Hasta La Creative!

Droga5 Sydney has a new spot for Lynx (aka Axe in the UK and Australia/New Zealand) and it’s pretty ridiculous. Imagine the attempted suaveness of an Old Spice ad from a couple of years ago mixed with a slightly toned-down American Axe spot and you’ve got the idea.

Maybe the Axe comparison is more apt since it’s the same brand, but this ad uses words that we wouldn’t expect American pre-teens (since that’s who buys Axe) to know — words like “anarchy” and “philosopher.” Words you might get called “gay” for using in middle school. But “Show Her What You’re Made Of” has the same goal in mind: Convincing awkward pubescent and pre-pubescent boys that if they use the right male hygiene product girls will suddenly stop ignoring them and find them attractive.

The way they go about doing this seems strange, at least to this American viewer. Droga5 gets a handsome man in a suit to talk about “men” and “boys” (he repeats both these words ad-nauseum in the opening 20 seconds alone) as we see shots of boys attempting to act manly and men acting like boys. Then enter a hot woman (walking in slow motion, of course), prompting said man to discuss what it is women want: boys and men “at the same time, in the same body.” For some reason I find this description (and this whole spot really) kind of creepy.

On the bright side, “Show Her What You’re Made Of” has ping-pong in it. Who doesn’t love ping-pong, right? Plus, this acts as a concession of what the advertised product actually does: keeps you from smelling like balls when you get all sweaty.

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Ted Baker London has collaborated with New York agency HUSH to launch StreetWinker.com, which punily asks visitors to “Spread the Ted” with a “Baker’s dozen” (the last we checked a baker’s dozen didn’t equal five, but whatever) of video shorts, digital “winks,” “Teditorials” and “Fashion Art” (or fart for short) in an effort to promote their autumn/winter collection. (Update: we were told by Ted Baker’s PR folks that they’re adding 8 more shorts before the end of the campaign. Sorry for getting all snarky there.)

Ted Baker London worked with Gavin McInnes (co-founder of Vice and Rooster) to craft the sardonic Redge Blaker persona featured on the site. Brand Communication Director at Ted Baker London Craig Smith commented, “Through channeling Redge Blaker, we have created enjoyable content that is genuinely laugh out loud funny, stylish and still very consistent with our brand messaging.” He elaborated that audiences want to share “something authentic” and for that reason much of the content is kept unbranded. The sites’ disparate content is all unified by a very British kind of irreverent humor.

The featured video short shows Blaker giving a bloke advice on how to stay cool around the ladies. “They’ll know if you’re over-eager or faking it,” he warns. When a cute bird (that’s British for “girl”) walks by, though, Baker’s advice goes out the window. You kind of have to see his reaction to get it, so I won’t give it away here: just watch the video above for yourself. We’ve included a few more of the shorts after the jump as well. Enjoy.  continued…

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So why do we want to work at Indianapolis-based Young & Laramore? For salaciously selfish, purely prurient Neanderthal-ish reasons. What do we mean by this? Have you seen the trio of beauty they just hired? We know the advertising industry is filled with beautiful people but Young & Laramore has hit some sort of trifecta with the hiring of Sarah Halcombe as writer, Taylor Shift as brand action specialist and Sara Walker as assistant account manager.

OK, enough with the buffoonish behavior. These ladies, no doubt, will kick ass at Young & Laramore regardless of their beauty because, after all, when it comes to working in advertising, it’s what you know, not what you look like. We wish them well. But if we are ever in Indianapolis, we just might need an agency tour.

It used to be that music video premieres from popular artists were a highly anticipated event. You know, back when MTV actually showed music videos, and before songs were streaming the second they were released. Now they’re advertisement fodder, as evidenced by Eminem’s new music video that doubles as a Call of Duty: Ghosts spot. Since August’s Call of Duty: Ghosts’ trailer featured Eminem‘s single “Survival” in the background, Slim Shady’s new single “Survival” features Call of Duty: Ghosts in the background. Tit for tat if you will.

