Sep 08

Grey, NY Launches Global Effort for Marriott

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Grey, New York teamed up with production company Supply&Demand and director David Holm in its new global campaign for Marriott Hotels & Resorts, shot in Instanbul, Turkey.

Supply&Demand sent Holm to Instanbul early, to allow a week of scouting prior to awarding the job and Holm’s scouting session ended up providing much of the inspiration for the 60-second spot.

“David’s earlier work ended up becoming our style guide for the shoot,” acknowledged Creative Director Denise O’Bleness. “His images, ideas and research went as far as Marriott’s global print campaign that also uses his beautifully composed shots…”
The spot is well-shot and composed, with the beauty of Instanbul providing most of the appeal. “Let’s go somewhere brilliant” says a text overlay shortly after the opening shots of the city. “Travel is a journey” reads another message over the spot’s generic soundtrack, leading into the “Travel brilliantly” tagline. While well shot, it’s pretty standard fare for the category, and doesn’t do a whole lot to distinguish itself from other brands. (more…)

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Jun 18

Grey Asks ‘Why Are Women Always Apologizing?’ for Pantene

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Last year, Pantene made waves with their “Labels” ad from BBDO Guerrero in Manila, which explored how men and women are labeled differently for the same behavior. “Labels” gained over 46 million views and plenty of attention outside its home country of the Philippines. Now, Grey has issued a new campaign that acts as something of spiritual successor for the brand, which continues to explore gender norms. This time, Grey asks, “Why are women always apologizing?” which appears onscreen during the spots’ opening moments to prepare viewers for what’s to come.

Viewers are presented with women apologizing in a variety of scenarios, starting with a woman at work diminishing her own argument by asking, “Sorry, can I ask a stupid question?” Another woman apologizes when a man sits down next to her and encroaches on her space; a mother apologizes for handing off her baby to the father when he returns home from work; a woman says “Sorry, you go first” when a man interrupts her. Following these scenarios a new message appears on screen: “Don’t be sorry. Be strong and shine.” The ad then doubles back on the women from the initial scenarios, who are now presented as assertive and unapologetic. Unfortunately, the message is compromised when several of the women say “Sorry not sorry,” which is still sort of an apology. Maybe Grey just wanted to jump on the bandwagon of the popular hashtag (and Naya Rivera song) or prove that Pantene is hip to Internet culture, but it seriously undermines the impact of “Not Sorry.”

As Adweek reports, Pantene is supporting the campaign with the Shine Strong Fund, “which seeks to educate and enable women to overcome bias and societal expectations as well as celebrate strong women.” The Shine Strong Fund will collaborate with the American Association of University Women, to underwrite monetary grants and help women in college gain access to influential leaders. It’s a nice initiative, and a good way for Pantene to really get behind their recent campaigns. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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May 24

Mike’s Hard Lemonade Brings Back Hard-to-Remember Celebrities

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Grey New York wants to tell you that “It’s Never Not a Good Time for a Refreshing Mike’s.” Excuse the double negative (what about “It’s Always a Good Time…?), but to draw your attention away from the grammatical errors, they included some very, very random celebrity cameos from actor Martin Landau and rapper Coolio. The 30-second spots include some random rhyming that leads to a series of non-sequitors, hence the random celebrities. Random is the only way to describe this campaign.

Before watching these spots, I hadn’t thought of Landau and Coolio in years. Both are stored away firmly in the Club for G-List Celebrities Who Will Never Be Famous Again. In Landau’s defense, he’s 84 and had a memorable run of “Entourage” a few years back (not to mention his Oscar-winning turn as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood). Coolio is Coolio. They both picked up paychecks in return for a loss of dignity. That’s advertising for you. Check out the Coolio spot and credits after the jump.

continued…

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