Hasta La Creative!

What with all the silly social media campaigns and stunts that fill our inbox every day, it’s incredibly refreshing to see a project that demonstrates how to “hack” a well known platform in a smart, strategic way. And no, I don’t mean create a top-heavy Facebook app that crashes when you try to vote for some stupid brand idea.

From Toronto-based Cossette comes the “Instagram Time Machine,” part of a campaign for the Toronto Silent Film Festival. Now, if looking at Instagram your mobile phone vertically (or via desktop view), this makes no sense. “Why are there photos of just white spaces?” you may ask. But, if you turn your phone horizontally, voila! A virtual tour celebrating a century of silent film’s greatest star, Charlie Chaplin featuring videos, old movie posters, etc. Now THIS is a smart, innovative new way to use Instagram.

Now, as with any social “hack,” this has its limitations. There’s the aforementioned inability to make this work on a desktop (unless, i guess, you turn your monitor sideways). There’s also the issue of following this account, as it’s not going to be sending any new photos anytime soon due to its already completed structure. But, for five minutes, it’s a really ingenious thing to play with, even if you couldn’t care less about silent film. Good on Cossette, and if this thing gets more eyeballs, expect to see copycats creeping up next week. Search for “TSFF2014″ on Instagram to find the account, and view credits after the jump.

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Following the massive success (over 69 million view in less than 3 months) of Volvo’s “The Epic Split” ad starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, it was inevitable that the action star would make a comedic comeback. That comeback also marks Stun Creative’s first foray into feature filmmaking, with the comedy Welcome to the Jungle.

Agency co-founders Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein serve as executive producers on Van Damme’s comedic debut, which was directed by Stun Creative’s Rob Meltzer and stars, in additon to Van Damme, Adam Brody, Megan Boone, Kristen Schaal, Rob Huebel and Dennis Haysbert. Given Stun Creative’s track record with TV promos, as well as their 2013 Webby Award winning online series Presidential Clippings, the leap to filmmaking isn’t such a huge surprise.

The above trailer is worth a few chuckles, unsurprisingly mostly coming from Van Damme playing on his own action star persona. Jean-Claude in a comedic role seems so obvious that it’s almost hard to believe no one has given it a pass before, and Welcome to the Jungle should gain a lot of momentum from “The Epic Split.” A quick search for the film brought up a Village Voice review entitled “Welcome to the Jungle is Satanically Bad,” so you may want to wait before shelling out to see this one in theaters — although “satanically bad” doesn’t necessarily equal “not funny” and I’m pretty sure the guys behind the movie weren’t exactly trying to make high art. Welcome to the Jungle is currently slated for a February 7th release, both in theaters and on-demand. If you just can’t get enough Van Damme, stick around for behind-the-scenes footage after the jump. continued…

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The latest from KWP! sees the agency promoting the Adelaide region of Southern Australia, although it sure looks a lot like the agency and director Jeffrey Darling just created a music video of singer Emma Louise performing the INXS song “Never Tear Us Apart.”

The nearly two minute video, “Breathe” is described as “an ad with the energy of a music video, featuring singer Emma Louise and her astronaut alter ego discovering the city and its nearby regions.” But “Breathe” has more than just “the energy of a music video.” With at least as much camera time devoted to Louise singing and people dancing around as to the city and its landmarks, it really feels like a music video. While the spot is certainly visually impressive, not a surprise from the award-winning Darling, it isn’t until the very end, when “South Australia” flashes on the screen, that there’s any indication of what this is supposed to be selling, or that this is an ad at all and not a music video. That’s pretty bold for a 1:45 spot, and it’s certainly something different from the usual world of tourism advertising. “Breathe” marks the third immersive campaign KWP! has created for the South Australian Tourism commission, following successful campaigns for Kangaroo Island and Barossa. Credits after the jump. continued…

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No official word as of yet, but sources tell us that Hill Holliday has made some cuts today. A source familiar with the IPG-owned agency tells us that cuts, which we hear affects less than the 10 percent of agency staff that’s been reported,  but it is primarily due to the loss of most of the Liberty Mutual account which happened in December. If you recall, HH had been working with the financial institution since 2005 but lost the biz to Havas Worldwide and Optimedia on the creative and media side, respectively, last year. The review actually began in summer of 2013 if you recall. We’re awaiting a full message from Hill Holliday and will update when we receive.

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After spending the last four-and-a-half years at R/GA’s New York hub, where he served as senior strategist, working with clients ranging from Nike to Unilever to Samsung in the process, Jon Jones has left the agency for the digital age to assume the chief digital officer position at The Incite Agency. In case you don’t know what Incite is, it’s the communcations firm co-founded by Robert Gibbs, President Obama‘s former press secretary. Jones has some history with Obama as he served as his first digital strategist for his 2008 presidential campaign. During his career, Jones has also worked for trades like The New Republic.

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Mekanism concluded their “Get Hyped For Halftime” campaign last night with “Pepsi: Sound Check NYC,” the lead-in to the Bruno Mars Super Bowl halftime performance which acted as a much-needed respite from the ridiculously one-sided game.

