting viewers choose images they want to see instead. But ultimately, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.

Adieu, a browser extension that aims to outbid brand marketers for ad space when viewers load a webpage, is the first product from Fair Tread, a digital media company founded by Matt Mankins, formerly chief technology officer at Fast Company.

A trial comes with a $2 credit. Afterwards, users have to cough up $5 for about 500 blocks. (Adieu says most people will use less than $3 dollars a month, but it’s easy to imagine heavy browsers burning through much more). Upload images you’d like to see instead—e.g., family photos or your calendar—or pick from a collection offered by the company.

It’s an intriguing idea, even if it’s not entirely clear why people would want to pay to see something other than an ad—and have to think about what that something is—rather than paying to see nothing at all. (You could just upload a gallery of white space, I guess.)

The promised benefits include faster browsing, and stopping marketers from tracking your behavior. But the company is also pitching the product as a more ethical (and less short-sighted) alternative to free ad blockers. “By using Adieu, you’re contributing to a fair Internet that rewards good content,” reads the promotional copy.

Unfortunately, the idea runs up against some of the same fundamental issues as other micropayment models. Viewers doesn’t necessarily know if content is good—i.e., worth buying—until they’re already on the page (fee paid to replace it with a picture of a cute kitten), a consideration that creates an extra hurdle. And lots of people really just don’t want pay for news content, now that they expect to get it for free.

But kudos to Adieu for trying, and for a Grade A multilingual layered pun of a brand name.



These Luxury Hotel Ads Use Instagram Shots Instead of Professional Photos

Catch New York combed through social media for guest photos taken at Loews Hotels and Resorts and integrated the candid, unsolicited images into the chain’s new “Travel for Real” ad campaign.

Mostly quiet, mildly quirky moments abound. They include shots of a tattooed dude playing banjo in his suite (with the headline, “Everyone needs to find their rhythm”) and a kid with cucumbers on his eyes kicking back in a swimming pool (“Everyone needs to soak it all in”). The work is breaking now in magazines like Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler and Wired, as well as in airport displays and as online banners.

Building on 2013’s “The Room You Need” campaign, this new work puts guest visits in an even “more emotional and personal” context, says client CMO Bruce Himelstein. #TravelForReal is the hashtag.

“These are real-life images of actual guest experiences, licensed by Loews,” agency chief creative officer Doug Spitzer tells AdFreak. “The vast majority were taken by guests themselves, and while there are a handful of images capturing events such as weddings that may have been taken by professionals and subsequently posted on social media, none were commissioned by Catch nor by Loews. We loved the opportunity to break this boundary and sideline the pros that we are usually so excited to work with.”

He adds, “We started our search on Instagram using Loews Hotels hashtags and location tags, but our search grew much wider than that, spanning all of social media. To this date, we have reviewed more than 35,000 images, where we have found just about everything you can possibly imagine.”

Ultimately, he says, “anyone considering staying at Loews can be sure that what they are seeing is real, not the creation of a talented pro. There are no tricks, wide angle, Photoshopped shots—like people rightfully complain about on social media. ‘Travel For Real’ is the real deal, through the eyes, and lenses, of our guests who loved the time they had at Loews.”

Fair enough. It’s certainly a different approach for the hotel category, where the imagery is usually so manicured. I do wonder if the premise isn’t somehow neutered by the fact that most people flipping through magazines might assume these are professional shots—if they give the matter any thought at all?

“That did occur to us,” Spitzer says, “and that’s why we ended up giving every source credit, so you could actually look at their other photos and see their lives outside of their Loews travel.”

The imagery is appealingly on brand, evocatively portraying the luxury chain as an oasis of relaxation and rejuvenation in a stressful world. Though if you wind up in the room next to Banjo Boy, you won’t get much peace. Dude looks like he could play all night.

CREDITS
Client: Loews Hotels & Resorts
Agency: Catch New York
Campaign: #TravelForReal

Agency Team
Partner & Chief Creative Officer: Douglas Spitzer
Creative Director/Art Director: Rich Corrigan
Copywriters: Will Woods, Rich Corrigan, Douglas Spitzer
Designer: Maggie Mai
Producer: Kim Schulster
Production Artist: Elvin Garcia
Managing Director: Jason Dorin
Account Director: Isabelle Aylwin
Media Director: Stephen Wraspir

Client Team
Chief Marketing Officer: Bruce J. Himelstein
SVP, Marketing: Jim Cone
VP, Public Relations: Sarah Murov
Sr. Director, Marketing Communications: Piper Stevens
Director, Brand Marketing: Lacey Tisch
Director, Internet Marketing: Jacob Messina



Want to Look 20 Years Older Than You Are? This Amazing Product Can Make It Happen

Yesterday we saw a skin cream specially designed to give you wrinkles. In that same vein, check out the spot below for “The Wrinkler,” a product that will help you look 20-30 years older than you actually are, without the hassle and expense of moving to Arizona and letting the sun bake you into a husk.

At first I thought this was an unprompted homage to the “varicose veins” ad from Ren & Stimpy until everything fell into place at the end. I really like the approach, for the record, and wish more ad parodies would attempt it.

For more information and pictures of people who look like Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, check out The Wrinkler’s website.

CREDITS
Dean Hacohen: Copywriter/CD
Hank Kosinski: Art Director/CD