Hasta La Creative!

In case you missed it, Bud Light found itself in a bit of hot water yesterday after a reddit post first noted by Consumerist and then covered by every single news organization out there (including The New York Times and, yes, even TODAY) heaped criticism on a single line that appeared on some of its bottles:

“The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night”

Pic via reddit

Of course the company did not in any way mean to encourage sexual misbehavior with this copy, but once the story hit BuzzFeed it was damage control time.

After an initial period of silence, our sister site PRNewser got parent company AB InBev’s communications chief to respond via Twitter:

Bud Light not responding to calls about “remove ‘no’ from your vocabulary” tagline http://t.co/oltWllARAD pic.twitter.com/RfeLRmcVCG

— PRNewser (@PRNewser) April 28, 2015

@PRNewser Nope. We’re responding.

— Lisa Weser (@LisaWeser) April 28, 2015

@Adweek It’s clear that this message missed the mark, and we regret it. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior. — Lisa Weser (@LisaWeser) April 28, 2015

This was part of a longer statement issued to various media outlets:

“The Bud Light Up for Whatever campaign, now in its second year, has inspired millions of consumers to engage with our brand in a positive and light-hearted way. In this spirit, we created more than 140 different scroll messages intended to encourage spontaneous fun. It’s clear that this message missed the mark, and we regret it. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior.”

For context, the client announced back in February that it planned to run “a variety of messages on 12-ounce bottles to inspire consumers to try new experiences” as part of its ongoing #UpForWhatever campaign. This line was one of those messages.

Initially, we were told that Bud Light’s creative AOR BBDO was not involved because it does not work on packaging for the client. However, AB InBev later released this statement:

“BBDO is the creative agency for this UFW campaign, including all bottle scroll messages. We have an extensive review process and this label should not have made it through. It’s regrettable. This particular scroll will no longer be produced.”

So the client effectively blamed its own internal review process for allowing the message to receive approval but did note that BBDO worked on the creative behind the project.

Recalling all the bottles that feature this particular message will be impossible, and AB InBev is still in damage control mode: it has not been active on social media for the past two days.

BBDO Dusseldorf positions Mars Minis as “people treats” in a new 30-second spot entitled “Tennis.”

Based on a connection between the brands positioning of Mars Minis as “anytime treats” and the way pets are given treats as a small reward for good behavior, the ad shows a man treating his tennis companion like a dog. He pretends to throw a ball and tells him to fetch it, then asks where the ball is. The friend seems confused as to why he’s being treated like a dog, but when he’s rewarded with a Mars Mini he seems not to mind. The spot ends with the tagline, “They’re People Treats,” which brings some context to the exercise in silliness preceding it.

“This positioning gives people the moral permission to enjoy the reasonably sized sweet whenever they like,” explained Darren Richardson, ?BBDO Düsseldorf chief creative officer. “It’s a treat and reward just for being a good person, or in this case a “good boy.”

We’re not sure how many people will make the connection to using the candy as an “anytime treat” and how many will just chortle at the ridiculousness of treating a tennis partner as a dog, but the approach certainly is memorable.

Credits:

Mars GmbH: ?Category Director: Carsten Simon
Brand Manager: Mira Grosch

BBDO Dusseldorf:
Chief Creative Officer (BBDO Group Germany): Wolfgang Schneider
Chief Creative Office (BBDO Dusseldorf): Darren Richardson
Creative Managing Directors: Kristoffer Heilemann, Sebastian Hardieck
Creative Director:  Karen Walker
Senior Art Director: Tobias von Aesch
Art Director: Charlon De Graav
Copywriter: Penelope Abreu
Client Service Director: Sabine Frank
Account Director: Nadia Leytes
TV Department: Valérie Gentis (Producer), Steffen Gentis (Chief Production Officer)

Production: Twin Film GmbH, Berlin
Director: Eric Yealland ?DOP: Eric Yealland
Script: Karen Walker
Post Production: Chamaeleon Digital Vision, Dusseldorf

BBDO New York gets self-referential in its latest spot for Foot Locker, starring Manny Pacquiao.

Back in November, the agency ran an ad featuring Pacquiao as part of its “Week of Greatness” campaign for the brand in which Pacman is tricked into believing he’s finally going to fight Floyd Mayweather. Since then, the boxers and their camps have agreed on terms and the event — billed as “The Fight of the Century” — is scheduled for May 2nd.

