Roger Bova Becomes BFG 9000’s First Head of Design

BFG 9000 Wins Scotts Miracle-Gro

GoDaddy Launches Global Review

Web hosting company GoDaddy, which Kantar Media claims spends around $24.7 million on measured media in the U.S., has launched a review in search of a global brand agency partner. It is unclear if incumbent Barton F. Graf 9000 will participate in the review and Phil Bienert, GoDaddy’s chief marketing officer, told AdAge, “We are still finalizing the list.”

The review comes roughly four months after GoDaddy decided to pull a controversial Super Bowl spot following online backlash. While some questioned whether the stunt was planned, the company insisted the response was completely unexpected. GoDaddy, of course, built its brand on outlandish Super Bowl ads, which were universally loathed enough to merit a “Dear GoDaddy, Please Stop” op-ed from Woods Witt Dealy & Sons partner/creative director Harry Woods in 2013. Last month, GoDaddy chose not to renew its sponsorship of Danica Patrick, who starred in many of the company’s Super Bowl spots, another sign that the GoDaddy is changing its marketing approach. Barton F. Graf 9000’s most recent ads for the brand featured Jon Lovitz taking a CGI beating.

“We felt the time was right for us to be looking for a global agency partner to take our brand global,” Bienert told AdAge. “The criteria are that agencies have global scale, that they have a presence doing brand advertising in multiple markets — not just in North America but in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe – and that they understand our brand and our mission.” He added, “We’re ready to push beyond simple brand campaigns that revolve around a 30-second TV commercial and leverage our distinctive small-business data platform as a key ingredient in our brand marketing.”

Two Guys Praise a Giant Pile of Dirt in These Brilliantly Simple Ads for Soil

If you liked Napoleon Dynamite, you’ll probably love these ads for dirt.

A new campaign for Nature’s Care Organic Soil, from Barton F. Graf 9000, features two salt-of-the-earth guys standing in awe of a nice big pile of the stuff.

Their dialogue comes across as a mix of charmingly folksy, surprisingly deep and totally lobotomized. Or maybe they’re growing something other than vegetables and smoking too much of their own crop? 

Regardless, just hang back and soak up the gems of philosophy. What happens to the dirt when it rains? “It gets even better,” says the older, wiser guy.

That’s the kind of simple, clever and slightly deranged writing that’s often characteristic of the agency’s work. Sure, the plug for this particular brand of dirt—owned by Scotts Miracle-Gro—might feel the slightest bit disjointed. But they’ve got to get it in there somewhere. And the tagline,”that’s some good dirt,” is more or less perfect. Because what else is there to say, really?

It also probably doesn’t hurt that dirt is very much in vogue right now. Just ask the other authority on the subject—Florida Georgia Line.

CREDITS

Client: The Scotts Company LLC
Product: Nature’s Care
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
Founder/Chief Creative Officer: Gerry Graf
Partner/Executive Creative Director: Scott Vitrone
Partner/Executive Creative Director: Ian Reichenthal
Creative Director/Art Director: Amanda Clelland
Creative Director/Copywriter: Nick Kaplan
Head of Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Erica Kahr
Account Director: Yvette Ames
Account Supervisor: Kimmy Cunningham

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Matt Dilmore
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Ex. Producer: Colleen O’Donnell
Line Producer: Peter Slowey

Editorial Company: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Asst. Editor: Pamela Petruski
Ex. Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld

Color: CO3
Colorist: Tim Masick

Mix: Heard City



Barton F. Graf 9000 Wins Four Snyder’s-Lance Brands

snyders lance

Back in November 2014, sources told us that Snyder’s/Lance, maker of various salty snacks, had begun speaking to new agencies as it planned to leave then-AOR BFG Communications.

While BFG offered no comment at the time (they don’t seem to like responding to emails), we now know that the rumors were true.

