Hasta La Creative!

Most of the tactical marketing around the royal baby's birth has been a bit undercooked, but this headline from British bakery Warburtons is pretty decent. By WCRS in London.

CREDITS
Client: Warburtons
Agency: WCRS, London
Copywriter: Steve Hawthorne
Art Director: Katy Hopkins
Creative Director: Billy Faithfull
Photographer: George Logan
Client Services: Anna Covell
Media Buying: Mindshare

Whether you're a stranger, peer or client, Marty Weiss wants to be your friend. With that spirit in mind, Weiss has shot some short videos on the streets of New York City that feel less like a plug for the new name of his design and ad agency—Marty Weiss and Friends, of course—and more like the stunt that New York Mets ace Matt Harvey just pulled off for Jimmy Fallon. Like Harvey, Weiss comes across as calm and likable, unlike, say, vintage Stuttering John. Still, many people in the first video either stare incredulously or just plain walk away when Weiss first asks if they'll be his friend. Like any good adman, however, he wins over several strangers, including a drummer performing in Washington Square Park. Upcoming videos will take us to Weiss's West Village apartment, where he bonds with another familiar ad face, and the offices of clients. Look for them all on the agency's Facebook page and on YouTube, where you'll also find this little gem of a credentials reel that Weiss helped create at former shop Weiss Whitten Carroll Stagliano. Not before or since have we seen parents in an agency reel. Weiss certainly has a knack for branding his agency in a disarming way.

Last week we wrote about Heineken's JFK airport stunt, in which the brand dared travelers to drop their existing plans and go somewhere new and exotic with the push of a button—without knowing where. Today, we have video of some of the gameplay from the campaign, by Wieden + Kennedy in New York. It's pretty amusing. It begins, fittingly enough, with people who won't play the game—i.e., the sane ones to whom we can most easily relate. Then we get to the nutjobs—those outliers who are willing to make that call to friends and family and say they won't be visiting after all, but will be boarding a flight to who-knows-where at the request of people who've clearly been drinking. Most of the folks who take the plunge seem pretty happy with their new destination, although the guy going to Laos—he looks more than a little ambivalent.

CREDITS
Client: Heineken
Project: Departure Roulette

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Scott Vitrone, Ian Reichenthal, Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy
Creative Directors: Erik Norin, Eric Steele
Copywriter: Will Binder
Art Director: Jared White
Interactive Producer: Victoria Krueger
Executive Producer: Nick Setounski
Assistant Producer: Kristen Johnson
Account Team: Patrick Cahill, Jacqueline Ventura, Sydney Lopes
Social Strategist: Jessica Abercrombie
Project Manager: Rayna Lucier
Sr. Community Manager: Mike Vitiello
Director of Interactive Production: Brandon Kaplan
Head of Integrated Production: Lora Schulson
Business Affairs: Sara Jagielski, Lisa Quintela, Quentin Perry
Global Travel Director: Colleen Baker
Lead/Sr. Travel Consultant: Angela Wootan
Sr. Travel Consultant: Joelle Wainwright

Production Company: Legs Media
Director: Dan Levin
Post-Production Company: Legs Media In Collaboration with BrehmLabs

Editors: Frederic T. Brehm, Ian Park, Gabriela Tessitore
Sound Designer: Eric Hoffman
Colorists: Frederic T. Brehm, M. Scott Vogel
Information Display System Fabricator: Solari Corp.
Design & Build Team: The Guild

The only thing scarier than a 12-foot-tall Colin Firth in a British lake is a 40-foot-long dragon skull washed up on a British beach. Beachgoers in Dorset were surprised to come across the latter on Monday—as a skull the size of a London bus suddenly appeared on Charmouth beach, part of Dorset's Jurassic coast, famous for its dinosaur fossils.

