French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is preparing to play against a robot. Surprisingly, it's not Roger Federer, renowned for his robotically stiff commercial acting and machine-like winning ways (including those 17 Grand Slam singles titles). Today at 11 a.m. ET, at a practice session for the French Open, Tsonga will take on an actual automaton, which will try to hit shots past the world's eighth-ranked player based on tweets supplied by fans as part of a promotion for banking giant BNP Paribas (and agency We Are Social).
Fans visiting the Tweet & Shoot site can log in with Twitter and drag and drop tennis-ball icons to set up virtual shots, which are then encoded as hashtagged tweets which the on-court bionic Borg will decipher—and then spit out a real ball for Tsonga to hit. Users are also encouraged to include messages of encouragement to Jo-Wilfried, who has never won a Grand Slam event. Forty fans chosen by BNP's social communities are guaranteed to have their shots included at Tsonga's session with the robot. The rest will be picked at random from among the tweets. Folks with no lives whatsoever can check out Tweet & Shoot's streaming coverage of the event at the link above. Maybe the bot will blow a fuse, leap over the net and swat Tsonga like a fly.
Droga5 and publisher Hachette Australia recently bestowed upon Qantas frequent fliers an anachronistic little gift that will come in handy aboard Qantas flights when approved electronic devices must be completely turned off.
The agency's Sydney office packaged together a 10-book box set of previously published paperbacks "specifically edited to last just as long as each of Qantas's key routes." It's a fun idea, and Droga is playing the nostalgia factor to the hilt. "In this world of Kindles and iPads, it seems that the last bastion of the humble paperback novel is actually at 40,000 feet," says David Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5 Sydney. "You only need to look at the bulging shelves at any airport bookstore. Maybe it's the fact that everything seems so far removed from the real world up there."
All 10 books are by Australian authors: James Castrission, Tony Cavanaugh, Sean Fewster, Kimberley Freeman, Lian Hearn, William McInnes, Peter FitzSimons, Jack Marx, Rob Mundle and Roland Perry. The collection spans adventure, crime, women's fiction, literary, history and romance. The books are meant to correspond to the lengths of 10 popular Qantas flights (Sydney to Dubai, Melbourne to London, Perth to Singapore, etc.), with meals and other breaks factored in. Designer Paul Belford created a unique cover for each book.
"One of the greatest challenges in publishing is to remind people of the pleasure that reading brings, and that even though the online world is growing, there is still a romance in the printed page," says Fiona Hazard, publishing director of Hachette Australia. "At Hachette, we are always looking for new ways to bring stories and voices to life, so when Droga5 approached us to discuss this idea we jumped straight in. It's been great fun working with them to get this project off the ground."
One of the better Playboy ads of recent years was last year's "Elevator" spot from DDB Paris and directors The Perlorian Brothers. Here are two more ads done in the same style. The earlier spot sold shower gel for men; these are for Playboy's VIP fragrances for men and women. Playboy is at its best when it's not taking itself too seriously. That's (mostly) true here, plus there's the added bonus of a nice structure that keeps things lively. Credits below.
CREDITS Client: Playboy Fragrances Advertising Agency: DDB, Paris Executive Creative Director: Alexandre Hervé Copywriter: Alexis Benoit Art Director: Paul Kreitmann Production Company: Les Télécréateurs Director: The Perlorian Brothers Account Director: Xavier Mendiola Planner: Fabien Leroux Sound: THE Client Team Director: Jurgen Scharfenstein Agency Producers: Emilie Talpaert, Sophie Megrous Account Team: Julie Garguillo, Timothee Desruelles
To hype its inaugural Comedy Week, which begins Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, YouTube turned to an ad agency known for generating its share of laughs: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The San Francisco-based shop's New York office whipped up a load of ads (many of them :15s) that have been airing in recent weeks starring the Comedy Week's actors and comedians. Check out a whole bunch of those spots below. (At the bottom is a longer promo with Arnold Schwartzenegger, which YouTube produced in-house, but we have to include because it's awkwardly hilarious.)
