Hasta La Creative!

Just when we thought we were Super Bowl’d out, we find something that makes the takes the magic of this year’s ads and reimages it—IN LEGO!

British animation house A+C Studios is behind the Brick Bowl—a three-minute journey through some of this year’s Super Bowl ads, edited together as a story. It took them 36 hours following the final whistle to deliver the video, which it calls “a new take on the world’s most expensive advertising space.”

Take a look below as some of the most memorable spots (nine to be exact), including Snickers, Toyota, T-Mobile and Bud Light, are transformed into Legos! To prove they weren’t cheating, there’s even a mini-Katy Perry halftime show.

They left out the Nationwide kid. But that’s because everything is awesome.

CREDITS
Director: Dan Richards
Story: Josh Hicks, Dan Richards
Producer: Liu Batchelor
Executive Producers: Robyn Viney, Julian Hirst
Animation Director: James ‘Jamesy’ Harvey
Production Manager: Sim Bhachu
Editor: Stuart Clark
Sound design: Jareth Turner, Karl Aiden Bourne
Voice: Dave Eric Smith
Additional Voices: Stuart Clark
Storyboard Artists: Dayle Sanders, Josh Hicks
Stop Motion Animators: James Harvey, Barnaby Dixon, Dave Cubitt, Roos Mattaar, Laura Tofarides, Jordan Wood
Model Makers: Jess Linares, Astrid Goldsmith, Tiffany Monk, Becky Smith, Kyle Roberts
Stage Build: Martin Richards
Production Assistants: Bobby Sparks, Chad Mihaylov, Charlie-Evaristo-Boyce
Digital Animation and VFX: Stuart Clark, Dayle Sanders, Oliver David Lister, Kim Dunne, Nat Urwin
Catering: Rory Fletcher

In the mini Super Bowl of regional ads, GrubHub is introducing a flying burrito that crashes into the heads of anyone foolish enough to order food by phone.

The message is anything but subtle: Order via GrubHub’s mobile app or risk bodily harm. “Burrito,” from lead agency Barton F. Graf 9000 in New York, will air in five markets during the third quarter of the game, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.

The agency is also breaking a new ad during NBC’s never-ending pre-game show. That spot, “Wrong Order,” features an irate guy who chases after a delivery man on a moped after he gets bologna sandwich instead of cobb salad.

Here’s a look at both ads:

The Subservient Chicken may be long gone, but its spirit of unquestioning obedience lives on at one of the agencies that spawned it.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s staffers in Stockholm, Sweden, are subjecting themselves to the musical whims of Twitter users this week, in a self-promotional campaign titled Subservient Speaker. Tweet a song title to @cpbscandinavia, with the hashtag #subservientspeaker, and a speaker at the agency will play it.

It’s a not-so-subtle nod to the classic Subservient Chicken campaign that CP+B created with The Barbarian Group for Burger King in 2004, featuring streaming video of a humanoid chicken that followed online orders. Last year, a sequel by WPP’s David saw the Chicken return, in a commercial, as a defiant prima donna.

So far, the handful of requests under the #SubservientSpeaker hashtag include reasonable picks like the Beastie Boys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Holy Ghost (plus that X Ambassadors and Jamie N. Commons song, “Jungle,” from all the Beats By Dre ads).

The only rule that CP+B posted: “No Coldplay please.” That seems shortsighted, given the wealth of worse options, like Creed. And for an illustration of the potential danger in turning over the DJ keys to the masses, just look at the smartass who immediately demanded, in Swedish, a 200-minute mix of ambient techno from Matthew Hawtin.

Why is the agency bothering with thos in the first place? “We’ve run out of inspiration,” reads the promo. CP+B certainly isn’t alone in that regard, but it does get kudos for admitting it.

Speedo delivers a bit of a surprise package in its latest advertising.

Meet 91-year-old Masters swimmer Jurgen Schmidt, one star of the brand’s “Fueled by Water” campaign, which focuses on the joy and freedom people experience by participating in aquatic activities. Schmidt hits the pool at 5 a.m. most days, has competed for 40 years, and is a bit reminisenct of Walt Stack, the 80-year-old jogger who starred in Nike’s very first “Just do it” ad.

A whole bunch of web videos in the two- to three-minute range present personal stories. In addition to Schmidt, the Speedo campaign introduces more than a dozen other swimmers, surfers and divers, as well as a paddleboarder and a lifeguard.

