Hasta La Creative!

Taco Bell fans north of the border have been waiting patiently for Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos to arrive in Canada. So to mark their arrival, Grip Limited designed an arcade game that made them wait a little bit longer.

They created a custom 8-bit “arcade game, called “The Waiting Game,” that “simulated all the excitement and high-octane action of patiently waiting in line.” Players could string together moves like “yawn,” “tap foot,” “check watch” or “chew gum.” The game was placed outside a Taco Bell location in downtown Toronto, and, soon enough, a line formed. To play a game about waiting in line. Since they aren’t complete sadists, Taco Bell rewarded players who made it through “The Waiting Game” by letting them be some of the first people in Canada to try the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco, free of charge. You can see the promotion in action in the video above, and play on online version of the game here. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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goodness Mfg. takes on Silicon Valley in a new spot for Toshiba, presenting their Encore 2 as “the one device that quiets the hype.”

In the animated, 30-second “Sillycon Valley,” goodness Mfg. presents a cartoonish tech world gone overboard, complete with coffee drones, 5D printing and “smart scissors.” While disparaging tech to sell a tablet may be a questionable strategy, and “Sillycon Valley” may go a bit too far into the ridiculous at times to seem like an effective satire of Silicon Valley tech hype, the tagline at least wraps things up nicely. Still, it’s hard to imagine “Sillycon Valley” persuading anyone to go buy the Encore 2.

The agency takes a different approach with “Unleash Yourself,” this time showing the tablet’s versatility at a wide range of tasks while highlighting its portability. It’s a more effective approach than “Sillycon Valley,” selling the product for what it can do, rather than what it doesn’t claim to be. Stick around for “Unleash Yourself,” along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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Today we confirmed that BBDO is in the process of enacting staffing changes in its Atlanta office. An unspecified number of employees are no longer with the agency as of this afternoon.

Specifics are very light, though we hear that hirings may follow these dismissals and that the purpose of the larger reconfiguration, which involves personnel changes across departments, is to better align the agency’s offerings with the needs of its current and future clients.

Tips mention both digital creatives and senior staffers, so this looks to be part of an office-wide strategic shift.

For context, the most visible recent move at the Atlanta office was the departure of President/CEO Gill Duff and subsequent appointment of Drew Panayiotou to replace him. The move was significant in that Panayiotou was then new to the agency game, having previously served as SVP of US marketing at Best Buy after running in-house marketing and media buying teams at  Walt Disney, Coca-Cola and others.

Updates as we receive them.

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Sean Astin reprises his role as Rudy in a new spot W+K New York created to hype the new college football playoff format for ESPN.

In the spot, Astin apes his inspirational speech from Rudy, this time riling up the locker room with the promise of a playoff format for college football. When he reveals that the format won’t take effect until 2014 however, the reception falls somewhat flat. Filmed at St. Joseph High School in Brooklyn, New York, the spot takes place in 1975, the year Rudy Ruettiger played for Notre Dame. While the famously cheesy movie certainly deserved a satirical send up, W+K’s spot fails to really hit the mark and feels a bit drawn out at 90 seconds. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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W+K New York have a new “This is SportsCenter” spot for ESPN featuring Metallica.

The agency has some fun with the idea that with Mariano Rivera now retired, Metallica doesn’t have a lot to do around the ESPN offices. Metallica looks for other athletes in need of entrance music, with less than satisfactory results, as well as other things to do around the office. Hosts Jay Harris, Scott Van Pelt and Stuart Scott also appear in the spot, which debuts today in anticipation of tonight’s Gillette Home Run Derby. The spot neglects to mention that Metallica still provide entrance/walk-up music for players including Rays reliever Grant Balfour, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, but then that would kind of ruin the premise. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Pereira & O’Dell New York announced the addition of Tennille Teague as the new head of production for the agency’s New York office. Teague will oversee production for East Coast clients including Memorial Sloan Kettering, Fox Sports 1, Realtor and New Era and report to VP of Production Jeff Ferro in San Francisco.

Teague arrives at Pereira & O’Dell with over 14 years of global production experience, working with brands such as Bud Light, LG, MTV, NHL, Range Rover and Campbell’s, working with budgets ranching from $5,000 to $4 million. Prior to Pereira & O’Dell, Teague was senior content producer at Translation LLC. Before that she spent over ten years in that position at Young & Rubicam. She also “has been a contributing partner and judge with the Tribeca Film Festival, AICP, AICE and Clios award shows.”

“Tennille has tremendous production expertise and a passion for storytelling,” said Cory Berger, managing director of Pereira & O’Dell New York. “She’s a wonderful addition to the team we have in place in New York, and will be instrumental as we grow our production capabilities.”

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Social@Ogilvy appointed Fergus Hay as General Manager for the Asia-Pacific region in Hong Kong.

Hay, who previously served as Executive Marketing Director at Ogilvy New York and Worldwide Managing Director on the SC Johnson business based in Chicago, has helped develop work for clients like British Airways, Barclays, Coca-Cola and Fanta. He also writes and produces the video series “Creativity: Weapon of Mass Disruption”, for which he interviews various industry thought leaders who are not you.

Hay will report to Hong Kong-based Global Managing Director Thomas Crampton.

(more…)

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mcgarrybowen teamed up with production company Bullitt Branded (a new branded content company from the Russo Brothers) to combine the re-launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the re-launch of Pizza Hut’s “Cheesy Bites” in a new spot entitled “Sneaky Turtles.”

The 30-second cross-promotional spot keeps things pretty simple, relying on the appeal of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Said “Sneaky Turtles” break into a Pizza Hut test kitchen while no one is around and whip up a batch of “Cheesy Bites” — while making a complete mess. When the test kitchen chef returns, he’s pleased to discover the “Cheesy Bites” and eagerly digs in. The cross-promotion makes a lot of sense for Pizza Hut, given the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ well-known love of pizza, and using the re-launch of the Turtles on the big screen to re-launch a menu item is a nice touch, but we can’t help but feel like something’s missing. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Mullen has named Margaret Keene executive creative director of the agency’s Los Angeles office, AdAge reports.

Keene comes to Mullen from Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, filling a role left vacant since the departure of Peter Rosch late last year. She will report to Mullen’s North America Chief Creative Officer Mark Wenneker.

Keene joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 2011, where her work included multiple campaigns for Toyota. Prior to Saatchi, Keene spent over a decade at TBWAChiatDay, arriving as an art director in 1996, and eventually working her way up to group creative director. While at TBWAChiatDay she worked on brands including Apple, Nissan, Levi’s, Kinko’s, Taco Bell, ABC and Shutterfly. Mullen opened its Los Angeles office in June 2013, following winning the Acura business in March of that year. (more…)

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BETC has welcomed a new senior creative team in art director Stéphanie Thomasson and copywriter Marc Platet. The pair will work with BETC Creative Director Manoëlle Van der Vaeren.

Thomasson arrives at BETC from Leo Burnett where she developed campaigns for clients including Charal, Fiat, Jeep and the Mimi Foundation. Her “If Only For a Second” integrated campaign for the Mimi Foundation recently received several awards, including one D&AD and nine Cannes Lions. Prior to TBWA, she was an art director for TBWA, where she worked on work for Playstation, SNCF, McDonald’s, Nissan, and Aides, and Amnesty International. She won a Gold Lion for the “Signatures” video for Amnesty.

Platet comes to BETC from McCann, where he worked on the Nespresso, INPES, Mastercard, Na! and Terre d’Asile accounts. Prior to McCann, he was a copywriter at TBWA, where he worked on campaigns for clients including BMW, MINI, Absolut Vodka, and Martell.

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