Goodby also designed a special YouTube masthead that will run all day Sunday to promote that night's kickoff. It shows a bathroom wall inside a comedy club. You can scroll around, click different doodles and find Easter eggs like Venn diagrams for classic jokes; a mounted moose head who doubts Comedy Week will be funny (he says things like "I have serious doubts about the funniness of this week" and "the humor is very subtle … and by subtle I mean unfunny"); and a phone number—(888) 303-3771—you can call for a good time (if you're not having one already).
The first two-hour live stream starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. New shows will air each night this week at midnight ET through Saturday. Guests will include Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Seth Rogen, Comedy Central's Tim and Eric, Conan O'Brien, Rainn Wilson, Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman, and YouTube stars The Gregory Brothers, Rhett & Link and Ryan Higa.
Schwartzenegger spot produced in-house by YouTube:
The best performance by a cat in a TV commercial this week goes to the fluffy mess in this new British spot for eyewear maker Specsavers. Not that the veterinarian here would know—he's not clear on what a cat is anymore. Specsavers, of course, has a long and proud history of offbeat commercials. The best mistaken-animal-identity spot, though, remains the brilliant raccoon commercial from Sears Optical.
There are now even more "Dumb Ways to Die"—and smart ways to live—as McCann Australia has made a video game out of its beloved, superviral train-safety ad from last year. "Starring all the characters from the viral hit Dumb Ways to Die for Metro Trains Melbourne, the game allows players to flick piranhas away from a character's private parts and defend another from a snake attack among other ways to avoid being dumb," the agency says. "Players can also pledge to 'not do dumb stuff around trains' at the click of a button." The game, developed by McCann in collaboration with local developer Barrel Of Donkeys, has been the No. 1 free app in Australia for a week, and is charting in 79 other countries. John Mescall, executive creative director of McCann Australia, said: "With the main Dumb Ways to Die video now close to 46 million views, we wanted to give young people another platform on which to enjoy the characters and, more importantly, to continue to remind them that being dumb around trains can and should be avoided."
How often would your Facebook activity get you beaten, tortured or beheaded in the world's most repressive countries? A lot more often than you'd think. Amnesty International of New Zealand and agency Colenso BBDO of Auckland created an app called "Trial by Timeline" that analyzes your Facebook posts and lets you know how you might be brutalized in countries that persecute people based on everything from sexual orientation and religion to drinking and writing for the media. (I was beaten and tortured more than 270 times, but at least I wasn't beheaded or stoned to death.) It's a morbidly fascinating way to explore the liberties most of us take for granted. The app actually came out late last year but didn't get much attention until it was featured recently by The Inspiration Room and a few other sites.
What could be better than an Auto-Tune leprechaun singing about his magically delicious cereal? Nothing! This 15-second Lucky Charms ad, which mixes current commercial footage, vintage images and goofy-great vocal manipulation, will air during high-profile TV shows this week like the Billboard Music Awards and the season finales of American Idol and The Voice. Its inspiration came from major doses of hallucinogenic drugs and/or a St. Patrick's Day promotion for the General Mills brand that included a mashup music video that went viral with nearly 1 million views. There were many hot-shot creative hands on deck here (see the credits below), but all you really need to know is that the result is super groovy. Watch the full video for a trippy walk down memory lane.
CREDITS —Ad Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Production: Pat-Man Studios Composer: Jeff Elmassian —Video YouTube's Machinima channel and Melodysheep, mashup maker
Hyundai is getting a lot of coverage for putting Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" in an ad for its Assurance Connected Care in-car customer-service program, largely because the late reggae icon's music is so infrequently licensed for ads. The automaker is also sponsoring a remixed version (done by Bob's son Stephen Marley and DJ/producer Jason Bentley) of Marley's Legend album, which features the song, and a three-minute documentary about the remix project. Despite all the fuss, what strikes me most about the spot, from ad agency Innocean, is how bland it is. It's not bad per se, but the music takes a back seat, as it were, to an informative but uninspired voiceover ("What if your car could help schedule its own service? Call for help with your exact location if you ever ran into trouble out there?") and sight gags involving signs that read "No worries" and "It's all good." The only special element is the song, and it's basically background music, like a tune playing on the car's radio. Any upbeat track would have been equally effective. This is Bob Friggin' Marley! Lively up yourself! Why not seed something more, you know, high concept?
