Hasta La Creative!

It appears Sasquatch is sitting this one out, and the absence of Jack Link’s mascot is much appreciated.

Carmichael Lynch takes a different approach with their latest campaign for the jerky brand, based on a concept not all that dissimilar from Snicker’s “You’re not you when you’re hungry” approach: that intense hunger can make you angry, which they define as “hangry.” The series of 30-second spots depict several such hangry individuals, with their intense hunger personified by angry animals that emerge from their stomach, which also acts as a visual representation of the “Feed your wild side” tagline. In “Lecture Hall,” for example, a student is taking a test when his intense hunger causes a puma to emerge from his stomach. It is not until the puma is sated with a piece of beef jerky that it retreats back where it came from, after helping the kid out with a test answer (apparently this is a highly intelligent feline). Other spots take a similar approach, depicting a woman waiting for her flight to take off, and a man stuck in a meeting. The spots will run online and on on channels such as Comedy Central, ESPN, and FX, alongside the existing “Messin’ with Sasquatch” campaign.

“Nothing says Feed Your Wild Side like literally feeding your wild side,” explains Kevin Papacek, director of marketing for Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. “Hangry is how you feel when you experience hunger to the point of being angry – visceral, debilitating hunger. This deeper hunger can only be fed by Jack Link’s Jerky.”

Stick around for “Middle Seat” and credits after the jump. continued…

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In news that will surely warm the cold, jaded heart of any copywriter, designer or other creative struggling to stand out at an independent agency, Havas Worldwide paid now-former CEO David Jones $13.5 million bucks last year.

In fact, he made 7 of those millions simply for stepping down to fulfill his “burning desire to be an entrepreneur“–or, as we call it in the blog world, “the possibility of making even more money.”

This morning our future colleages at AdWeek combed through the company’s annual report to reveal those important stats. This fact stood out to us:
“Jones received another $1.2 million compensation for a non-compete clause and his role as an advisor to the younger Bolloré”
So he received a significant sum for advising the man who replaced him. Jones was unavailable for comment, presumably because he was too busy laughing about the fate of the Publicis-Omnicom merger.

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Santa Monica-based agency Tiny Rebellion has crafted a new, nationwide branding campaign for Hotwire, “centered on the happiness all types of travelers experience when scoring a fantastic deal.”

The larger branding campaign, with a budget of over $40 million for the year, includes a new logo and ““Hotels. Deals. Happiness.” tagline, as well as two distinct television campaigns: “How it Feels to Hotwire,” and “Hotwire 180.” Hotwire is also rolling out a new website, and mobile apps. Spots for “How it feels to Hotwire” begin airing today across over 30 cable networks. Both campaigns were inspired by real Hotwire travelers’ feedback and “illustrate how any traveler, seasoned Hotwire customers and new users alike, can reap the joyous benefits of discounted travel through the site.”

The second campaign, “Hotwire 180” features Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris interviewing real travelers who are hesitant to use blind booking sites as he converts them to Hotwire enthusiasts once they learn they can save up to 60 percent on a four star hotel in a series of 30 and 15-second spots. Check out “How it feels to Hotwire” above and stick around for “Hotwire 180” spots and agency credits after the jump. continued…

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Droga5 reveals Motorola’s new entry-level smartphone, the Moto E, in an imaginative and inventive 60-second spot.

The spot, entitled “Meet Moto E,” utilizes time lapse footage to show the phone’s durability, while also communicating a host of other features, during a three second free fall during which the phone takes a wealth of abuse. Moto E runs around $130 and, as Adweek puts it, “isn’t going to win over gadget gurus looking for power and superlative specs.” So Droga5 markets the phone as a durable option with a long-lasting battery and enough features to please the consumer who’s just looking for an everyday phone that won’t break down or break the bank. Droga5 was able to accomplish this, with help from production company 1stAveMachine, while also crafting a fun, visually impressive ad with excellent attention to detail that makes the phone look good by association. Stick around for credits and behind-the-scenes footage after the jump. continued…

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PVH Corp. has appointed global social media agency We Are Social to manage and consult on all social media activity for the apparel company’s Van Heusen and IZOD brands in North America. PVH Corp. also owns and operates the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands worldwide, which are not undergoing any agency change.

“Both the Van Heusen and IZOD brands have long histories and remain in demand because we continue to promote them in ways that are current and relevant to consumers,” said Anthony Trama, senior vice president of creative services, PVH Heritage Brands. “Social media increasingly plays an important role in each brand’s ability to drive incremental growth, and we look forward to partnering with We Are Social to help take our brands to the next level.”