BBDO New York’s “It’s Really Happening” references the series of events, with Pacquiao’s agent telling him Mayweather has agreed to the fight. “I know, two guys at the gym told me,” Pacman replies, referencing the previous spot. His agent explains to him that was just a Foot Locker commercial, but now the fight is on for real, even though this is also a Foot Locker commercial. The ad ends with a confused Pacquiao watching the preceding ad on TV.

While referencing previous campaigns can always be a little dicey — five months is sort of a long time to expect your audience to remember an ad — Pacquiao’s playful acting helps hold everything together. It also helps that both ads reference such a high profile event, and some have even suggested “It’s Happening” helped bring the fight to fruition. “It’s Really Happening” will make its broadcast debut next week and continue to run throughout the week leading up to the fight.

Credits:

Agency – BBDO New York
Client: Foot Locker

Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide – David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer,  New York – Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director – Chris Beresford-Hill
Executive Creative Director – Dan Lucey
Copywriter – Mike Motch
Art Director – Austin Mankey
Director of Integrated Production – David Rolfe
Executive Producer – Anthony Curti

WW Senior Account Director – Troy Tarwater
Account Director – Janelle Van Wonderen
Account Manager – Nick Robbins
Account Executive – Samuel Henderson

Production Co – O Positive Films
Director – Kenny Herzog
Exec Producer – Ralph Laucella
Exec Producer – Marc Grill
Line Producer – Grayson Bithell
Director of Photography – Marc Laliberte
Editorial – MackCut
Editor – Erik Laroi
Executive Producer – Sasha Hirshfeld
Assistant Editor – Patrick Blumer

Sound – MackCut
Sound Mixer – Sam Shaffer

Online – Smigital
Flame – Jim Hayhow
Asst. Flame – Joseph Miller

Color– Company 3
Colorist – Tim Masick

New brands typically have a hard time standing out amidst the vast array of competition, so AMV BBDO developed a spot for UK cloud-based engagement software platform Thunderhead that’s pretty hard to ignore.

The ad imagines the software platform as a superhero named Thunderhead. When a car salesman is having trouble connecting with a customer, Thunderhead bursts through the door. Soon the salesman is suckling at Thunderhead’s nipple while he telepathically delivers engagement insights which help the salesman find the perfect car for the customer. Um, yeah, that’s one way to get attention.

“We are a cheeky British technology upstart who are lucky enough to have the best customer engagement software in the business world,” Gav Thompson, Thunderhead’s chief marketing officer, told The Stable. “We asked AMV to develop an idea for us that would ensure that CMOs became aware of our unique customer engagement capability and our ability to deliver happy customers. We also liked the idea of a product demo that was a bit bonkers.”

A bit bonkers, indeed.

BBDO New York created a 45-second spot starring Jason Sudeikis entitled “Tourists,” promoting AT&T’s sponsorship of the Tribeca Film Festival, which began Wednesday and runs through the 26th.

In the spot, two tourists visiting New York run into Sudeikis on the street and he obliges them for what he assumes will be a quick snapshot. Soon, however, the couple is directing Sudeikis for a short video (and they won’t settle for a subpar cut). “Theres a film lover in all of us” reads the tagline at the end of the spot, followed by the AT&T and Tribeca Film Festival logos. BBDO keeps AT&T’s branding in the background of the spot, instead letting the short highlight the company’s sponsorship of the Tribeca Film Festival. Sudeikis wasn’t just a random selection, as he stars in three films appearing in the festival, making him a pretty perfect choice for the spot.

Credits:

Client: AT&T
Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officers: David Lubars (worldwide), Greg Hahn (N.Y.)
Executive Creative Director: Matt MacDonald
Senior Creative Directors: John LaMacchia, Simon Foster
Associate Creative Director: Geoff Proud
Senior Art Director: Will Holmes
Group Executive Producer: Julie Collins
Executive Producer: Alex Gianni
Producer: Gillian Burkley
Managing Director: Mark Cadman
Senior Director: Brian Nienhaus
Account Director: Gail Curtis
Account Executive: Sigourney Hudson-Clemons
Production Company: O-Positive
Director: Brian Billow
Director of Photography: Joe Zizzo
Executive Producers: Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill
Producer: J.D. Davison
Editing House: Mackenzie Cutler
Producer: Sasha Hirshfeld
Editor: Ryan Steele
Assistant Editor: Jean Taylor
Color Correction: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick
Visual Effects: Schmigital
Flame Artist: Jim Hayhow
Flame Assistant: Joseph Miller

Bacardi has decided to consolidate creative and media for its major brands, choosing BBDO and OMD without a review, Adweek reported yesterday.

