Hasta La Creative!

Sausalito, California-based agency BSSP teamed up with production company Biscuit in a new campaign launching Benefit Cosmetic’s new “They’re Real! Push-up Gel Liner Pen.”

In the 60-second spot, a diamond thief is caught by police. While in the back of the car on her way to the station she maneuvers her hands inside her cuffs, thinks about reaching for a bobby pin in her bag (which the cops have conveniently left right next to her), and instead reaches for her gel liner so she can look fab in her mugshot. There’s no indication of whether she’ll be able to take her cosmetics with her into her cell.

“The Benefit make-up brand has an edge. Its personality is a little bit feisty, so for its first-ever broadcast campaign we thought we could have fun and tell a story that connects with the Benefit consumer in a playful way,” explained Steve Mapp, creative director at BSSP.

“This spot has the feel of a cinema trailer – a true testament to the influence of director Noam Murro and a fantastic idea by BSSP,” said Hannah Malot, creative director of Benefit. “We think it will have enormous appeal around the world and will be shared and liked by our global audience through social media and word of mouth. The product is a true innovation in the marketplace.”

The spot “inspired Benefit to create a series of in-store displays, postcards and print ads that feature the jewel thief in handcuffs, applying the gel liner,” which will be available this summer. Stick around for partial credits after the jump. continued…

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Adweek Global Agency of the Year Grey has announced it is re-entering South Africa with immediate effect, with the acquisition of a majority stake in The Volcano Group, one of South Africa’s fastest growing independent agencies. The Volcano Group will rebrand as Grey Africa as a result of the acquisition and will focus on developing a strong local presence for Grey in South Africa as well as leading Grey’s expansion in key African markets.

Volcano’s group managing director, Paul Jackson, said he was proud to be associated with Grey, adding, “The decision to take on the exciting opportunity of re-establishing Grey in South Africa and across the continent is one that is met with great enthusiasm by both parties, and we look forward to being an integral part of the continued global success of Grey.”

David Patton, President and CEO of Grey EMEA was equally excited about the acquisition, saying, “The most important outcome of this exciting partnership is the acquisition of talent and expertise that will re-ignite our efforts in establishing a dynamic South African presence for Grey and will also allow us to truly focus on serving international clients across the African continent.”

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We here at the Spy couldn’t help but be reminded of Mike Judge‘s highly underrated 2006 film, Idiocracy, when checking out these shorts from Toronto-based agency, Capital C. The shop paints a bleak portrait of a social media-addled future hinged on 6-second sound bites versus long-form content and one which lacks any thought-provoking communique. Yes folks, behold the “Stupidification of Society,” which Capital C created pro-bono for the  TEDxColumbiaSIPA conference that took place in New York on May 8. According to the agency’s chief creative officer, Gary Watson, the films “The Vine Effect” (above) and “The Glass Era” (below) “…very much play into cultural and digital trends. Shortened attention spans. Technology overload. Things that get in the way of spending time with inspirational content that ultimately makes a difference in our lives.”

Short films lamenting the loss of longer-form content? Oh, the irony, but perhaps that’s the point of all this to begin with. Full credits after the jump.

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A couple of weeks ago we brought you news of “Baseball is Better,” Mutt Industries’ campaign for MLB 14: The Show, the latest iteration of Sony’s long-running baseball simulation series. Now, Sony and Mutt Industries seem to have a reason to celebrate, as MLB 14: The Show’s first week sales were the highest in franchise history. As you may remember, Mutt Industries recruited Danny McBride (best known for playing Kenny Powers on Eastbound and Down) for the anthem ad launching the game.

In the weeks following the launch of the campaign, Mutt Industries has continued to roll out content at campaign site www.baseballisbetter.com, including the recent, slightly misogynist “Miguel Cabrera Gets Faster with Quick Counts.” As the season progresses, Mutt Industries and Sony will release over 100 unique videos via YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, featuring various MLB stars. So far, in addition to Miguel Cabrera, Andrew McCutchen, Brandon Phillips, Jason Heyward, CC Sabathia, David Ortiz, and Brett Lawrie have all joined in on the action to show how “Baseball Is Better.” You can check out Cabrera’s recent spot above, and stick around for a refresher of the Danny McBride anthem ad after the jump. continued…

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This August marks the 70th anniversary of Smokey Bear (apparently Smokey the Bear is a misnomer and we’ve all been saying it wrong). First created by FCB West in partnership with U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council in 1944, the Wildfire Prevention campaign is the longest running, and one of the most successful, PSA campaigns in America. 96 percent of the U.S. adult population recognize Smokey Bear, while 70 percent can recall Smokey’s “Only you can prevent forest fires” tagline without prompting.

“Few advertising icons have become as much a part of the American vernacular as Smokey Bear,” said Peggy Conlon, soon-to-be-retired president & CEO of the Ad Council. “Smokey’s persistent popularity from generation to generation is not only a testament to the quality of work done on his behalf pro bono by FCB, but also ensures that his legacy will be one that results in continued impact in the area of wildfire prevention.”

