Hasta La Creative!

McCann New York launched a new digital campaign for Jose Cuervo today, promoting the limited edition Jose Cuervo Especial Gold and Silver bottles the brand is releasing in celebration of its 220th anniversary.

The animated 30-second spot, called “The Blacksmith,” shows a blacksmith hammering away to create the gold and silver bottles of Cuervo Especial. Brooding music matches the dark animation, which fit the Dia de los Muertos inspired artwork on the bottles, an homage to Jose Cuervo’s Mexican roots. In support of the video, the brand’s Instagram feed has been slowly revealing details about the new bottles since January 11th. Animated GIFS on Jose Cuervo’s social channels will follow today’s video release.

Credits:

McCann

Chief Creative Officers: Thomas Murphy / Sean Bryan

Executive Creative Director: Mat Bisher

Creative Director: Jason Ashlock

Senior Copywriter: Nick DiLallo

Senior Art Director: Ryan Quigley

Chief Production Officer: Nathy Aviram

Senior Producer: Jessica Coccaro

Music Producer: Mike Ladman

Account: Lauren LaValle / Christopher Jeyes / Rachel Heiss

Production

Animation Company: Elastic

Director: Andy Hall

Executive Producer: Jenn Sofio Hall

Music & Sound Design: Q Department

Mix Studio: Sonic Union

Engineer: Fernando Ascani

McCann New York enlisted gay couple Kordale and Kaleb Lewis — who became Instagram celebrities after posting this photo documenting their morning routine fixing their daughters’ hair before school — and family for a new spot for Nikon.

The two-minute plus video takes a closer look at Kordale Lewis, Kaleb and their children, as the couple discusses their morning routine, parenting and their unexpected rise to Internet stardom. It’s part of McCann’s “Generation Image” campaign for Nikon, which launched in November, celebrating the ubiquity and importance of images to millenials. In addition to rocking a Nikon camera in the spot, the couple also says that “A picture is worth so much more than a thousand words,” and given the Lewis’ success it’s hard to argue otherwise. Nikon may be the first brand to capitalize on the Lewis’ fame and endearing personalities, but it’s hard to imagine they’ll be the last.

Credits:

Client: Nikon

Agency: McCann NY
Tom Murphy, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Sean Bryan, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Larry Platt, Executive Creative Director
Thomas Sullivan, Group Creative Director
Cameron Fleming, Associate Creative Director
Calvin Lyte, Associate Creative Director
George Katz, Design Director
David Mashburn, Design Director
Kathy Love, Executive Producer
Jory Sutton and Chandler Simms, Integrated Producers
Ryan Fitzsimons, Production Coordinator
Eric David Johnson, Executive Music Producer
Mike Ladman, Music Producer

Account:
Kevin Scher, Group Managing Director; Dana McCullough; Account Director; Daniella Rey, Account Director; Danielle Jimenez, Assistant Account Executive

Strategy:
Steve Zaroff, Chief Strategy Officer; Julien Delatte, Group Strategy Director; Michele Kim, Strategist

Production
Director: Douglas Gautraud
Production Co: Coverdale, Inc.
DP: Luca Fantini

Editorial: The Whitehouse
Editor: Paul LaCalanra
Assistant Editor: David Rothstadt

Color Correction: Fergus McCall at The Mill
Sound Engineer/Mix: Tom Goldblatt @ Audio Engine

Music Company: South Music

With tax season approaching, Fallon has a new broadcast campaign for H&R Block, a client the agency has handled since winning the account from DDB in 2010.