According to that publication, the process began with a secret meeting between Bacardi mangement, led by CEO Mike Dolan, and executives at BBDO and OMD. Within a couple of weeks the brand had struck a deal with the two agencies to consolidate its major brands, handing off both creative and media responsibilties to the pair of Omnicom shops. Prior to the consolidation, Bacardi worked with a wide variety of agencies on its creative accounts, with media handled by Mindshare in North America and Zenith in Europe.

“Our goal is to be able to work better and to create a closer alignment between our global and local operations,” Dolan said in a statement. “To achieve this goal requires that we work with a global network.”

“It was so unique in how this happened,” OMD worldwide CEO Mainardo de Nardis told Adweek. “It wasn’t about a review, pitches, presentations, spreadsheets, pricing. We feel empowered because this is a decision based on strategic discussions about how to improve Bacardi’s business. It’s a real partnership with a huge amount of trust. If only [all new business] could be like this.”

Among Bacardi’s 200 brands are flagship brand Bacardi, Grey Goose, Martini, Bombay Sapphire, Dewars and William Lawson’s. Due to a conflict of interest, BBDO will resign from Belvedere Vodka in the U.S. and Famous Grouse in the U.K.

BBDO New York launched a new spot for Mars cat food brand Sheba entitled “Snap, Peel, Slurp, Purr.”

The spot introduces the brand’s new Perfect Portions product, which attempts to take the mess out of cat food by providing perfect portions within one container. Two containers comes strapped together, so cat owners can snap off one for each meal and not have to worry about dishing out food for their feline friend or store leftovers in the fridge. The 20-second “Snap, Peel, Slurp, Purr” illustrates the idea simply, with each word followed by a simple illustration. It opens and closes with the line “A Fresh Meal Every Peel,” driving home the idea that using the product makes meal time simple. The integrated campaign also includes supporting digital efforts, consumer sampling programs, in-store displays and PR support.

Credits:

Agency: BBDO New York                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Client: Mars/SHEBA®                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Title: “Snap, Peel, Slurp, Purr”

Creative                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars                                                                                                                                                                                                        Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn                                                                                                                                                                                                               EVP, Executive Creative Director: Joyce Pedretti                                                                                                                                                                                                        EVP, Executive Creative Director: Lauren Cohen                                                                                                                                                                                                      Senior Art Director: Adam Ward                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Copy Writer: Joe Nelms

Production                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Executive Digital Producers: Eric Berg & Kristin Tomborello                                                                                                                                                                              Digital Producer: Olivia Boutcher

Account                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  EVP, Senior Account Director: Mark Mulhern                                                                                                                                                                                                             SVP, Account Director: Sally Nathans                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Account Manager: Lauren Stillo                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Account Executive: Rachel Greenlee

Planning/Strategy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             SVP, Group Planning Director: Crystal Rix                                                                                                                                                                                                              Senior Engagement Planner: Sean Stogner

Additional companies:

Production & Editorial Company: Decon                                                                                                                                                                                           Executive Producer: Misha Louy
Executive Producer: Ian Blain
Director/Editor: Eriq Wities

Music Composition/Final Mix: Ramon Wesselink

Line Producer: Kent Feuerring
Supervising Post Producer: Cynthia Angel
Post Producer: M. Shane Dolly

Tax Day isn’t usually a time for great brand creativity, but BBDO New York goes the extra mile this year with a short documentary about an Arizona woman who tried to write off a Snickers bar in 2005.

She was audited, and the authorities took a dim view of her audacity.

Also, it’s a true story. BBDO found the woman’s case online, pitched her the concept and flew to her hometown in Arizona to shoot the film.

CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Spot: “The Snickers Write-Off”

Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
Creative Director: Peter Alsante
Associate Creative Director: Matthew Zaifert
Managing Director: Kirsten Flanik
Global Account Director: Susannah Keller
Account Director: Joshua Steinman
Account Manager: Dylan Green
Account Executive: Jocelyn Choi     
Director of Integrated Production: David Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Producer: Mona Lisa Farrokhnia
Music Producer: Julia Millison
Group Planning Director: Crystal Rix
Senior Planner: Alaina Crystal

Director: Evan Bernard
Director of Photography: Joseph DeSalvo
Line Producer: Koji Yahagi
Production Supervisor: Renee Haar
Projects Lead: Michael Gentile
Audio Engineer: Corey Bauman
Illustrator: Kieran Bergin

Editorial: NO6
Editor: Ryan Bukowski
Executive Producer: Corina Dennison
Producer: Malia Rose
Colorist: Stephen Picano

Energy BBDO created a “Tough Mother” challenge for Ziploc as part of the brand’s partnership with obstacle course competition Tough Mudder.