Barton F. Graf 9000 won creative duties on four Snyder’s-Lance brands, — Cape Cod potato chips, Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, Pretzel Crisps and Lance crackers — Adweek reported yesterday.

Barton F. Graf 9000 beat out finalists Taxi, The Burns Group and GKV to win the assignment, which combined account for around $15 million in measured media annually. The assignment follows Snyder’s-Lance switching social media and PR agencies to Tenthwave and Luquire George Andrews, respectively.

Additionally, Snyder’s-Lance is currently searching for a new media agency to replace GKV (who were also the incumbent agency on Snyder’s, Cape Cod and Lance). The media review is expected to conclude some time in March. New work from Barton F. Graf 9000 for the Snyder’s-Lance brands is expected to debut in the third quarter of 2015.

This Year's Craziest Super Bowl Ad Is From GrubHub and Stars an Angry Flying Burrito

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:



GoDaddy Promises More BFG 9000 Work for the Super Bowl

Here’s the latest update on the year’s big Super Bowl ad scandal: GoDaddy told both AdAge and fellow trade pub PR Week last night that the kerfuffle surrounding its quickly retracted Barton F. Graf 9000 “puppy mill” campaign was completely unexpected and that the campaign was NOT a stunt designed to attract maximum media attention.

For the record, most readers of our sister site PRNewser remain convinced that the whole thing was planned…and a majority of those responding to our Twitter feed, as well as just over half of readers who voted in an online AdAge poll, feel the same way. As one tweeter put it, “client claiming ‘not a PR stunt’ is the most classic of PR stunts.”

The company seemed to offer conflicting statements yesterday: at first, reps implied that a second spot from BFG starring longtime spokesperson Danica Patrick (who recently plugged Coca-Cola for Wieden+Kennedywas ready to air in place of the puppy…but statements to the trade pubs last night indicated that there’s still creative work to be done.

Over the past 24 hours, our contacts offered varied interpretations of the story: one calls it “a campaign turned into a stunt” while another theorizes that the client’s statements about misjudging the public reaction are honest…and too cynical by half. If that’s true, then the Danica Patrick ad that will run during the game may well have been created to serve as the second chapter in the new campaign.

On the PR side, general consensus holds that, if the events really did take the company by surprise, then at least they’ve done a good job in the cleanup aisle.

The client’s shift to BFG last year marked the second time GoDaddy has hired a new agency to “refresh” its image. While the new ad eschewed the casual sexism that usually wins the brand so much (negative) press attention, another contact told us that both client and agency seem to have forgotten that puppies — for whatever reason — are sacred figures in American pop culture.

Budweiser and Anomaly just proved that point.

What do we think? (Barton F. Graf 9000 wisely deferred to the client in every case.)

Adorable Puppy Gets Lost, and Then Things Get Worse, in Go Daddy's Super Bowl Ad

Budweiser melted hearts with its “Puppy Love” commercial on last year’s Super Bowl, and is prepping a sequel, “Lost Dog,” that’s expected to break Wednesday online. But a day early, here is Go Daddy—amusingly deflating Bud’s balls a little bit with a spoof that even somewhat matches the plot of the sequel.

Yes, Go Daddy has its own adorable yellow Labrador puppy. And like the one in this year’s Bud spot, it’s gotten lost—after falling out of a pickup truck when it went over a bump. The little guy runs home as fast as his little legs can carry him … but it’s not exactly a sappy ending that awaits him there.

The spot was made by Barton F. Graf 9000. Check out our Q&A with Gerry Graf here, where he talks Go Daddy’s approach this year, and the ups and downs of making Super Bowl spots.



Two Barton F. Graf 9000 CDs Head to 180 Amsterdam

A couple of weeks ago we learned that Dan Treichel, a well-respected (per our sources) creative director at Barton F. Graf 9000, would be leaving New York City for Amsterdam.