The brand is often associated with elite competitors like Olympians Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin, and they’re in the campaign, too. (It’s also frequently mocked for its snug-fitting men’s swimsuits. Note my predictable quip above.) But this push aims to broaden Speedo’s appeal and “start a new conversation about why people love the water and celebrate their passions,” says David Lai, CEO and creative director at Hello Design, which created the campaign. “Our strategy is to resonate with a wider audience and have people think about Speedo a little differently.”

Schmidt symbolizes swimming as a lifelong sport. “Many fitness swimmers tell us they’re inspired to see octo- and even nanogenarians at the pool and at meets,” says Lai, “so we set out to find a story of a senior swimmer. Poring over articles in magazines and online that featured Masters swimmers, we [selected] Jurgen because he just exuded the love of swimming and loved to talk about all aspects of it.”

Speedo is smart to present everyday athletes and folks just having fun. We know we’ll never win gold in the 50-meter freestyle, but everyone can relate to Schmidt’s enthusiasm and heartfelt vow to “compete until the end.” What’s more, brands like Speedo and Beagle Street deserve praise for using seniors as more than props or the butt of jokes.

“As we were setting up one of our shots, Jurgen asked if it was OK if he kept swimming his workout even though we weren’t shooting,” recalls Lai. “We were worried he would get tired, but he just kept going and going. It was truly impressive, and I think the entire crew was inspired by his positive energy.”

Check out the anthem spot below.

How would you feel if, during high-tension moments in your favorite movies, the cameras cut to slow motion and the lead actors turned to stare right at you?

Now you might find out, thanks to a new campaign by from Fox Entertainment’s movie channel, FXM. Production company Imaginary Forces took key frames from films that are slated to air on the network, and then used 3-D animation techniques to manipulate the characters’ faces so they’d be looking at the camera.

The 10 spots, which are 20 seconds each, are loosely tied together under FX’s “Fearless” positioning, which the behind-the-scenes video says allowed Imaginary Forces to “get strange” in its approach to teasing the network’s programming.

Some of the cuts are more effective than others. Daniel Craig’s scene from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is particularly eerie. Will Ferrell’s from Step Brothers is particularly funny. None actually captures fear quite as well as Kevin Bacon’s in X-Men: First Class. Jesse Eisenberg’s in The Social Network might take the cake for most creepy (or maybe it’s just the whole idea of Facebook ruling the world that’s still unsettling).

Regardless, it’s a nifty experiment. As for whether it’ll make you want to watch any of the movies again—let’s just say Bruce Willis’s character in the Sixth Sense is still dead.

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CREDITS
Client: FX Networks
Designed and Produced by: Imaginary Forces
Creative Directors: Tosh Kodama, Peter Frankfurt
Art Director: Dan Meehan
Executive Producer: Ben Apley
Head of Production: Claudina Mercado
Producers: Terry O’Gara, JJ Gerber
Designers: Tosh Kodama, John Kim, Ryan Massiah, Kina Choi
Junior Designer: Wes Yang
Design Intern: Ryan Massiah
Animators: Dan Meehan, Kina Choi
3D Model Builders: DeAndre Moore, Jamin Joseph-Lackie
Compositors: Orlando Costa, Sam Cividanis, Ben Hurand
Editors: Ryan Hensley, Kina Choi
Illustrator: Alejandro Lee
Inferno Artist: Rod Basham
Photographer: Ryan Speers
Coordinators: Nicole Zschiesche, Dominick Guglielmo
Copywriter: Kyle Barron-Cohen
Music Company: Easy Feel
Composer: Mark Share

Ready for more screaming, twitchy muscles, explosions and horrifying hallucinations? Good, because Terry Crews just made another Old Spice commercial.

The ad, by Wieden + Kennedy and directors Fatal Farm, continues the brand’s “Get Shaved in the Face” campaign for its electric shavers, which Crews helped to introduce early last year in a murderous spot with Little Terry Crews. This time around, we catch Terry right in the middle of a nightmare—and when he wakes up, it only gets worse.

We caught up with Kate DiCarlo, Procter & Gamble’s communications manager for beauty care, to chat about the spot and Terry’s popularity as an Old Spice spokesman. Check out that Q&A below.

AdFreak: How does this spot evolve last year’s “Get Shaved in the Face” campaign?
Kate DiCarlo: “Nightmare Face” brings back Terry Crews to continue the “Get Shaved in the Face” story. This time around, we wake up in Terry’s nightmare, which revolves around unruly face-hair and a familiar face as his wife. Even if it takes a lot of yelling, we’re here to remind guys about the importance of keeping their scraggly hairs in check by using Old Spice Electric Shavers. We want them to know that we have a variety of options that they can choose from, depending on their shaving needs.