Alas, it's not a real dragon skull—it's an ad from movie and TV streaming service BlinkBox, which is celebrating the arrival this week of the third season of HBO's epic Game of Thrones on its site. It took a team of three sculptors more than two months to design, construct and paint the skull, which was dreamed up by Taylor Herring, the same PR company that built the giant Mr. Darcy earlier this summer.

The skull—perhaps the coolest Game of Thrones-related marketing since the dragon-shadow newspaper ad—was inspired by the scene in the series when Arya Stark discovers a dragon skull in the dungeons of King's Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.

More images below and here. Via Copyranter.

The new man-in-a-furry-suit-and-big-ass-jeans incarnation of Smokey Bear is all about huggin' and lovin' strangers he meets in the woods. These days, who isn't? (Well, OK, Purity Bear for one.) Draftfcb in Los Angeles created this integrated Smokey campaign for the Ad Council and the U.S. Forest Service, and as always, the goal is conveying information on how to prevent forest fires. There are TV and radio spots, as well as print, outdoor and digital elements, including the hashtag #SmokeyBearHugs. Past versions of the iconic bear—and there have been many since the character was introduced in 1944—would cry, nag, lecture or simply stare down campers while brandishing a shovel to make a point about fire safety. (The recent CGI Smokey was a preachy douche.) Now, Huggy Smokey Bear literally embraces those who act responsibly, holding them lovingly in his ursine arms. At least he doesn't grin and bare it. The hugees mostly look uncomfortable and make weird faces. Perhaps they're mortified to be in such goofy PSAs.

CREDITS
Campaign: Smokey Bear/Wildfire Prevention

Client: The Advertising Council
Senior Vice President, Group Campaign Director: Michelle Hillman
Vice President, Campaign Director: Amy Gibson-Grant
Campaign Manager: Ricki Kaplan
Assistant Campaign Manager: Kristin Ellis

Client: U.S. Forest Service
Fire Prevention Program Manager: Helene Cleveland
Acting Fire Prevention Program Manager: Gwen Beavans

Client: National Association of State Foresters
Director of Communications: Genevieve O’Sullivan

Agency: Draftfcb, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Eric Springer
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Michael Bryce
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Jeff Maerov
Copywriter: Nick Micale
Art Director: Patrick Moore
Vice President, Executive Producer: Thomas Anderson
Producer: Jeffrey Perino
Executive Vice President, Group Management Director: Yolanda Cassity
Vice President, Management Director: Leila Cesario
Account Executive: Jennifer Levin

Production: Park Pictures
Directors: Terri Timely (Ian Kibbey, Corey Creasy)
Creative Consultant: Lance Acord
Executive Producer, Owner: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: Valerie Romer

Editing: Butcher
Editor: Teddy Gersten
Assistant Editor: Leah Turner
Producer: Chrissy Hamilton
Executive Producer: Rob Van

Effects: D Train (Smokey)
Creative Director: Ben Gibbs
Effects Supervisor: Jan Cillers
Producer: Shelby Wong
Coordinator: Chelsea Brewer

Effects: Alterian (Smokey)
Creature Effects, Smokey Suit Designer: Tony Gardner

It looks like Rebecca Black finally decided which seat to take—a seat in a Honda. The "Friday" singer just popped up in a Vine video from the automaker—part of a campaign by RPA that sends personalized Vines to Honda fans on Twitter who use the hashtag #wantnewcar.

"We were promised flying cars. I don’t see any … #wantnewcar," wrote Nick Miners. To which @Honda replied: "Hey @nickminers, we don't have those at the Honda Summer Clearance Event. But we have @MsRebeccaBlack!" In the Vine, Black suggests visiting a Honda dealer on Friday—"or whenever."

Check out more of the Honda Vines here.

Hey @nickminers, we don't have those at the Honda Summer Clearance Event. But we have @MsRebeccaBlack! http://t.co/SYKywDClZ5 #wantnewcar

— Honda (@Honda) July 15, 2013

In addition to the Vine promotion, the campaign features TV spots in which Honda dealers humorously respond to real tweets. The "Super Fan" spot replies to an actual tweet from actor Neil Patrick Harris, who asked for advice on selecting a minivan. Check out those ads, and some print work, below.