While we didn’t have much to go on at the time, we can now fill in the blanks: Treichel and his BFG colleague Dave Canning have landed at 180 Amsterdam, where they will be co-executive creative directors. Check out the lede from the press release, which refers to the duo as “the most awarded US creative team in 2014?:

“Following weeks of global speculation, today sees the appointment of New York creative duo Dave Canning and Dan Treichel to 180 Amsterdam…[the hire] comes on the back of the agency’s recent high profile work for global brands…”

The release also tells us that the agency’s search for a new executive creative team took more than a year and involved “meeting prospective candidates in China, Africa and Asia.”

Prior to the move, the duo had been working together at BFG for over a year. Canning, who began his career as a freelance art director at Droga5, joined the agency after spending a combined five years writing copy for Y&R and W+K while Treichel held the art director position at CP+B and Droga5 and the ACD title at Y&R New York before moving to BFG in 2012.

The two will report to Al Moseley, W+K Amsterdam veteran and current president/CCO at 180 Amsterdam (whose client list includes DHL, Qatar Airways, Asics, Playstation, Lilly, and more).

In other 180 Amsterdam news, the agency won attention in late 2014 for campaigns promoting PS4 and Replay, among others; its co-founder and original partner Guy Hayward also recently left Havas property BETC Worldwide to lead KBS in New York.

No word on Barton F. Graf 9000’s plans to replace Canning and Treichel.

Barton F. Graf 9000 Creates Somber Mini-Doc for the Esquire Mentor Project

Last month, we posted on 72andSunny’s irreverent take on men becoming mentors, best embodied by the tagline “F*ck off, I’m helping.

Today, Barton F. Graf 9000 gave us the polar opposite of that effort in the second of three campaigns created in partnership with Esquire magazine, also known as the “must-read” glossy for ad creatives everywhere. It’s a very different, very serious effort.

Two names come to mind: Errol Morris and Philip Glass.

Fairly dramatic departure from the agency’s most recent work, no?

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Barton F. Graf Has a Clever Idea for Getting More Men to Become Mentors

Esquire recently asked three ad agencies to help with its male mentoring initiative. Today, Barton F. Graf 9000 unveiled its campaign: a political initiative to establish mentorship of children as a legal excusal from jury duty. The idea is that more mentors would mean better guidance for at-risk youth, and eventually, reduced crime rates and the need for fewer jurors in the first place.

The proposed Mentor Act is explained in a print ad in Esquire’s October issue. The ad itself could be mailed to state representatives, and it also points to TheMentorAct.org, which features a powerful film—directed by Michael Bonfiglio of Radical Media—asking prisoners who their mentors were. The bill can also be sent to lawmakers directly from the site.

“Ultimately, The Mentor Act aims to use the same court system that convicts people, to help children avoid committing crimes and entering the court system in the first place,” say Barton F. Graf and Esquire, which are “already beginning talks with state politicians to adopt this bill and hope to move the bill forward on a state-by-state basis.”

The other two agencies that got involved in the Esquire project are Makeable and 72andSunny. The former built a campaign around the website webuildmen.org, while the latter made ads with the theme “F*ck off, I’m helping.” See three of those ads below.



Barton F. Graf 9000 Presents ‘Dead Mouse Theatre’ for Tomcat

Barton F. Graf 9000 delivers one of the stranger campaigns you’re likely to see this week, with “Dead Mouse Theatre” for Tomcat mousetraps.

In the campaign, Barton F. Graf 9000 dreams up a solution for all the dead mice left in the wake of Tomcat, repurposing the corpses as puppets for theatrical purposes. It’s a pretty dark premise, but it’s certainly attention-grabbing. In the best of the 30-second spots (or my favorite, at least), a washed-up old-timey baseball player named Fitzy Gibbons revisits the scene of his downfall when questioned by a young fan. Other spots feature a leprechaun confronting a gangster who stole his gold and a lifelong friendship destroyed by a Viking raid. Strange stuff, indeed. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Yes, Barbarian Group Has a Waterless Hot Tub. But Look What Barton F. Graf Has

These agency tours of The Barbarian Group are pretty impressive. But you know who’s not that impressed? Fellow New York agency Barton F. Graf 9000.