“The Van Heusen and IZOD brands have great stories to tell, based on the combination of authentic American heritage and contemporary appeal,” added Leila Thabet, managing director, We Are Social US.  “We’ll work in partnership with the brand team to bring each brand’s story to life within social media.  This begins by developing an understanding of their respective audiences, including online behavior habits, which will then allow us to create engagement strategies driven by these insights.”

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Hill Holliday, Boston tapped Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, This Is 40, Freaks and Geeks) to voice the inner musings of a jaded mom in their latest campaign for LG appliances.

Mann voices the internal monologue of a character Adweek described as “a cross between FX’s Louie and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.” While that may be a slight exaggeration — the character is far more in line with Mann’s roles in Knocked Up and This Is 40 — the spots are certainly far more cynical than anything we’ve come to expect from appliance ads aimed at women, and in fact play off those happy family conventions.

In the most edgy, and, not coincidentally, most successful of these spots, Mann’s character notes that her new LG washing machine is very fast. But what’s a good quality in a washing machine is not necessarily a good quality in a husband, as the character suggestively muses. It’s this kind of honesty and portrayal of a less-than-perfect reality that makes the campaign stand out. Other spots in the campaign trade in the sexual innuendo for goofiness, and while none of them are quite as entertaining as “Too Fast” the approach still feels like a welcome departure from typical daytime TV fare, thanks largely to Mann’s comedic timing. Stick around for credits and “Hot Cookies” after the jump. continued…

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CP+B tapped Kevin Hart for a new Vitamin Water spot entitled “Make It Big” that, unfortunately, isn’t very funny.

The 60 second spot features Hart examining the alternatives he could have taken in his career path: keeping his day job as a shoe salesman, making friends in all the right places, being someone he isn’t. His message is that success takes hard work and hustle, which requires hydration, so that’s how Vitamin Water factors into all this. Perhaps because this line of reasoning is a bit of a stretch, Hart can be seen taking a sip of Vitamin Water at various points in the spot, such as at a bad performance in front of a tough crowd, or servicing a particularly unreceptive customer as a shoe salesman, and the spot ends with the “Hydrate the Hustle” tagline. All of these scenarios fail to live up to their comedic potential, though, making this one seem like a pretty big missed opportunity. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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For hurricane season, JWT Atlanta teamed up with production studio Elastic and directing collective Headless (who provided colorful 3D animation) to create a PSA campaign for FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

JWT Atlanta decided to go for an emotional approach, telling the story of a “nice house that lived with a family” as narrated by a young child, which makes for a more relatable and persuasive viewing experience than alarmist images of flood damage. Focusing on the relationship between the loving home and the family, the spot highlights that flooding can happen anywhere, not just locations that are historically at risk. The 60-second PSA ends with the tagline “Protect what matters,” encouraging viewers to learn their flood risk and protect their homes. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Freelance network Working Not Working has unveiled a list of the top 46 companies its freelancers “would kill to work” for full-time, and the list includes several advertising agencies. Among the agencies Working Not Working freelancers would most like to work for are: 360i, 72andSunny, Barton F. Graf 9000, BBDO, BBH, Droga 5, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Mother, Periera & O’Dell, Venables Bell & Partners, and Wieden+Kennedy. The list also included a wealth of design and production companies, as well as Google, HBO, Cartoon Network, Tesla, and NASA (for some reason). Stick around for the full list after the jump. continued…

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Yesterday we brought you news of Adidas’ World Cup spot from TBWA featuring Lionel Messi, a host of other international stars, and a Kanye West track. Now here’s a look at the latest in W+K New York’s World Cup campaign for ESPN.

The charming 60-second spot, entitled “Time Zone,” examines how the World Cup creates “one time zone,” as the whole world rearranges their schedule to watch the World Cup premiere. “Time Zone” opens and ends in Brazil, stopping over in destinations around the world as everyone prepares for the match. Some have an easier time adjusting to “Brazil time” than others. A businessman in Seattle is seen rushing out of the office while updating his voicemail to reflect that he will be “out of the office for the rest of the afternoon” — an accurate portrayal of kickoff times in the states — while an old woman falls asleep watching the game in Russia and in Japan a group congregates before the sun rises. The spot ends with the tagline, “Every 4 years the world has one time zone,” which is reminiscent of the earlier “Every 4 years the conversation starts again.” This newer spot reflects the heightened anticipation for the World Cup kickoff, which is just over two weeks away. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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