The brand’s obstacle course consists of representations of daily challenges: pit of toys, pantry dash, couch crawl, city sprint, race to school, kitchen conundrum, story climb, the dinner throw and the husband. Contestants dash through the challenges before jumping into bed and pressing the buzzer. Of course, several of the obstacles are completed with the aid of Ziploc products to further tie the brand to the competition. Although the attempts at humor (on the part of the announcing team) fall flat, the ad still works to further the brand’s connection to the Tough Mudder competition.

“Already demonstrating strength, stamina and mental grit in their everyday lives, we invite tough mothers everywhere to push their limits even further at a Tough Mudder event this year,” said Dan Weinberg, vice president of global partnerships for Tough Mudder, in a statement.

Credits:

Agency: Energy BBDO
Client: SCJ/Ziploc
Title: Ziploc “Tough Mother”

Chief Creative Officer: Mark Taylor
Executive Creative Director/Writer: Mike Roe
CD/Art Director: Amy Ditchman
ACD/Writer: Dan McCormack
Executive Director of Content and Delivery: Brian Cooper
Head of Integrated Production: Rowley Samuel
Executive Producer: Melissa Barany
Senior Producer: Elena Robinson

Client Service Director: Stacie Boney
Digital Client Service Director: Josh Ehart

Senior Account Director: Nicole Guisto
Account Director: Rachel Levy
Senior Account Executive: Emmalee Anderson

Production Company: Honey Badger
Director: James Frost
Producer: Sam Khazaeni
Editor: Angelo Valencia, Beast

Graphics: Vitamin Pictures

For a campaign that’s five years old, Snickers’ “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” is having quite the creative renaissance this year.

The Super Bowl ad was fantastic (as was the New York City billboard that teased it). The Medusa ad on the back cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue was inspired. And now, we get a very fun campaign in which the brand got video bloggers all over the world to post intentionally bad videos—pretending they recorded them while they were hungry, and thus weren’t themselves.

The “You’re Not YouTube” campaign launched simultaneously in eight countries and included 13 popular “how-to” vloggers on YouTube. In each video, it’s clear something is wrong as the usually sure-footed hosts appear completely off their game.

For example, in the one U.S.-based video, style and motivational guru Jessica Harlow, who’s usually so put together, apathetically shows fans how to “let yourself go.”

U.S.

There are two videos from Puerto Rico. In one, high-energy comedian Alex Diaz demonstrates yoga-inspired relaxation techniques. In the other, political commentator Jay Fonseca totally switches gears and offers step-by-step instructions on how to make hand-made floral scrapbooks.

Puerto Rico

The others vloggers are from the U.K., UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Brazil. You can check out their videos below.

“Vloggers are such dynamic content creators, it’s quite interesting—and funny—to see what happens when hunger strikes and their faculties fail them,” says Allison Miazga-Bedrick, Snickers brand director. “Between them the international vloggers in this campaign have over 7 million subscribers, generating huge global reach for this innovative digital extension of our campaign.”

U.K.

United Arab Emirates

Egypt

Turkey

Lebanon

Brazil

CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Campaign: “You’re Not YouTube”

Creative Originator: AMV BBDO, London
Copywriter, AMV BBDO : Diccon Driver
Art Director, AMV BBDO: Alan Wilson

Creative Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York: Peter Kain
Associate Creative Director, BBDO New York: Matt Herr
Associate Creative Director, BBDO New York: Justin Bilicki
Group Planning Director, BBDO New York: Crystal Rix
Senior Planner, BBDO New York: Alaina Crystal
Managing Director, BBDO New York: Kirsten Flanik
Global Account Director, BBDO New York: Susannah Keller
Account Director, BBDO New York: Joshua Steinman
Account Manager, BBDO New York: Tani Corbacho
Account Executive, BBDO New York: Jocelyn Choi  

Media Agency: Digitas
Media Supervisor: Chad Lewis
Media Planner: Martha Williams

Multi-Channel Network: Maker Studios
Director / Editor: Cody Buesing
Executive Producer: Michael Reilly  
Producer: Austin Bening
Director of Photography: Steven DiCasa
Production Designer: Samantha Hawkins
Hair & Makeup Artist: Thadius Lajara
Sound Mixer: Luke Tilghman
Production Coordinator: Rita Warkov
Production Assistant: Audrey Ketchell