When Barbarian Group released its Vimeo video showing off its giant, snake-like, resin-poured “Superdesk,” Barton F. Graf responded with its own video about its own enormous piece of continuous furniture—called the floor.

Last week, Adweek went into the Barbarian offices for a closer look, and got to see the agency’s waterless hot tub (see below). But once again, Barton F. Graf ups the ante with a waterless kiddie pool. Look at how childlike and playful it is. Clearly it must produce better ideas than the hot tub does.

Obviously Barbarian is cool, but it will never be the coolest.

brightcove.createExperiences();



Barton F. Graf 9000 Gets Passionate About GoDaddy

You may recall that GoDaddy, the brand responsible for several notorious Super Bowl spots, went with Barton F. Graf 9000 earlier this summer after previously asking Deutsch to help its brand mature. Deutsch lost the work despite making a campaign featuring viral man-of-the-moment Jean-Claude Van Damme.

After a spot featuring Danica Patrick that could not be attributed to any agency, today brings Graf’s first campaign for its new client.

The inaugural ad, aimed at small business owners, will air on tonight’s Monday Night Football:

The second spot after the jump also focuses on the challenges of owning one’s business.

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Watch GoDaddy's New Ads, and Tell Us What on Earth You Think You Just Saw

GoDaddy has tried various things to break out of its reputation for sleaze. First, it kept the attractive women but added some geeky guys. Then it had an attractive woman make out with a geeky guy. Then it did a quirky ad with Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Now, though, the brand is really just going for it with new agency Barton F. Graf 9000—the New York shop known for its offbeat ads for Kayak, Ragú and Dish Network.

The ads start off like treacly testimonials, but quickly take a left turn. And before you know it, one woman is screaming at her dead father’s ashes—while another is doing mildly obscene hip thrusts that go on uncomfortably long. (The focus remains on how the company supports small business owners with online tools to help create websites, get found online and keep businesses organized.)

To its credit, GoDaddy isn’t afraid to go full-on crazy here, as opposed to the Van Damme spot, which felt a bit self-conscious and manufactured. And Gerry Graf and friends have that knack for making ads that seem truly, memorably peculiar.

“GoDaddy is an iconic brand, which makes this an exciting challenge and really, our team is much like a GoDaddy customer because we are a small agency with big ideas,” Graf said in a statement. “GoDaddy has some innovative tools to help people who own their own business. I know this because I own my own business and I use GoDaddy’s tools. We’re going to let everybody else in the world in on this.”

GoDaddy CMO Barb Rechterman added: “We want to maintain our sense of humor while focusing on how GoDaddy’s services empower customers … and do it in a creative ways that speak to the ‘go getter’ inside of so many entrepreneurs and small business owners out there looking for an edge. The Barton F. Graf team took a very strategic view of our brand and pitched innovative campaign ideas that were right on message … and had us all laughing.”

So, are you laughing, too?



Here Are the Two New Clash of Clans Ads, Which Will Get a Gazillion Views

There are fewer explosions and more dialogue in Barton F. Graf 9000’s new ads for the Clash of Clans mobile game. In the process, we see a softer, less violent side of featured character the Wizard.

In “Preparation,” he looks into his bedroom mirror, peels back his hoodie to reveal a massive black pompadour and psyches himself up for another long day on the battlefield. In “Magic,” he halts his fireball throwing in the middle of the battlefield to pull a white rabbit out of his hoodie—but don’t worry, he hasn’t turned into a kids’ party magician.

The spots have more than 6 million views each since being posted to YouTube page on Thursday. They’ll break on TV this weekend. (Last year’s 60-second spot has 22 million YouTube views.) Rounding out the campaign are five outdoor posters, each with a different character and headline. “Look into the eyes of my moustache,” says one with a close-up of Barbarian’s face, “and know despair.”