The latest in the partnership between Activision, 72andSunny, and Eminem features projected footage from the game in the background as Eminem does his thing, in a (kind of) new song about surviving adversity. “This is survival of the fittest,” goes the songs’ chorus, doubling as a tag line for the aforementioned game, in which “the fittest” is some acne-scarred high school freshman who spends all his free time playing first person shooters while downing Doritos and energy drinks. There’s obviously some audience overlap between the popular shooter and the hip-hop vet, and this partnership takes advantage of that.

Since the launch of the new Call of Duty game is, arguably, more hotly anticipated than a new Eminem video, you may wonder why the game is featured so much in the background, but whatever the case, this is Eminem’s show. You could argue that he’s using the association with the game to sell his music at least as much as he’s helping to sell the game, so it works out pretty well for all parties involved. It’s really easy to overlook the COD footage unspooling in the background, especially since (if I’m not mistaken) the title of is never mentioned. But then that game’s fanboys will undoubtedly have remembered the song from the Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer, which may be why they’re watching the video in the first place. And anyone who can’t tell what the game in the background is probably isn’t buying the new Call of Duty in the first place.

The mix of violent gaming and explicit rapping should anger a few parents, so this video/spot has that going for it… Credits after the jump.

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For the first time, Burt’s Bees is promoting its seven mainstay, “classic” products as a group. These “classics” include Beeswax Lip Balm, Coconut Foot Cream, Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream, Hand Salve, Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream and Res-Q Ointment. To promote their classic lineup, Burt’s Bees is reinterpreting a few classics in a new format. Burt’s Bees and agency Baldwin& are using 6-second stop motion animated Vines interpreting seven classics of literature: Little Women, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Metamorphosis, Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, and Julius Caesar.

The humorous Vines highlight the time-tested nature of Burt’s Bees products, suggesting they will last as long as the classic literature they pay homage to. Of course, Burt’s Bees products are actually featured in the Vines, such as the lip balm in “Little Women” who declare “We really are quite little. And each of us women.” These classic vines are staged by Vine animator Jethro Ames of San Francisco, using in-camera stop-motion shooting for each Vine. The process takes about four hours to complete, with no post-production possible.

The first two “Classic Vines” to roll out are Little Women (featured above) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (featured after the jump).” In a small, prequel campaign that marries the new and the classic in a different way, founder Burt Shavitz will post about his backwoods Maine life on Instagram. This “Classic Burts” campaign contrasts a classic, traditional lifestyle with the hustle and bustle of modern social media, such as a photo of Burt splitting logs with the caption “Innovative home heating system.” This campaign from Baldwin& is refreshingly non self-serious and makes sense for a company whose selling point is that they make a no-frills, quality product out of classic materials. We’re guessing it didn’t exactly break the bank either. continued…

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72andSunny pays homage to sci-fi and television history in their new campaign for Samsung Galaxy Gear.

The spot “Evolution” traces the evolution of wristwatch communication, from Dick Tracy and Star Trek to Inspector Gadget and even Predator. The spot ends with the text “After All These Years It’s Finally Real” before introducing Samsung’s latest product. It’s a fun way to highlight the evolution of modern technology and say “The future is now” while making Galaxy Gear seem pretty cool.

A second spot, “A Long Time Coming” pays similar homage, showing characters talking into their wrist pieces in rapid succession. It’s not quite as strong as “Evolution” and perhaps more than a touch too similar to the iPhone’s “Hello” spot, even if it does touch some similar bases.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is available now for the futuristic price of $299. Knight Rider not included. Check out the second spot and “Evolution” credits after the jump.

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Hungry Boys’ new campaign for insurance company Alfa Strakhovanie, “Crush The Speed,” uses strategically-placed totaled cars to curtail speeding in Moscow — which has one of the highest rates of road fatalities in the world. Vlad Stinikov, Creative Director at Hungry Boys hopes the project will “raise awareness of the unfathomable loss of life Moscow residents suffer as a result of excessive speeding” and cause drivers who observe the wrecks to consider their own driving safety.

But Hungry Boys doesn’t just decide where to place the wrecked vehicles themselves, they allow people to decide which locations are in most need of the warnings. Visitors to the “Crush The Speed’ campaign site can vote on the locations of the seven cars used in the campaign using Google Maps. The location of the cars is changed every week, causing responsible driving and/or rubber-necking in a brand new area.