For Smokey’s 70th birthday, FCB West worked with Butcher Editorial to create two new PSAs (running in both 30 and 15 second versions) that celebrate Smokey’s milestone, while still spreading his message of forest fire prevention. In one of the spots (above) a group of children and park rangers bring Smokey Bear a birthday cake. Seeing only the fire hazard of the candles, Smokey reaches for a bucket of water, but thankfully one of the children has the presence of mind to blow them out. In another 30-second PSA, which really ups the creepiness factor, Smokey sneaks up on a man to inform him of a fire hazard. Both spots end with Smokey rewarding fire safety prevention with a bear hug. continued…

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FCB San Francisco gets a bit suggestive in their latest spot for online residential real estate site Trulia.

The 30-second spot, “Shower” shows a couple deciding whether or not they want to make an offer on a house. Said couple is in the bathroom admiring the tub when the woman makes a push for them to submit an offer. The guy isn’t so sure, but she reminds him that he was crazy about the garage, and also that the mortgage is the same as their rent. She adds that it’s in a great school district, which is important because they’re going to “start making babies,” and then adds “Let’s do it.” The guy, understandably mistakes her meaning and points out that the owner is right in the other room. It all feels a little forced, as if FCB wanted to break out of the usual real estate advertising rut but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. The claustrophobic spot (feeling like you’re in a bathroom with two other people doesn’t exactly make for a pleasant viewing experience) also doesn’t do much to differentiate Trulia from the competition. “Shower” ends with the “That’s your moment of Trulia” tagline and an announcement of a $50,000 giveaway. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Pereira & O’Dell New York have a new campaign for Realtor.com championing the site’s accuracy in home listings, thanks to “its unique, direct relationships with more than 800 multiple listing services that provide consumers with 98 percent of all for-sale properties listed in the U.S.

Entitled “Accuracy Matters” the broadcast campaign features two 30-second spots — “Mom” and “Doghouse Architects” — which will run through 2014. The spots attempt to find the humor in inaccurate real estate listing as a means of highlighting the importance of the accuracy Realtor.com provides. While the humor mostly comes across as cute rather than funny there is one slapstick moment in “Mom” worth a chuckle, and the approach at least helps differentiate Pereira & O’Dell’s work from typical real estate advertising cliches.

“Coming from a real estate family, I’ve seen my share of formulaic advertising in the category,” explains Dave Arnold, executive creative director at Pereira & O’Dell. “Our goal with ‘Accuracy Matters’ is to not only connect Realtor.com to a singular product message it can rightfully own, but to also have some fun with inaccurate listing information.”

Stay tuned for “Doghouse Architects” and credits following the jump. continued…

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Diageo-owned stout brand Guinness has announced that it’s holding a pitch seeking a new agency for its global advertising account, parting ways with Saatch & Saatchi, who have worked on Guinness’ global account for six years.

“To drive better integration between idea generation and multi-channel execution we are looking to appoint a new agency to lead content creation across digital and shopper channels for our global platform, ‘Made of More,’ said Grainne Wafer, the global strategy and communications director at Guinness.

“The rationalisation of tasks and agencies over the last couple of years, and specifically just recently, have substantially changed the creative potential of the global Guinness account,” said Magnus Djaba, the chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi London. “As a result, we feel the time is right for us to part ways. We wish Diageo all the best in finding the right agency for the business going forward.” Saatchi & Saatchi began work on the account back in 2008, with the brand approaching its 250th anniversary.

The pitch will not affect Guinness’ regional relationships, such as with AMV BBDO in the UK and in Africa (an account which BBDO won from Saatchi & Saatchi last year), and BBDO New York in the US.

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Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews stars in a new series of ads for GMC created by DigitasLBi.

The campaign, entitled “Draft Day 101” sees Matthews giving tips to players in the 2014 NFL Draft, which ran from Thursday, May 8th through Saturday, May 10th. Matthews’ words of wisdom range from picking the right shoes to staying positive to proper handshake technique and calming nerves. For day one of the draft, Matthews not only shared the videos from his personal Twitter handle, but also took over @ThisisGMC to live Tweet the draft. DigitasLBi and GMC created seven videos, all of which are embedded in the playlist above. Hopefully the NFL’s 2014 draft picks were paying attention (and nobody wore sandals). Credits after the jump. continued…

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L.A. resident Samantha Futerman and Parisian Anais Bordier are identical twins separated at birth who found each other through a chance encounter on social media.

Last month, Cheil debuted a campaign for Samsung telling the twins’ true story, promoting the Gear 2, Gear Fit and Galaxy in a 1:30 teaser and 3:00 documentary. The teaser utilizes a split-screen to tell Sam and Anais’ stories separately, before they inevitably reunite on one screen at the spots’ conclusion. As part of the campaign, Cheil and Samsung also created an app that allows users to view two different mobile teasers, one from Anais’ perspective, the other from Samantha’s. By syncing with someone else’s phone, users could then view the full teaser on both devices side-by-side. People could also create their own split-screen movies to “celebrate togetherness.” The idea behind the campaign was that like Sam and Anais the Gear and the Galaxy are “always in sync, natural extensions of one another.” Cheil’s telling of Sam and Anais’ story resonated, with the spot chalking up 1.5 million views in its first 10 days and a 96% approval rating on YouTube. Cheil also decided to submit the project to the Cannes Advertising Festival. You can view the original teaser above, and stick around for the case study and 3:00 documentary, along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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