See all the work below.

 

CREDITS
“Preparation”
Client: Supercell
Brand Marketing Lead: Ryan Wener
Marketing Art Lead: Lauri Manninen
Senior Game Artist: Taneli Oksama
Game Lead: Tommi Suvinen
Brand Marketing: Christina Lee
Marketing and Video Artist: Red Killion
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
Chief Creative Officer/Founder: Gerry Graf
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Scott Vitrone
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Ian Reichenthal
Copywriter/Art Director: Kate Overholt Placentra
Copywriter/Art Director: Matt Rogers
Head of Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Erica Kahr
Account Director: Kate Faux
Account Supervisor: Michael Andreozzi
Mix: Heard City
Audio Engineer: Evan Mangiamele
Music Supervisor: Good Ear Music Supervision

“Magic”
Client: Supercell
Brand Marketing Lead: Ryan Wener
Marketing Art Lead: Lauri Manninen
Senior Game Artist: Taneli Oksama
Game Lead: Tommi Suvinen
Brand Marketing: Christina Lee
Marketing and Video Artist: Red Killion
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
Chief Creative Officer/Founder: Gerry Graf
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Scott Vitrone
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Ian Reichenthal
Copywriter/Art Director: Joseph Ianno
Copywriter/Art Director: Matthew Smith
Head of Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Erica Kahr
Account Director: Kate Faux
Account Supervisor: Michael Andreozzi
Production Company: Psyop
Director: Fletcher Moules, Dan Vislocky
Managing Director: Neysa Horsburgh
Executive Producer: Amanda Miller
Producer: Shannon Alexander
Mix: Heard City

Out-of-home: Barbarian, Wizard, Hog Rider, Wall Breaker, P.E.K.K.A.
Client: Supercell
Brand Marketing Lead: Ryan Wener
Marketing Art Lead: Lauri Manninen
Senior Game Analyst: Taneli Oksama
Game Lead: Tommi Suvinen
Brand Marketing: Christina Lee
Marketing and Video Artist: Red Killion
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
Chief Creative Officer/Founder: Gerry Graf
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Scott Vitrone
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Ian Reichenthal
Senior Designer: Matt Egan
Designer: Toga Cox Creative
Director: Dave Canning
Creative Director: Dan Treichel
Copywriter/Art Director: Joseph Ianno
Copywriter/Art Director: Matthew Smith
Head of Integrated Production: Josh Morse
Account Director: Kate Faux
Account Supervisor: Michael Andreozzi
Art: Psyop
Creative Director: Fletcher Moules
Executive Producer: Amanda Miller
Producer: Shannon Alexander
Lead Technical Directors: Stephen Delalla (3D), Matt Lavoy (2D)
Modelers: Jon Balcome, Luis Sanchez
Texture Artist: Yuo Tengara
3D Character Poses: Chris Meek, Dan Vislocky
Lighters: Stephen DeLalla, Yuo Tengara
Compositor: Matt Lavoy
Designer/Retoucher: Jacqueline Jocson, Edmund Liang
Studio: Box Graphics



Barbarian Group Has Its Superdesk, but Barton F. Graf’s Offices Might Be Even Cooler

For those of you blown away by The Barbarian Group's 4,400-square-foot undulating "superdesk," Gerry Graf wants you to know his offices are pretty damn impressive, too.

Much like TBG's snake-like, resin-poured desk, Barton F. Graf 9000 has its own impressively enormous piece of continuous furniture. It's called the floor. (And as the video points out at the beginning, "It's not a surfboard.")

Other interesting features of Graf's offices include clear panes of glass called windows, as well as individual desks where people might actually enjoy some personal space and get some work done.

If you haven't seen TBG's agency tour, check that one out first. Both are posted below.

 
• Barton F. Graf 9000 agency tour:

 
• The Barbarian Group agency tour:




Is Kayak’s ‘Stairlift’ Commercial Bringing You Down?

