Hasta La Creative!

On a tiny island island outside Finland called Aland where, reportedly, nothing interesting ever happens, a gaming company, Paf, placed a help wanted ad looking for a seer. Now, we hope they aren’t hiring this this future teller to game the system. Rather, we hope, like any well-run business, they’d just like the ability to predict how their business will be doing in, say the next year, five for ten.

Apparently, there are a lot of clairvoyants in Aland as the company tells us they have received hundreds of applications.

We’ve received word straight from Campbell Mithun itself, which tells us, “As one of many marketing partners affected by the recent sale and restructuring of SuperValu, we subsequently eliminated fewer than ten positions across all levels in our media department last week.” Folks on the Spy line are adding that a few senior members in the Minneapolis-based agency’s media department were affected by the cuts, which happened approximately a week ago. As noted, CM’s staff reduction was directly due to SuperValu recently unloading 877 of its grocery stores including Albertson’s, Jewel-Osco and Acme to AB Acquisition LLC for $100 million and the assumption of $3.2 billion in the former’s debt. In turn,, the grocery/retail brand eliminated 1,100 positions nationwide.

Campbell Mithun has been serving as media agency of record for SuperValu for five years and will continue to work on media efforts for the corporation’s discount supermarket chain, Save-A-Lot, which spans well over 1,000 stores in the U.S. (SuperValu has worked with the likes of Publicis Kaplan Thaler on the creative end).

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

After showing us Kiefer Sutherland/Jack Bauer’s, er, softer side and making a case for Megan Fox as a marine biologist, Mother London and Acer have teamed up again for another fairly amusing web film to promote one of the computer brand’s Ultrabooks. This latest collaboration stars the globe-trotting Dutch progressive house DJ/producer now simply known as Tiesto and his hapless assistant, Vernon, who perhaps resembles a hybrid of Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen.

One would think that Tiesto, who probably earns at least six figures a gig in a million exotic destinations and has been lathered up by the likes of DJ Magazine and Rolling Stone as the “world’s #1 DJ” over the years, would hire someone a bit less befuddled than Vernon to run his affairs. But, as you can see, being adept at using an Acer Aspire P3 Ultrabook can turn even the most awkward of characters into a model-luring, scene-stealing star. We can all dare to dream. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Red Tettemer + Partners have teamed with Under Armour to launch “What’s Beautiful 3.0,” the third version of a social media exercise contest where women can ultimately win – drum roll, plrease – an all-expense paid fitness retreat to sunny Costa Rica. Judging by the campaign’s website and the general tone of Under Armour’s advertisements, beautiful is: athletic, ripped, motivated, a little edgy, and healthy. Women interested in competing can post pictures and videos of their fitness exploits. Under Armour periodically issues athletic challenges and will host pop-up events around the country designed to bring together participants who may only know each other from the online profiles. After two months, Under Armour will look at all of the previous submissions and select 10 finalists. Three winners will get to go to Costa Rica, two chosen by Under Armour and one by public vote.

Even if the contest structure and vague superficiality of the campaign seems a little at odds with female empowerment, we’re all for people living healthier. Tip of the day for women taking selfies at profile-picture-esque diagonal angles: It probably won’t hurt to be in full Under Armour gear when posting on the site. Catsuits and everything, that’s how you go from product placement to Costa Rica.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Let’s face it, student loans are a bitch (and we’re honestly still paying them off 12 years after graduating). So how else to present the horrific than a horror short film courtesy of SS+K, which is promoting nonprofit program SALT via the clip called The Red above. If you want to watch the extended cut (no word if a Blu-Ray/Netflix stream is on the way), go here, but in the meantime, here’s half of it from Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin and Josh Mond, who were Sundance darlings thanks to their feature film, Martha Marcy May Marlene. We’re not sure if this will be received just as well, but yeah, creeping plumes of red mixed with a dash of The Eye, maybe a splash of Paranormal Activity and other modern flicks gives us decent visual representation of what being in financial purgatory feels like. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Following a litany of complaints, PepsiCo has pulled a :60 Mountain Dew commercial that social commentator Dr. Boyce Watkins dubbed, “arguably the most racist commercial in history.”

The ad, indeed, carries racist overtones with a white women — who appears to have been assaulted — attempting to identify her assailant from a lineup of black men…and a talking goat who urges her not to spill the beans with various threats.

The ad, created by Tyler The Creator of Odd Future, is part of a series of Mountain Dew ads which feature the wise-cracking goat.

This particular ad features the members of Odd Future and, we assume, was created to appeal to followers of the band and its style of music.

For its part, a Pepsi rep told AdWeek, “We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended. We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.”

Good luck with that, Pepsi. The internet being, well, the internet…once something’s up, it’s up forever.

