Hasta La Creative!

L.A./Seattle-based The Pitch alum Wongdoody crafted a new campaign for the nation’s largest take and bake pizza chain, Papa Murphy’s.

The new work from Wongdoody, who have served as Papa Murphy’s AOR since October 2012, promotes the chain’s “HeartBaker” pizza with an ad celebrating family-friendly Valentine’s Day celebrations. “Remember when you were just dating and Valentine’s Day was all about romance and flowers and fancy dinners out?” asks the new spot. Well, then, to paraphrase Louis C.K. “people [came] out of your vagina and [stepped] on your dreams.” Now, according to the “HeartBaker” spot Valentine’s Day is about “the really good stuff.” The online version (featured above) interrupts the sentimentality with a disclaimer that the “good stuff” may include things like “itchy tutus, “getting hand-made Valentines out of the dog’s mouth,” “glitter everywhere,” “mysterious carpet stains” and “nightmares about cupid.”

As Wongdoody chairman and executive creative director Tracy Wong explains, “The original HeartBaker spot is a sweet, poignant take on the family Valentine’s Day dinner…That said, for every 15 seconds of wonderful, ‘I’ll-remember-this-moment-for-the-rest-of my life’ parental bliss, there’s often a lot of funny, messy, chaotic stuff that happens along the way. So we’re poking some fun at ourselves and the perfect angelic child-filled Valentine’s we’ve portrayed in the original spot concept to remind couples that love, romance and humor play a role no matter how they celebrate Valentine’s Day.”

Here’s a free culinary tip: disregard Papa Murphy’s “Love at 425 degrees” tagline. For pizza, you want the oven as hot as possible, so crank that shit up to 500 (or higher). Stick around for the original TV spot after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

 A month ago, you may recall, Chicago-based marketing vet Zain Raj, fresh off of a stint as CEO of Irving, TX-based CRM/digital agency Epsilon Agency Services, acquired independent marketing research firm, Shapiro, in January, which ultimately led to the formation of Shapiro + Raj. The operation, though, has hit somewhat of a snag, as Raj is entangled in litigation with a former employer according to a memo we obtained that Shapiro + Raj president Owen Shapiro sent to staff earlier this week. The note from Shapiro, who says that his nearly 60-year-old company “continues to be a world leader in conducting behavior and opinion research,” should provide some insight. Seems to us like they’re just trying to do the right thing until this all boils over.

“As you know, Zain Raj recently joined our company.  Subsequent to Zain joining us, Zain’s former employer filed a lawsuit against Zain claiming that Zain violated the terms of his employment agreement with his former employer.  Our Company has unwillingly been dragged into that lawsuit.  While we believe that our Company has not done anything wrong, an Order has been issued by the court which prohibits Zain from engaging in any business on behalf of our Company, including all work, business meetings, transactions, acquisitions, and client interactions.

Out of an abundance of caution so as not to violate the court’s Order, you are not to have any contact with Zain until otherwise notified by me or Matthew.  To the extent that you receive a communication from Zain, do not respond and you are to notify me or Matthew immediately.  If any third party contacts you about Zain or about the lawsuit, you are to contact me or Matthew.

If asked by a client or other person you feel needs to know about this situation, please refer them to me or Matthew and we will discuss the situation with them.

When information becomes available, we will update you on the progress in resolving this matter.  In the meantime, we are proceeding with development of the Company and work for our clients.

Thank you.

Owen Shapiro”

The Matthew that Shapiro is referring to is Matthew Smith, who was president of Shapiro but has now moved up to vice chairman. As for Raj, prior to his brief stint as CEO of Epsilon (we’re confirming that this is who filed the lawsuit), the exec led the Hyper Marketing group of marketing services companies, which morphed into SolutionSet and eventually SolutionSet/MediaWhiz. Of course, he’s got plenty of agency experience as he’s held senior level/exec roles at what were Euro RSCG and FCB and also worked on the account side at the likes of JWT. Let’s just hope the dust settles and Shapiro + Raj officially gets the ball rolling.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s been some time since we’ve heard the name Suzana Apelbaum but the New York creative vet has now landed a new gig as group director at VML’s New York office. Apelbaum most recently served as CD at Anomaly NY, where she spent two years worked on digital efforts, for Converse, AmEx, P&G and Marriott among other things. During her 15-year ad career, Apelbaum also served as a digital ECD at StrawberryFrog and held CD positions at a variety of other agencies ranging from Hello Interactive to JWT.

Now as GCD at VML, Apelbaum will work across all the WPP-owned agency’s New York clients including Dell, Hillshire Farms, Ball Park and Campbell’s. Additionally, she will partner up with VML sister agency Y&R on several integrated clients.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Samsung and Telefonica/Vivo join forces to show some love for  Raul Seixas, a legend in Brazilian rock circles, by creating the first ever music video for his tune, ““Metamorfose Ambulante.”

The song, which translates as “Walking Metamorphosis,” was composed about 40 years and helped launch Seixas to stardom in his home country. Samsung and Telefonica/Vivo’s music video is a loving homage to Seixas that simultaneously shows “how technology changes people’s lives and how the power of connections can transform human beings.” Seixas’ family “participated in each stage of development” for the project. The large-scale film production was “shot by a team of 75 professionals in Argentina’s Sierra de la Ventana,” an ideal location for the music video’s Stone Age setting.