Why do you think Terry has such longevity as an Old Spice spokesman?
Terry is a long-time fan favorite, and we’re always thrilled when we find another opportunity to work together. There’s no one else out there like him—with that explosive personality, impressive yelling power and manly chest muscles. Our fans are always asking what’s next for Terry and Old Spice, and so we’re excited to give them more of what they’re wanting, while also helping them shaverize their beards, which results in more handsome face parts.

Fatal Farm handled the direction, editing and visual effects. What do they bring to the table?
We love Fatal Farm and have worked with them in the past on various projects. We love them because they take absurdly ridiculous and ultimately profoundly stupid humor as seriously as we do. Stupid humor is serious business, and they are seriously smart about stupid things.

An engineer ventures out during a thunderstorm and literally catches lightning in a bottle to power the Acura ILX in this cinematic spot from Mullen.

Johnny Green of Reset Productions—much lauded for his Under Armour ad last year with ballerina Misty Copeland—directed the automaker’s 60-second clip, which also features an orchestral reworking of the Pixies’ 1988 track “Where Is My Mind” (which pops up quite a bit in ads). In fact, Joey Santiago of the Pixies recorded this version with Acura.

“Innovative performance is a core quality of the Acura brand, and the spot captures that essence in a visually compelling and emotional way,” says Acura general manager Mike Accavitti.

Indeed, the music and images are well matched, and Green’s storytelling is top notch. Even so, the effect is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. We’ve got lightning blots, a zippy car, a stirring soundtrack … yet the spot feels restrained—bottled up, if you will—when it could have been dazzling.

Ah well, this is just the first strike in a broader Acura campaign themed “Catch It If You Can.” Perhaps subsequent ads will pack more of a charge.

CREDITS
Brand: Acura
Client: Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President, General Manager
Client: Ed Beadle, Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Leila Cesario, National Advertising Manager
Car Model:  2016 ILX
Spot Title: Bottle

Agency:  Mullen LA
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Margaret Keene
Creative Director/Art: Paul Foulkes
Creative Director/Writer: Adam Calvert
Sr. Art Director: Sean Stell
Writer: Natasha Hugeback
SVP, Director of Integrated Production: Jon Drawbaugh
Senior Broadcast Producer: Meagen Moore
Content Producer: Elaine Russell
Business Affairs/Music Supervisor: Danica Bates
Managing Director: Cameron McNaughton
VP, Account Director: Nicole Neopolitan
Account Supervisor: Courtney Calvert
Account Executive: Kylie Mugg
Product Specialist: Curtis Milward

Production Company: Reset
Director: Johnny Green
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Producer: Betsy Oliver
DP: Paul Cameron

Editorial: RPS
Editor: Damion Clayton
Assistant Editor: Benjamin Cline
Producer: Rebecca Baker

Color Correct: A52
Colorist: Paul Yacono

Animation/Graphics:
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Andy McKenna

VFX: A52
Head of Production: Kim Christensen
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Audio Post: Lime Studio
Mixer: Joel Waters

Audio Post: 740 Sound Design
Original Music: The Pixies, Joey Santiago
Name of Track: Where is My Mind

Moody black-and-white photography. Whispered dialogue. Ethereal soundtrack. Pouty orgasm faces. Sensual mid-air ballet.

Amazingly, this isn’t a perfume or fashion ad from the ’90s but Cheil Worldwide’s latest spot for Samsung Mobile, supporting the brand’s Gear Circle Bluetooth headset.

You know you’re in for a wild ride right from the start, when some skinny dude, chillin’ on the rug in front of a cozy fireplace, engages the product and a wraithlike blonde woman—previously unseen—flies up toward the ceiling, as if she’d sprung out of his very soul. The guy’s also suddenly and inexplicably shirtless at that point, naturally. Soon, he’s also soaring above the ground.

“A bit much for a pair of headphones, don’t you think?” one YouTube commenter asks.

Perhaps. And yet, this stuff is so self-consciously goofy and packed with artsy pretense—not to mention very well made, by Keystone Films director Liukh—that it’s tough to look away.

“Once you belong to the circle, you’ll never want to go back,” a voiceover says at the end. A British accented voiceover—awesome!

That line is vaguely creepy. (A slap at the cult of Mac?) Still, the spot’s blithely campy approach helps it take flight. It’s sure to get a rise out of viewers.