Svetlana Beri, director of marketing communications at Alfa Strakhovanie cited reported incidents of hit-and-run caused by speeding as a major concern, saying “If we can help save one life, this campaign can be hailed a success.”

But in the words of Homer Simpson: “Sure it’ll save a few lives, but millions will be late!” Credits after the jump.

Crush The Speed Project from Vlad Sitnikov on Vimeo.

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If you’ve ever had a nightmare boss in advertising, Zulu Alpha Kilo’s latest spot for NABS Vintage Intern Auction should appeal to you.

The NABS Vintage Intern Auction auctions off “twelve notable executives and thought leaders,” to be used as interns for a day, for the Canadian charitable group NABS, who provide assistance for people in communications and related industries who need help due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties. Winning bidders can assign their interns to do anything from giving a speech or holding a seminar to cleaning up the kitchen or getting coffee.

The spot highlights the revenge aspect of the auction, with bidders attempting to win the right to boss around a truly awful Chief Creative Officer. At the center of the spot is the eventual winning bidder, a man  with an eye patch who the CCO told, “If you can work from home, you can work from Intensive Care.” He outbids the woman the CCO called “Sarah in bed and then said ‘I’m so sorry, Diane,’ which isn’t [her] name either.” I don’t know what kind of work he has for the CCO, but it won’t be pretty. Perhaps cleaning the bathroom floor with a toothbrush?

As you can tell from the synopsis, Zulu Alpha Kilo isn’t afraid to push the boundaries a little bit with some risque humor, and the result is a spot that is actually funny. We’re guessing that since it’s for a good cause, no one will be offended. No CCOs were harmed in the making of this video. At least not any that didn’t deserve it.

Here’s the full list of the “interns” up for bids, in case your boss from hell is one of them:

Claude Carrier – President, DentsuBos

Mary Maddever – VP & Editorial Director, Brunico Publishing

Brent Choi – Chief Creative & Integration Officer – JWT

Lance Martin – Partner & Executive Creative Director, Union Creative

David Crichton – Partner, Creative Director, Grip Limited

Ian MacKellar – Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy

Simon Jennings – President, Gesca

Angus Tucker – Partner, Co-Creative Director, John Street

Mitch Joel – Author and President, Twist Image

Kenneth Wong – Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Queen’s School of Business

Amber Mac – President, co-founder, Konnekt; and co-host of App Central

Christina Yu – Executive Vice President, Creative Director, Red Urban

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Independent creative agency Red Tettemer O’Connell & Partners announced a new agency initiative today searching for imaginative interactive talent.

This initiative from the Philly-based agency comes with the announcement of a tongue-in-cheek paper website that visitors can print out or request to be delivered via mail in 6-8 weeks. How’s that for a selling point?

The paper website is housed at Create Cool Shit, offering “a wide analog collection of information about the agency and its interactive department including a paper demonstration of responsive design, a print out of the agency’s Twitter feed, obligatory parallax and more.” We don’t expect to see the paper website schtick replicated anywhere, because why would it be? Repeat: This is your chance to have a paper website mailed to you. Don’t blow it.

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Ogilvy Chicago’s latest spot in their “People Who Get It” campaign for CDW features Charles Barkley, Doug Flutie, and a technologically advanced stadium without a team.

In the spot, Jim Gordon takes you on a tour of Gordon and Taylor stadium, a domed football stadium he touts as “the most technologically advanced stadium in the world,” thanks to CDW. Features include “3,000 screens, stadium-wide wi-fi, seamless POS systems and a cloud infrastructure solution.” The funniest moment of the spot comes right after this list of features. “Do I know what those are? Not exactly,” Gordon admits. “But they sound impressive.” This should hit home with a lot of people who fall a good deal short of IT expert, myself included.

Over the course of the spot it’s revealed that Gordon has the perfect stadium, a half-time show, cheerleaders, a mascot, Charles Barkley and Doug Flutie on board — basically everything he needs, except a team. He seems to get more and more panicked about this as the spot goes on. Looks like Flutie may have to QB himself. The spot is fun and lighthearted, although I wish Barkley had more lines as he has a good comic presence. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a follow-up spot

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