CREDITS
Client: Honda
Agency: RPA

Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Jason Sperling
Senior Vice President, Executive Producer, Content: Gary Paticoff
Vice President, Creative Director: Chuck Blackwell
Creative Director, Copy: Ken Pappanduros
Art Director: Ariel Shukert
Copywriter: Jen Winston
Senior Producer: Fran Wall
Production Coordinator: Grace Wang

Production Company: Recommended Media
Director: Chris Woods
Founder, CEO: Stephen Dickstein
Partners, Executive Producers: Phillip Detchmendy, Jeff Rohrer
Producer: Darrin Ball

Editing Company: The Reel Thing
Editors: Lance Pereira, Val Thrasher
Flame Artist: Moody Glasgow
Executive Producer: Doug Kleckner

Telecine: The Mill
Colorist: Adam Scott

Audio Post: Lime Studios
Mixer: Dave Wagg
Music: Wojahn Brothers

PRINT CREDITS
First insertion date: July 15, 2013

Agency: RPA
Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Jason Sperling
Creative Directors: Ken Pappanduros, Chuck Blackwell
Art Director: Suzie Yeranosyan
Copywriter: Jen Winston
Photographers: Civic: Joe Carlson; CR-V: Tony LaBruno; Accord: Springbox; Pilot: RPA CGi; Odyssey: Fulvio Bonavia
Art Buyer: Ginnie Assenza
Production Manager: Stephanie Speights

In this strange ad by Made Movement for Stonyfield, a woman with an Oompa-Loopa-ish complexion and a deeply annoying voice asks her lunchroom friend if she ever wonders about pesticides. Stonyfield fans like myself will recognize that a similar question is contained inside every yogurt container. But our protagonist gives it a good ponder anyway, and we are transported into her mind's eye. A farmer and his son are seen petting a cow, when three neon-colored dweebs wearing costumes that say "Pesticide" hop the fence to cause trouble. So, the Stonyfield farmer breaks out his kung-fu and defeats his brightly colored enemies by employing more cowbell. According to the release, "While most opt for a slick, stylish approach and keep verbiage vague such as 'Pure' or 'Natural,' this high-energy, color-saturated spot highlights Stonyfield's commitment." Indeed, it does look like someone vomited highlighters on it. And it does stand out in a category full of real cows in realistically colored fields. I guess Stoneyfield is finally going for the stoner crowd.

CREDITS
Client: Stonyfield

Agency: Made Movement
Chief Creative Officer, Partner: Dave Schiff
Chief Design Officer, Partner: John Kieselhorst
Chief Digital Officer, Partner: Scott Prindle
Creative Director: Claire Wyckoff
Chief Strategy Officer: Graham Furlong
Art Director: Marybeth Ledesma
Writers: David Satterfield, Claire Wyckoff
Consulting Head of Integrated Production: Chris Kyriakos
Junior Integrated Producer: Isaac Karsen
Visual Effects Company: Ingenuity Engine
Music Company: Beacon Street Studios
Composers: Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau
Sound Design Company: Soundelux
Editorial Company: NO6

Business Manager: Jennifer DeCastro
Vice President, Account Production: Rachael Donaldson
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Jim Hosking
Executive Producers: Kevin Byrne, Dan Duffy
Line Producer: Leora Glass
Director of Photography: Marten Tedin

Editor: Dan Aronin
Assitant Editor: Doug Scott
Executive Producer (Editorial Company): Crissy DeSimone

Lead Flame: David Lebensfeld
Visual Effects Producer: Oliver Taylor
Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Siggy Ferstl

Sound Designer: Harry Cohen
Audio Finishing: Lime Studios
Audio Engineer: Sam Casas

Re-enter the dragon? Johnnie Walker and BBH resurrect Bruce Lee via CGI technology (and footage of lookalike actor Danny Chan) for this boring Chinese commercial. The spot, approved by Lee's daughter Shannon, has proven predictably polarizing. Some critics trot out the old objection that showing dead stars in ads is in poor taste, while others claim the memory of Lee—a paragon of physical fitness and athleticism before his death 40 years ago this month, at age 32—is somehow tarnished by his doppelgänger pitching whisky.

