Droga5, Nas Take ‘The Ride’ for Hennessy

Droga5 enlisted New York rapper Nas in its latest spot for Hennessy, entitled “The Ride..”

Nas‘ association with the brand dates back to his classic 1994 debut Illmatic, where the brand is mentioned on the very first track. He signed a deal with the company at the beginning of last year to appear in the latest iteration of its “Wild Rabbit” campaign, which finally comes to life with “The Ride.”

The 60-second spot channels Nas‘ own past with a re-worked version of the song “New York State of Mind” from his debut. Over Nas‘ recitation of the re-imagined lyrics he steps on a subway car and is seemingly transported back in time to the 80s, with time progressing over the course of the ad so that when he emerges from the car later, he is back in the present day. A newspaper headline reading “Panic on Wall Street” at one point signifies a transition to the modern era. It’s all very slick and stylish, with plenty of attention to detail lavished on the concept. The spot ends with Nas walking toward a stage after uttering the line “It was only right that I was born to use mics,” and the text “I tell the stories that need to be told” appearing onscreen, followed by the “What’s your Wild Rabbit?” tagline. (more…)

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IMRE Gets Musical for Gravie

Baltimore-based agency IMRE has a new campaign for healthcare company Gravie that tells the brand’s story through music and humor.

The 2-minute online video (featured above),”Gravie Makes Everything Better” is crafted around a song celebrating the multiple uses of gravy before tying it to Gravie, the healthcare company, which helps save consumers from the hassles and headaches of finding a healthcare plan by through their selection process. The animated spot takes a lighthearted approach that is a welcome departure in the category, and the song is cute and almost catchy — certainly less annoying than what you’d expect for a song about a healthcare company — even if it wears out its welcome by the 2-minute mark. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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BBDO NY Resurrects Agent Smith for Latest GE Effort

Has it really been ten years since The Matrix: Revolutions tarnished the Wachowskis’epic saga? Time flies, but while we’d rather forget the third and final Matrix installment, we’re happy to once again see Hugo Weaving as the relentless Agent Smith, whose dapper yet menacing visage appears along with several doppelgangers in this latest effort from BBDO New York for GE called “Agent of Good.”

The spot, which was directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), debuted over the weekend and showcases GE’s industrial internet technology and how the corporate giant connecting its medical hardware to its software is benefiting hospitals–or something to that effect. Despite being a decade removed from the Matrix films, Weaving shows no signs of rust as he brings the snarl of his most iconic character to the most sterile of environments. Stick around for the final moments for your most obvious Matrix reference, minus Morpheus. Credits after the jump.

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