Portal A’s new mockumentary for L’Oreal’s Vichy Skin Care may make it a little easier for women to laugh at their own cellulite follies. Forgive me, I may not be familiar with some of these techniques: Body shapers? The shake belt? Butt vacuuming? (Butt vacuuming is one of those concepts that is so absurd, at least to my guy perspective, that it could also be legitimate). So, if you have two minutes to spare, watch some women indulge in body image self-deprication. This video may not compare to the Christopher Guest oeuvre, but listening to people make fun of themselves is always a comforting form of comedy.

Of course, after ribbing women who struggle to attain the perfect body, the end of the video shows the lower-half of a lady with flawlessly toned legs and skin that is tan and smooth. I guess Vichy wants to have their cake and eat it, too. Or something like that. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

By now, you’re probably aware of the shitstorm spawned by Hyundai and Innocean’s recent U.K. spot “Pipe Job,” which didn’t sit too well with people who were directly affected by its subject matter. In turn, the ad was pulled and apologies rained. So, since it’s still fairly fresh in mind, let’s get some quick thoughts on the campaign from Bernie Pitzel, a 35-year ad vet who’s currently creative in residence at Jacobs Agency and is the man behind the “Be Like Mike” Gatorade campaign.

…Hyundai and those wacky cut-ups at Innocean Europe for their recently pulled Hyundai iX35 “Pipe Job” commercial portraying a failed suicide attempt, which was the platform they decided on to tout their 100% water emissions.

Suicide? Really?

Oh, the commercial is powerful, but at what cost? How low can we go to shill a product? Apparently, way lower than I or most of America imagined.

This is the heartbreaking reaction to the commercial from Holly Brockwell, an advertising creative whose father committed suicide; her father’s last note is included. It’s very sad that she had to relive the pain because of this cruel and thoughtless piece of trash.

What amazes me most, is not that some clown came up with this idea (this business has more clown cars than Barnum & Bailey), but that not one person at either Innocean or Hyundai, said, “You know group, maybe depicting a suicide attempt is not such a great idea.” Apparently humanity, common decency and common sense are out the window if we think this is the kind of execution that can sell a car. A stupid car.

I won’t go on. The article, which consists mostly of Holly Brockwell’s response, speaks to the senselessness and pain far better than I ever could.

It’s a tough read. I can only imagine the tears she shed on her keyboard while she wrote it, and I can join her in never, ever purchasing a Hyundai.

In the end, I only hope “Pipe Job” encourages people to shy away from this ridiculously insensitive brand, rather than achieve Hyundai’s and Innocean’s desired intent.

Yes, they got our attention.  Let’s hope they pay dearly for their success.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Son of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now director, Francis-Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola was on a bit of a winning streak after co-writing Wes Anderson films The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom. However, after directing the near-universally panned Charlie Sheen vehicle, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Roman lost a healthy portion of the goodwill he had racked up. As The A.V. Club put it, the film “it isn’t a movie so much as a feature-length perfume commercial for a Charlie Sheen signature cologne with gorgeous packaging and absolutely nothing inside.” So, yeah. It was pretty bad.

Seeking solace from tomato-throwing critics, Roman did what all directors attempting to recover from a stinker do: Join forces with CP+B for a Microsoft TV spot. Here, we see Roman channeling his own life experiences to sell Windows Phones. Sure, says Roman metaphorically through this spot, there are haters are either side of the aisle. But you can’t have the naysayers keep you down, you know? Yes, some people like Apple phones and some people like Samsung phones, just like some people like good movies and some people like other good movies. But, just because your movie isn’t “good” or your phone isn’t “good” either, doesn’t mean to have to be part of the fighting. As Jay-Z once said, “Get that dirt off your shoulder.” Most assuredly, Roman was playing this track on set throughout the production of this ad.

Embrace Roman Coppola, and embrace Nokia Windows phones. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In the ad business we hear about brands wishing to reinvent themselves daily. In fact, many of us have heard these exact words (more than once), “We want to be just like Apple.” Thankfully, there are few signs of brand-specific cluelessness this overt.

Like agencies seeking a new skin, I am not convinced a full scale brand reinvention is possible, but evolution and new growth certainly is. According to USA TODAY, Hooters, “the chain that invented the $2 billion ‘breastaurant’ category is desperate to re-create itself as something other than a fading relic of the 1980s.”

Hooters is busy redesigning its restaurant interiors, its iconic servers’ uniforms and its menu. No more frozen chicken wings and burgers. The new menu is all fresh. And, for the first time in Hooters history, Hooters is serving entrée salads.

Will it be enough to reverse the slide? USA TODAY reports that the ‘breastaurant’ category is growing at a double-digit rate, while Hooters’ sales have mostly fallen for five of the past six years. During that time, it closed about 50 restaurants while competitors, such as Twin Peaks and Tilted Kilt, were opening stores at a furious pace.

The post Hooters Working To Insert The Restaurant Into Its “Breastaurant” Brand appeared first on AdPulp.