Deutsch LA unleashes some potent adorbs for Dr Pepper in this ad starring a super-shaggy “mop dog”—a Hungarian herding pooch known as a Puli with a dreadlock-style corded coat.

Try as it might, our lovable hero just can’t seem to fit in. The stray hitches a ride with a Dr Pepper delivery dude, played by Domingo Molina, who memorably essayed a villain in early episodes of Breaking Bad, and they head for the pound. Will the guy keep the misfit pooch, validating the brand’s new tagline, “Always be one of a kind,” and giving us a three-hanky happy ending? C’mon, Krazy-8, what’s your play?

This stuff is hokey and sentimental, manipulative in the extreme—one more example of a brand taking the easiest route to play on consumers’ emotions. (Why not just drive the beast to the Super Bowl so it can frolic with the cuddly canine commercial stars from Anheuser-Busch and Go Daddy?)

That said, director Simon McQuoid of Imperial Woodpecker unfurls the tale, and the tail, with understated aplomb. And that scrappy scamp is so darn cute … sniff … I can barely see the screen as I type this.

Oh man, that mop dog will wring every last tear from your eyes.

State Farm has been running the “Magic Jingle” advertising campaign for a while, in which customers are able to summon their agents out of thin air in times of crisis by singing the famous jingle: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”

What’s been left unspoken—until now—is how weird the scene must be back in the State Farm offices, with agents constantly disappearing while chatting with colleagues.

This new spot from Translation looks at the campaign from the latter angle, comically checking in on disappearing agents in State Farm offices across the country. The spot was directed by Roman Coppola, with longtime David Fincher cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth handling DP duties.

“There really are endless jokes to make and directions to explore with the concept of teleportation,” Translation creative director Nick Sonderup tells AdFreak.

“We knew the spot worked because there were just so many ways to execute it. On the surface, the idea that a State Farm agent will be there no matter when you need them is only one part of the story. When you consider what those agents might be in the middle of when you sing the jingle, and they’re summoned to your side—that’s when it clicked and we knew things could get really fun.”

“It’s also a response to the way the ‘Magic Jingle’ campaign has become part of culture,” adds Patty Morris, State Farm marketing director of brand content. (Indeed, just look at all the “Magic Jingle” parodies on Vine.)

“We’ve seen so many terrific user-generated parodies and creative ways of approaching the idea. We took the opportunity to re-think it ourselves, and the result was a completely fresh piece of creative that stays true to our original strategy.”

CREDITS
Brand/Client: State Farm
Campaign Title: State Farm Magic Jingle
Spot Title: “Magic Jingle Disappearing Agents”
First Air Date: 1/10/15

Agency: Translation   
Founder & CEO: Steve Stoute
Chief Creative Officer: John Norman
Creative Director: Nick Sonderup
Creative Director: Andy Grant
Art Director: Allison Bulow
Copywriter: Jameson Rossi
Partner, Strategy: John McBride
Director of Content Production: Miriam Franklin
Director of Business Management: Thalia Tsouros
VP Account Director: Susanna Swartley
Account Supervisor: Sara Daino
Assistant Account Executive: Jake Thorndike
Producer: Andy Murillo
Junior Producer: Kristen Cooler

Production: The Directors Bureau
Director: Roman Coppola
DP: Jeff Cronenweth
Managing Director/Executive Producer: Lisa Margulis
Executive Producer/Head of Production: Elizabeth Minzes
Producer: Mary Livingston

Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors NY
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Alexandra Debricon
Post Executive Producer:  Eve Kornblum
Post Producer: Lisa Barnable

VFX Company:  The Mill
VFX Artist: Gavin Wellsman, Jeff Butler
VFX Executive Producer: Boo Wong
VFX Producer: Colin Moneymaker

Audio Post: Heard City
Mixer: Keith Reynaud, Mike Vitacco
Executive Producer: Gloria Pitagorsky
Producer: Sasha Awn

Sound Design: Henryboy
Sound Designer: Bill Chesley
Executive Producer: Kate Gibson

Original Music: Beacon Street
Composers:  Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau
Executive Producers: Adrea Lavezzoli and Leslie Dilullo

Media: OMD

State Farm Marketing Director, Brand Content: Patty Morris
State Farm Advertising Manager: Troy Johnson
State Farm Marketing Analyst, Mass Media Brand Content: Christine Williams
State Farm Marketing Analyst, Mass Media Brand Content: Jeff Greeneberg