With a host of rivals, Fallon attempts to use humor to differentiate H&R Block from other brands. In “Nein Nein Nein,” for example, a man teaching German repeatedly drills his pupil on the pronunciation of the word “nein.” The connection — that H&R Block charges only $9.99 to file taxes online — isn’t revealed until the spot’s conclusion. In “Nine Nine Tee Nine,” by contrast, the deal is revealed upfront, while the play on words comes across as a bit…inexplicable. (That ad also features an appearance from what appears to be Todd Bosley of Little Giants fame.) Still, both spots succeed at making H&R Block’s selling point memorable for viewers, whether or not they actually find the ads funny. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last year, Droga5 gained a lot of attention for Newcastle with its “If We Made It” digital campaign for the brand. So when the agency crashed Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign with its “Chores” effort, it was clear that it was likely just the beginning of the agency’s latest campaign leading up to the big game. Now Droga5 has launched a more substantial effort, relying on a deadpan delivery from Aubrey Plaza to call on other brands to join forces with Newcastle to purchase a Super Bowl ad.

After a quick dig at big game advertising in general, and Chrysler’s ridiculous Super Bowl spot last year in particular, Plaza jumps to the pitch in typically deadpan fashion. The gist is that Newcastle wants in on the big game, but is looking for partners (whose logos and brands would also be featured in the ad), or as Plaza puts it, “Instead of blowing Newcastle’s marketing budget, let’s team up to blow all of our marketing budgets.”

(more…)

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On August 18, 2014, TBWA Toronto and Gatorade surprised members of the Cruisers sledge hockey team by inviting NHL stars to join them on the ice. TBWA Toronto then used footage from the event to create the above online spot, released just a few days ago.

In the 2:15 video, we see the surprised look on the faces of Cruisers players as a Gatorade spokesperson invites NHL stars such as Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell onto the ice. But the ad isn’t just about how excited the Cruisers were to meet their hockey idols. The sledge hockey team proved the naysayers (who say sledge hockey isn’t as hard as the stand up version) wrong, and actually schooled the pros. “A couple of those guys did circles around us,” admits Giroux.

“At the end of the day, hockey is hockey,” the spot concludes,” followed by the message, “Proud supporter of hockey everywhere. No matter how it’s played.”

It’s an inspiring message, delivered well over the course of the ad — which actually does a good job of developing its story of the course of its run time, not feeling too stretched at out, even at over two minutes. “Sledge Hockey” is a pretty perfect encapsulation of Gatorade’s “#WinFromWithin” campaign message, and seems to have struck a chord with hockey fans, as it has already tallied almost 700,000 views on YouTube. (more…)

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In anticipation of tonight’s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, ESPN is airing a new “This is SportsCenter” spot from W+K New York featuring Warriors star Steph Curry.

Curry joins SportsCenter anchors Stan Verrett and Neil Everett in the ESPN cafeteria, where he thanks two cooks for (accidentally) celebrating his recent performance on the court by serving chicken curry. The anchors try to convince Curry it’s a coincidence, but he’s not buying it, even after the cooks’ confused glances. It’s one of the more fun SportsCenter spots in a while, as, even if the premise is a little obvious, Curry plays his part well enough to make it work.

There’s also a “Kitchen Warriors” installment in which Steph squares off against his wife, Ayesha Curry, to see who can make the better chicken curry. With their daughter Riley as the judge, it soon becomes clear Steph’s skills are on the court, not in the kitchen.

Note: credits only apply to the first spot; “Kitchen Warriors” was created by the client.

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DDB Canada launched a pro-bono PSA campaign for Toronto Crime Stoppers examining the dangers of ecstasy use, entitled “Cookin’ with Molly.”

The spot, whose full-length version online runs 90 seconds, is presented as a cooking show with a drug dealer. Molly is a name for pure MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), but, as the video shows, pills presented as “Molly” are often adulterated with substances ranging from methamphetamine and cocaine to heroin and even bath salts. “Welcome to ‘Cookin’ with Molly,’” says the host of the show at the beginning of the ad, “today’s secret ingredient is meth.” He adds just a pinch of bath salts to some ground up MDMA, a bunch of meth and finishes up with his “signature” blue color and some binder before pressing the pills. The online version of the spot ends by directing to viewers to the campaign landing site for more information. There are also 15 and 6 second broadcast versions of the spot. DDB Canada hopes the tongue-in-cheek approach of the campaign, which launched today and will run through the end of February, will resonate with the target audience of people between the ages of 15 and 25.