What does an ad agency do when it realizes Peregrine falcons have laid eggs on its roof? It whips up a cool logo, builds a Tumblr, chooses a hashtag, sets up a webcam, and turns the whole thing into a mini social-media event. It all began at Campbell Ewald a few weeks ago. Today, at approximately 5:54 a.m. CT, the first egg hatched. Check out all the #CEfalcons action over at cefalcons.tumblr.com. There's some cute videos on there, although it's not going completely smoothly for the first baby falcon (called an "eyasses," actually). In one video, "Mamma Falcon tries her best to force the new baby back into its egg, less than three hours after it was born." BBDO had better guard its National Geographic account closely in the wake of this.
Is JCPenney stocking up on slacks with extra room in the crotch? I'm inclined to think so, judging from its ballsy move of releasing a feel-good commercial from Young & Rubicam thanking consumers for "coming back" to the troubled retailer just two weeks after an ad apologizing for missteps under ousted CEO Ron Johnson. Many web commenters have posed the obvious question: "Isn't it too soon to say thank you?" Sure is. Just do the math, Einstein! Penney is set to release first-quarter earnings this week that reflect a 16 percent sales slump following a $4.3 billion loss in sales last year. In fairness, the chain has begun making changes under new CEO Myron Ullman, reviving coupons, sales and its St. John's Bay collection. And its recent mea culpa and #JCPlistens social outreach campaign have been well received. Still, two weeks of anything—and Penney offers no particulars—won't right this ship. Heck, even two good quarters probably wouldn't be enough. That doesn't mean I don't applaud JCP's moxie. For all its muted, mom-centric imagery, the new spot bespeaks a certain swaggering style—i.e., "We're back because we say we're back!" At least there's some substance here, with Penney returning to its roots and focusing on core values. That beats another troubled retailer's strategy of tossing Robin Thicke and phallic symbols into a video and hoping for the best.
Closing the books on a yearlong anniversary celebration double-stuffed with buzzworthy work, Oreo is now launching "Wonderfilled," a colorful new campaign celebrating sharing. The TV spots, Oreo's first from The Martin Agency since signing with the agency late last year, are infectiously catchy thanks to the custom soundtrack featuring Adam Young of Owl City fame. The premise is that passing along an Oreo could probably turn all manner of murderous beasts into kind-hearted souls. Who knew? "The ability to wonder is something we all share, but too often forget or ignore," the agency writes in its description of the campaign strategy. "Wonderfilled captures the universal human feeling that kids are naturally so good at, yet adults need to be reminded of: a sense of wonder in the world." Check out the anthem spot below, along with a shorter version and a print piece after the jump.
If the crowds seem larger than usual at a certain McDonald's in Warsaw, Poland, chalk it up to the menu. We're talking about a billboard-sized menu, hand-drawn in multicolored chalk twice daily by graffiti artist Stefan Szwed-Stronzynski as part of a campaign cooked up by the local office of DDB, art studio Good Looking and Krewcy Krawcy Productions. The goal, per the creative team, is to capture "the freshness of McDonald's food" and the breadth of its offerings in a highly flexible way. I'd say they've succeeded, but no matter what this McD's is serving, the menu itself is the special of the day.
When Coca-Cola discovered that part of its classic logo looks like the Danish flag, the brand (or at least agency McCann Copenhagen) decided to make an interactive airport ad that dispenses flags. Why? Apparently it's a Danish tradition to greet arriving travelers by waving flags, and Coke wanted to help make a bigger show of the fact that passengers were arriving in Denmark, ranked as "the happiest country in the world." You can watch the results in the case study below. I personally doubt this hidden flag was a real "discovery" on Coke's part so much as a forced connection, but it's a nice gesture.
It’s been viewed a million times since last night alone and has single-handedly resurrected the voice of troubled literary genius David Foster Wallace, bringing his words to a global audience that might not even recognize his name. And it was all done without permission. “This Is Water,” a cinematic interpretation of Wallace’s bleak-yet-inspiring 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, has quickly become one of the week’s most passed-around videos. It was created by The Glossary, a small video production shop in Los Angeles. We wanted to know the story behind the video, and the team that created it was kind enough to answer a few questions. Check out the video below and our Q&A with the creators after the jump.