An app is available in addition to the film, which allows users to upload their photos and transform them into a characterization of Seixas, likely inspired by the hundreds of Seixas impersonators who transform themselves for an annual parade in downtown São Paulo celebrating Seixas’ birthday. The app and music video are both part of a new branded content campaign for Telefonica/Vivo from the agency Africa. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

And now, let’s kill two birds and mention some goings-on at the Havas Worldwide camp on this snow-filled day. First, to address tips that we’ve received since the end of January, yes, Megan Lally is leaving the agency as of tomorrow to pursue other interests. From what we’re hearing, Lally, who’s spent the last three years at Havas WW, working out of the Chicago office as SVP/group account director on the Citibank biz, is heading into the film industry. Prior to Havas, Lally worked as a VP on the account side at Saatchi & Saatchi X.

Second, in unrelated staffing news, sources confirm that 15-year Havas WW vet Annette Stover is no longer with the agency. Stover spent the last four years during her time at Havas Worldwide serving as global chief of staff. From what we’re hearing, her departure may have something to do with changes being made by Andrew Benett, who took over for David Jones as Havas Worldwide CEO last month. Prior to her lengthy stint at Havas WW, Stover spent several years at JWT.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Yes, lovebirds, Louisville-based agency OOHology has created a poem generator called the GIT-LUV 2000, designed to give you “a little help initiating intimacy this Valentine’s Day.”

Visitors to the GIT-LUV site are asked to pick from a list of descriptions that best fits their love life, such as “Single, full of regret,” “I just bet my fiancee 50 percent of everything I own that love is forever,” and “Promised my new spouse that the third time’s a charm.” Then, GIT-LUV 2000 randomly generates a unique poem, although they are often slight variations of what you’ve already seen, and despite claims that it “actually creates unique poems every time” it wasn’t all that long until a repeat came up. Our tipster described the site as “Slightly creepy, slightly hilarious,” although I’d say it hits on the former with far more frequency. We’ve selected a few of our favorite poems below.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last year, Floyd Hayes launched the self-proclaimed “Fastest Agency in the World,” which sends out a creative pitch within 24 hours of briefing.  Well, now it seems someone has one-upped that idea, with the One Hour Agency.

That’s right, One Hour Agency, created by a couple of Hyper Island creatives, actually claims to “generate quality ideas” within the hour. More specifically, they “kick-off every briefing with one hour ideation sessions with [their] clients. This keeps energy high and injects some moxie into the process before going straight into a less energetic research phase.”

So what goes into that hour? After ten minutes of greetings and receiving the brief, One Hour Agency spends 10 minutes on evaluation, a half hour on ideation, and then 10 minutes on presentation. That’s pretty damn fast.

When asked if he thought his “Fastest Agency in the World” was the inspiration behind One Hour Agency, Floyd Hayes responded, “Ha. Perhaps.That makes me feel like a doddering old man.” He may need to think up a new name for the “Fastest Agency in the World” now, as it seems we have a new champion. Whether or not trying to deliver a creative pitch in an hour is a good idea, however, is an entirely different discussion, and one I’ll turn over to our readers.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

George Ernst III, creative director at Tenthwave Digital, and Ricky Bacon, VP of engineering at Noise Marketing, are behind a new site called “What The Fuck Is My Brief?”

The site generates a random, ridiculous brief when you visit, followed by responses like “Get Spike Lee to direct that shit” and “I swear to God if you say ‘earned media’ I’m going to fucking cut you,” which, when you click on them, generate another brief. We’ve seen plenty of sites in a similar style before, but as these go this is one of the funnier ones. There’s also enough variety to keep you clicking for awhile. Check out some of our favorite briefs below, and head on over to the site for the full experience.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Coming off the latest (not so surprising) revelations of the misuse of NSA data, Happiness Brussels has launched “Spy on the NSA,” a site which gives the the NSA a taste of its own medicine in support of www.thedaywefightback.org, “a massive digital protest against mass surveillance taking place across the internet today.” Among those participating today as well are Reddit, Amnesty International, Tumblr, Upworthy and Greenpeace.

The “Spy on the NSA” site turns the camera on the National Security Agency’s Maryland headquarters. Happiness Brussels describes it as its “own statement against the mass surveillance and privacy issues that are occurring right now.” They also wonder “how long they can keep the site online, before it gets shut down.” The site gives visitors the opportunity to record a selection of Happiness Brussels’ surveillance to share on social media. Check out the site here (while you still can), and, if you haven’t already, head on over to www.thedaywefightback.org to take a stand against the NSA’s abhorrent abuse of your constitutional rights.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We’ve received confirmation that Steve Nesle‘s time at Blast Radius has come to an end. No word yet on what lies ahead for the creative or if anyone’s replacing him, but Nesle has served as ECD/East for the WPP/Wunderman agency since late 2012. Prior to Blast, Nesle, you may recall, served in a similar role for two years at Deutsch New York and also held senior creative roles at what was then Tribal DDB as well as MRM Worldwide during his career.

Update: Wait, what? After getting direct confirmation from those in the know that “yes he is departing” a half hour later we get word from the same party involved that whoops, Nesle “continues to support Blast Radius accounts out of New York and Toronto.” Perhaps his  position has just changed within the network but this is quite the quick and confusing about-face. We’ll try to sort out this little mess as soon as we can and will update when we hear.

Update 2: Finally, we’ve received confirmation that Nesle’s tenure with Blast Radius is indeed up towards the end of this month.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.