“These party-type drugs have been a growing concern, and Toronto Crime Stoppers wanted to tackle this head on without being heavy-handed, so the cooking show format is intended to be tongue-in-cheek,” explains Craig Ferguson, senior art director, DDB Canada Toronto. “At the same time, this creative still allows us to educate people on the harmful, hidden ingredients found in MDMA which was our key objective.” (more…)

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FCB Inferno has just launched its first campaign for BMW UK with a 60-second spot promoting the hybrid i8, entitled “Curiosity.”

The spot is based off an idea “first presented in June 2013, when FCB Inferno pitched to win the BMW UK creative account,” according to The Drum. “Curiosity” shows an early human in the year 4000 BC as he becomes curious about a herd of horses. “Interesting thing curiosity: we can learn from it, we can die from it,” intones the voiceover. Although the man is frightened, he manages to mount one of the horses, taking an important step forward for civilization as the voiceover sums up the situation: “…sometimes it can lead us to places we never imagined we would reach.” The ad then pans to the BMW i8, introducing the vehicle as an important innovation for the company. A bit hyperbolic perhaps, but this isn’t a brand known for its modesty.

“In essence, driving a BMW is about exhilaration. The emotion behind the ultimate driving machine is very primal in some respects. The first man ever to have the breakthrough idea of riding a wild horse seemed a fitting parallel for the breakthrough idea that is the i8,” Al Young, FCB chief creative officer, explained to The Drum.

The ad is slated to premiere during the final ad break of the X Factor, and will then be broken up into smaller segments to air on broadcast and online.

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Pereira & O’Dell continues to produce intriguing work for Skype, with their latest, “Turning the tide” marking a shift in approach.

Last year, the agency focused on the emotion of the personal connections it helped foster, through its “Stay Together” campaign and its highlight, “The Born Friends Family Portrait.” With “Turning the tide,” Pereira & O’Dell focuses instead on how the service helps a pair of journalists tell the story of Kiribati, the island nation that is in danger of being wiped off the map by 2040, thanks to rising oceans caused by climate change. Indeed, the people of Kiribati are already becoming the “world’s first climate change refugees” as the rising ocean levels have contaminated their food and water.

The “modern mobile news team” of Anna Therese Day and Gianluca Panella are telling the island’s story, and utilize Skype as an important. “…Skype is second nature to us,” Anna says, “Being able to instantly share information, images, files…it means you can get to the heart of the story quickly.”While this inserts Skype into the conversation, it doesn’t do a whole lot to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Still, Pereira & O’Dell crafted an affecting spot, allowing Skype to tell an important story that many viewers might be unfamiliar with (although the story has been covered by a few major news outlets, including CNN). The agency seems to have made a choice to value storytelling and allying Skype with an important cause over overt branding. How effective you view the spot as will largely depend on which of these factors you place the most value on. (more…)

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Droga5 is debuting a new campaign for Air Wick entitled “Home is in the Air,” the agency’s first work for the brand since adding it to its client roster back in May.

In a long-form spot, Droga5 and Air Wick recreate the smells of home — a baseball glove, apple pie and a fireplace  — for an American soldier stationed in Qatar. The video begins with the soldier, Kearen, and his wife, Cortney, explaining the hardships of spending so much time apart (at the time of filming, Kearen has been deployed for 11 months) and introducing the project. Air Wick experts then use an instrument called a solid phase microextraction device to capture, and later recreate, the scents that remind Kearen of being at home with his wife and six children. They then send a package of Air Wick candles imbued with the scents to Kearen, who says, “This, this smells like home.” He adds, emotionally, “It’s something so simple, but it means so much to me.”

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