The following email Q&A from AdFreak was answered by The Glossary's Matthew Freidell, director; Allison Freidell, producer; and Jeremy Dunning, producer.
AdFreak: How did the idea come about to create a short film from "This Is Water"?
The Glossary: After suffering through a particularly awful commencement address at his own college graduation, Matt came across DFW’s speech online and it really struck a chord. Ever since then, he’s listened to it periodically to remind him of the core message. A short film seemed the perfect way to spread this message to a wider audience.
This is a pretty ambitious undertaking, trying to enhance something that's already so powerful without visuals. Did you ever worry that even with all your skills, you might not do it justice?
Absolutely we were worried! Wallace has an extremely passionate following and we knew it wouldn’t be easy to adapt the original version. We couldn’t use the entire 20-minute speech since we didn’t have the budget, and that length of video is tough to release online. We had a ton of long conversations about what to cut, and it was probably the most difficult part of the whole process. However, we encourage anyone who enjoyed our video to seek out the complete text and experience the full message.
What did you have to do to get permission to use the audio?
We had little to no budget for this project and we knew that the publishing house was going to be really skeptical of our little company’s request to utilize his work. We had faith in our vision for the video and that once it was complete they would see that this was something made with the best intentions in mind. We are in no way making any money directly from this video; it was purely a passion project. While we had high hopes for this, we could have never seen all of this attention coming. Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Did you give yourself a budget to work from?
The whole budget came out of our pockets, but we had an amazing group of friends who helped us along the way. The cast worked for a small amount knowing that the project was something we were incredibly passionate about.
Were the talent auditioned, or are they just friends of the agency?
The main actors auditioned; everyone else was cast based off their look. We got extremely lucky with the talent of the cast. They all were able to communicate a lot with no dialogue and not much screen time.
For many of the commenters on your video, this seems to be their first exposure not only to this speech but also to Wallace. Was that part of your goal, to introduce him to a new generation?
Our main goal was to expose people to the content of the speech. But as members of a generation that is often referred to as “generation me,” we felt like this message actually changed the way we thought about life in a way that went beyond the typical cliched advice into something actually useful.
Prior to this video, your YouTube clips tended to top out around 1,500 views or so, with one or two exceptions. What's the impact been like for your business, having one of your creations go so viral so fast?
It’s a little too early to tell, but as a tiny company in an industry filled with so much talent and competition, it’s extremely difficult to get your work noticed. We feel like we’ve done that with this video and we’re over the moon with the response. But we’re always looking for what’s next, so we’d welcome anyone who enjoyed “This Is Water” to get in touch with us.
The Prague office of Lowe & Partners heads into some dangerous airspace with its ad for the "relaxing drink" Zenonade, which apparently motivates a flight attendant to fantasize about all her passengers dying. Admittedly, I too find myself thinking we're all going to die whenever I get on an airplane, but I doubt this ad was delving into my paranoid subconscious so much as intentionally courting controversy. As a provocative ad for a new product, however, the spot seems to fail on two fronts: It doesn't do much to explain the product, and it hasn't even drummed up the outrage its creators had intended. (Agency CEO Martin Lochmann seemed disappointed when he told the Huffington Post that he “expected it to be worse.”) A related spot for the drink, which you can watch after the jump, avoids threats of imminent death—unless you happen to be a piece of Ikea furniture.