The 30-second halftime intro “sound checks” New York City, with giant hands strumming the Brooklyn Bridge like a guitar, playing the Guggenheim like drums, mixing levels on a NYC subway train board and scratching Columbus Circle like it’s a turntable. Other landmarks include the Empire State Building and surrounding skyline, and the East Side Pepsi sign. The spot ends at Met Life Stadium (as you know, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey) with Pepsi’s “Live For Now” tagline. It’s a simple, yet clever little introduction to the halftime show, even if the game itself didn’t take place in New York City. Because, let’s face it, no one wants to see East Rutherford’s top landmarks.

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Following the release of W+K Amsterdam’s “The Odyssey” last week, Heineken has released a tongue-in-cheek response to the comment section skeptics who questioned the spot’s authenticity.

The 2:10, presented as “the genuine response of our official PR representative Dymfke van Der Gaal,” replies directly to YouTube commenters who publicly questioned the authenticity of the individual talents in “The Odyssey.” As evidence, Heineken presents the casting calls for the guys in the ad, which are predictably goofy. In addition the PR response video, Heineken has also uploaded the casting calls for each of the talents featured in “The Odyssey.” The PR response fits well with the lighthearted tone of the campaign, and reinforces its core message. As Sandrine Huijgen, Global Communications Director at Heineken puts it, “When we saw the comments about The Odyssey TVC, we wanted to show that there are no boundaries between real and fake, proving that real men have unique skills, and everyone is legendary at something.” Stick around for the original “The Odyssey” spot and credits following the jump. continued…

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Arnold Worldwide’s new campaign for ADT, “In My Mind’s Eye,” launches today with the debut TV spot “Burglary.”

The new campaign marks something of a departure for ADT, whose advertising strategy has historically stressed”the value of monitored protection in emergency incidents such as theft, fire, or carbon monoxide.” “In My Mind’s Eye” and the debut spot “Burglary” instead focus on the peace of mind ADT provides its customers with their protection from everyday security concerns.

In the 30 second spot, a couple are out to dinner when the woman realizes she may or may not have remembered to lock the back door. This distracts the man, who imagines he sees a troop of burglars at the restaurant making off with their valuables. Prompted by his reverie, he locks the back door using the ADT service offered on his mobile device. “Burglary” effectively demonstrates both a key feature of ADT’s service, and the peace of mind that comes with it — answering the questions, “Why would I want this?” and “What can it do for me?” in a simple, direct way.

The shift in approach came from insights showing “that people experience worry, like a low consistent hum distracting the person when they’re away from their homes,” says David Register, EVP/group creative director, Arnold Worldwide. “”The spot demonstrates how ADT relieves that angst by putting their customer in control and back in the moment.” Expect more ADT ads in a similar vein from Arnold in the future. “Burglary” rolls out today, with “radio, direct, digital, and social media creative appearing online beginning mid-February.” Credits after the jump. continued…

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Secret Weapon Marketing and Horizon Media have a new spot for Jack in the Box set to run regionally during the Super Bowl.

The spot introduces the new Bacon Insider burger, a burger with bacon built into the patty, on top of the burger, and (in case that’s not enough bacon) bacon mayo. To introduce the new burger, the spot takes viewers to Jack’s fantastical farm, complete with a brioche barn, curly fry trees, and a creature called a bork — that would be the pig/cow hybrid. The cheesy spot, which feels the need to sing/narrate everything you see, ends with the creatures saying “Moink” (moo+oink, get it?).

Iwona Alter, VP of menu strategy & innovation for Jack in the Box, says in a statement, “What better way to honor America’s favorite pigskin tradition than by giving America a bacon burger unlike any they’ve ever tasted before? We didn’t just put bacon on the burger. We put bacon in the burger, on top of the burger, underneath the burger and mixed it in the special bacon mayo sauce!”

While America has the drunk munchies is clearly the right time to introduce your new bacon, bacon and more bacon burger, so the regional Super Bowl ad makes sense, even if it likely cost Jack in the Box a small fortune. And the ads’ cheesy antics and bork creature should appeal to kids, especially kids who really love bacon.

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DDB has created a series of print and banner ads for Skittles celebrating the Seahawks in anticipation of the Super Bowl.

The straightforward ads claim that the “S” on Skittles (pictured in green in the ads) now stands for Seahawks. These ads continue the brand’s celebration of the Seattle Seahawks and their star Marshawn Lynch. Last night, Skittles began a charitable auction to benefit Lynch’s the Fam 1^st Family Foundation. The auction’s three lots include “24 packs of Skittles Seattle Mix (one of them signed by Marshawn Lynch) and one unique Skittles covered item, such as a football, a helmet or a megaphone.” The bidding began at $100, with one of the lots’ current high bid at $5,700. DDB’s print campaign will run “tomorrow in the Seattle Times, and on Saturday in the Tacoma Tribune and The Olympian, and they will take over Skittles’ entire existing digital media buy starting today.”

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