The bigger problem is that the ad is dull, something its inspiration never was. Fake Lee walks around a Hong Kong balcony, runs a hand through some water in a pool and mouths lines like, "Dragons never die, because dragons draw power from water. Water. It's like instincts … You cannot grasp hold of it. But let it flow and it has the power to change the world." Dude, drop-kick the faux-losophy … you're supposed to be Bruce Freakin' Lee! The guy was a human CGI machine who routinely defied gravity with furiously elegant fighting moves he choreographed himself. How can you bring him back and not put him in motion—shirtless, freaky, fists-and-feet-flying motion!?

Heck, they should have shown CGI Bruce battling barehanded against Undead Audrey Hepburn—or at least something more groovy than what's on display here. Far from being disrespectful, I believe a highly physical, even frenetic approach would have honored Lee and captured the essence of the man. Bruce Lee was a mischievous badass who reveled in his sensational stunts and brought a transcendent sense of subversive fun to his movies. His violent yet controlled release of kinetic energy forged his connection with audiences around the world. Flying through the air while screaming at the top of his lungs was his defining spiritual statement. Instead, the spirits brand pours us prattle about being a … "game changer"?! Bruce would have demanded such jargon expunged from his film scripts and employed his unshod feet to smack the silly screenwriters upside their heads.

Sadly, the ad fails because Lee is present in body—sort of—but not in spirit.

Witness the cautionary prankvertising in this viral spot for a Belgian bank warning you not to give out financial information online. Recounting more than just a simple case of credit-card fraud, the video shows how one truly creepy guy befriends an ordinary Belgian dude on Facebook—who was stupid enough to give out his deets in response to a phishing email—and tries to steal his life. Not content to post hilarious or insulting messages on the poor guy's hacked Facebook page, creepy bank rep has facial prosthetics made so he looks exactly like his victim, and starts posting pictures that the guy's wife probably won't find too funny. Then the doppelgänger orders an antique harp, has it delivered and signs for it, eventually appearing face to face with our our woebegotten protagonist to serious freak the crap out of him. Duval Guillaume Modem, the same agency that was behind "A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square," brings the whole thing to life in a chilling way. Those who heed the warning can check out tips at safeinternetbanking.be to make sure they don't become the subject of the next freakishly disturbing identity theft.

Hey, David Hasselhoff, want to make a cheesy video? That rhetorical question came from East Coast convenience-store chain Cumberland Farms. His answer? Well, what do you think? The Hoff, long past the drunken sad-clown days of eating burgers off the floor, is firmly rooted once again in a self-deprecating happy-jokester period. He worked with Cumberland Farms last summer, and according to reports from the brand's ad agency, Full Contact in Boston, increased the chain's iced-coffee sales by a whopping 147 percent. (Thieves also became quite enamored with the cardboard cutouts of the Hoff placed outside the New England/Florida chain's stores.) This new campaign—more of a goofball Lonely Island-style music video—has the Hoff hang-gliding, skiing with dolphins and vamping on the beach, all while singing (er, "singing") and holding a ginormous Cumberland Farms Farmhouse Blend iced java. The clip already has 150,000 YouTube views and earned the Hoff and the marketer a prime spot on CNN's morning news show. (He called in by "surprise" on Monday. Watch the clip after the jump and see him get New Day's "When You Wish Upon a Star Award" for making somebody's dream come true.) The ad hits all the Hoff's infamous marks, like shots of his bare, preternaturally tanned chest, melodramatic song lyrics, wind-blown hair and knowing winks at the camera. Thirsty yet?