Strap that lap belt tight, because Old Navy’s newest airline-themed ad will rocket you all the way back to 1994. Boyz II Men are the newest retro celebs to star in Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s zany spots for the retailer, which most recently tapped the supposed T-shirt expertise of Mr. T. In the new ad, 1990s R&B romancers Boyz II Men reinterpret their hit “I’ll Make Love to You” as an ode to white jeans. It's good to see them back on the air and still rocking the ivory suits, but given the fact they only have two lines of lyrics and a bunch of “loolooloo” noises, it’s probably for the best the trio gets cut off a bit early. They’re definitely an improvement over the perennial ad cameos by Mr. T, but in this series of pun-packed Old Navy spots, I’d say the best of the lot is definitely Jennifer Love Hewitt and her “flirtation device,” which you can check out after the jump.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from a retro gaming remake about Nazi robot armies, but this trailer surely isn’t it. (And that's a good thing.) Agency AKQA and production house Psyop have created a slick, compelling and enigmatically dark preview of Wolfenstein: The New Order, scheduled for release later this year. Wolfenstein is one of the oldest franchises in gaming, dating back to Castle Wolfenstein in 1981. Its most famous installment, 1992’s Wolfenstein 3D, allowed you to kill Hitler while he stomped around in a robotic suit, which was about as enjoyable as it was ridiculous. In the trailer below, though, we see a much darker and more ominous take on the Nazi robot, which is apparently the Reich’s foot soldier of choice in this alternate history’s 1960. The 100-second teaser clip is definitely a fine piece of commercial cinematography, but I remain skeptical that the new Wolfenstein—or any game about a guy shooting giant, goose-stepping robots—can live up to this level of gravity.
CREDITS
Client: Bethesda Softworks Agency: AKQA Michael Powell – Creative Director Akira Takahashi – Creative Director Ed Davis – Account Director Paul Chang – Senior Account Executive Andy Haynes – Senior Motion Designer
Production Company: Psyop Jon Saunders – Creative Director Lucia Grillo – Executive Producer Jen Cadic – Producer Jon Saunders – Designer Edward Laag – Designer Kenesha Sneed – Designer Ram Bhat – Designer Cass Vanini – Editor Robin Nishio – Storyboard Artist Eban Byrne – Lead Technical Director Pat Porter – Animation Kitty Lin – Animation Eric Chou – Animation Dan Fine – Modeling Bryan Eck – Modeling Jordan Harvey – Modeling Zed Bennett – Rigging Eban Byrne – VFX Fabio Piparo – VFX Jonah Friedman – Lighting Andy Gilbert – Lighting Keith Kim – Lighting Oliver Castle – Lighting Andy Hara – Lighting Brandi Diminio – Lighting Michelle Ko – Lighting Nick Tanner – Lead Compositor Bo Kim – Compositing Tim Regan – Compositing Tobey Lindback – Compositing Nick Tanner – Flame Artist
Music Production Company: COPILOT Strategic Music + Sound Jason Menkes – Music Producer Ravi Krishnaswami – Music Arranger
Sound Design Company: Defacto Sound Dallas Taylor – Sound Designer Ken McGill – Sound Designer Samson Neslund – Sound Designer
Sometimes it takes a little boost to be better to your mother. It takes a legally binding contract. Luckily, that's exactly what Mother New York has come up with to celebrate Mother's Day—the one holiday when this ad agency is particularly pressed to deliver the goods. In the video below, learn about the "Momtract," a legal agreement in which you give control over one aspect of your life back to your mother—like the old days. The website explains further: "Momtract gives power over one aspect of your life to your mother, restoring her to the position of authority she enjoyed when you were a child. Follow our easy 5-step process, and start enjoying the emotional benefits of America's premier legally binding gift." The gag is somewhat reminiscent of last year's "labor reparations" Mother's Day stunt from the same agency, which offered a helpful form for you to "calculate and repay the expenses you incurred as a fetus."
Finlandia cheese may come from Finland, but its new ad campaign from Barton F. Graf 9000 takes a detour through Flanders with its comical paintings of a land "where cheese reigns" and some strange cheese-obsessed characters reside. There's the Cheese Dunce, the Cheese Masochist, the Flavor Caretaker and the Flavor Philosopher—all of whom will be coming to out-of-home executions near you. The accompanying radio work—which has probably the most amusing sound effects of any campaign this year, introduces the Cheese Gladiatior, the Cheese Rogue, the Cheese Thief and the Cheese Watchman. Bold flavors, indeed. The illustrations were done by Dan Craig, who's been drawn for years to the work of the 15th century Flemish masters. More work after the jump.
—Radio spots
CREDITS Client: Finlandia Cheese Campaign: "Where Cheese Reigns" Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000 Illustrator: Dan Craig Photographer: Jamie Chung Typography/Crest: Jordan Metcalf Retoucher: Box Graphics Record/Mix: Heard City Media: MediaWorx
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