Some folks are finding Barton F. Graf 9000's latest advertising excursion for travel site Kayak.com a less than uplifting experience.

In the 30-second spot, a middle-aged man commandeers his elderly mother's stairlift for a ride as he pecks away at his laptop, searching for a good hotel. He explains that he can't waste a second doing anything else, including walking up the stairs. Meanwhile, his mother grasps the bannister, gasping for air, as Sonny Boy glides past, bragging about the great deal he's just found.

"Forcing an elderly woman to struggle up stairs while her son uses her electric stairlift. Do you think this is funny? It's not. It's mean and juvenile," says one viewer on the company's Facebook page. A YouTuber on the opposite side of the argument writes, "For those that are offended: lighten up. It's funny precisely because it is insensitive." (In an odd twist, some commenters have actually praised the spot for raising stairlift awareness.)

Stirring controversy never gets old for Kayak, whose 2012 brain surgery commercial was banned in the U.K. over perceived insensitivity toward brain surgery patients. Clearly, ads like "Stairlift" and "Brain Surgeon" are designed to be somewhat over the top and elevate Kayak's buzz. Are they mean-spirited or offensive? That's a gray area.


    



Clash of the Clans lança seu primeiro comercial

Um dos games mais baixados em 2013, Clash of the Clans finalmente estreou seu primeiro comercial, com criação da Barton F. Graf 9000, de Nova York. Lançada no finalzinho de 2013, a animação produzida com maestria pela Psyop já ultrapassou os 15 milhões de views no YouTube.

Para que o comercial ficasse o mais próximo possível do game em si – e desta forma não decepcionar os fãs do jogo, o diretor Fletcher Moules uniu sua equipe aos game designers da Supercell, criadora do Clash of the Clans. O resultado é uma sequência divertida e envolvente, com um visual de encher os olhos.

clash2 clash1

 

Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
Twitter | Facebook | Contato | Anuncie

2 Ad Agencies Produce This Holiday Season’s Most Anti-Consumerist Toy

Leave it to a couple of ad agencies to upend the holiday season with the year's most radical toy. Independent shops Barton F. Graf 9000 in New York and TDA_Boulder in Boulder, Colo., partnered on a new business that sells a single item—a big, plain, heavy-duty, 2-foot-cubed, 100-percent-recycled, made-in-the-U.S.A., empty cardboard box. It's described on the website as "the perfect holiday gift for the 2-6½-year-old who would rather play with the box than what's inside."

It's a legitimate site, all proceeds from sales will go to two children's charities:  Blue Sky Bridge in Boulder (focused on child abuse) and the Charley Davidson Leukemia Fund in Boston. It is also, of course, a political statement of sorts. The idea for Bawx came out of a late-night conversation after an ad event between TDA_Boulder and Barton F. Graf 9000 principals Jonathan Schoenberg and Gerry Graf, who have some shared beliefs where consumerism is concerned.

"Consumerism is a bit out of control these days," says the website. "Kids would much rather spend time with their friends and parents and a Bawx, than the latest technology. Ok, that is a complete lie, but maybe if they did have a Bawx they would spend more time with people, and a bit less time with pixels."

The marketing copy on the site is intentionally goofy. It says the Bawx is available in four "models," though they are actually identical. (They do range in price, though, from $24.99 to $499.99—since you're really just donating to two charities at whatever level you're comfortable with.) Each model's listed features are "Horizontal," "Open end (closeable)," "Natural light" and "Spacious entrance."

Graf has done similar anti-pixel things before, including the memorable 2011 video "The Log Off," in which children pleaded with their mothers—in song—to get off Facebook already and play with them.

CREDITS
AD: Barrett Brynestad
CWs: Gerry Graf, Jonathan Schoenberg
Production: Tim Kelly       
Digital lead: Gene Paek
Developer: Relentless Technology, Vancouver, Canada