Hasta La Creative!

Ubiquitous Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons stars in Intel’s new holiday campaign, the first work from agency McGarryBowen since being named agency of record in October.

The first spot for the holiday campaign (featured above) breaks Monday, and the campaign will run for six weeks as the other ads gradually roll out. In it Parsons plays himself, running amok a restricted access area at Intel and gawking at Intel’s RealSense technology, until he is eventually thrown out by a security guard who tells him not to talk about anything he saw. Parsons’ broadcast spots will be backed by a social media campaign featuring companion videos and photos.

“The decision to approach this in a comedic way was one that intrigued me from the beginning,” Gordon Bowen, chairman and chief creative officer of McGarryBowen, told The New York Times. The campaign “is really just the beginning,” Bowen added. “It sets us up for a campaign that tells you there’s a new Intel that is bringing things to market that will surprise and delight you.”

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Ogilvy & Mather worked with singer Kevin Ross on a holiday spot for Glade entitled “Feel Anticipation.”

For the spot, Ross wrote a song supposedly expressing how holiday scent Sparkling Spruce made him feel. Ross can be seen performing the song in an outdoor stage, surrounded by plenty of Glade candles ending with the “#FeelGlade” hashtag. While the “song inspired by a fragrance” premise can be a bit hard to swallow, it should appeal to fans of the emerging Motown singer, and maybe even net him — and the brand — a few new fans along the way. In addition to the 30-second broadcast spot, Glade also released a full-length music video for the song (featured after the jump), which is also available to download on iTunes.

It’s part of a larger rebranding campaign from Ogilvy for the brand, which is seeking to reposition itself as not just selling scents but the feelings they evoke. In another recent effort, Glade set up a pop-up shop, which they called the Glade Boutique, in New York’s meatpacking district. According to Adweek, the Glade Boutique saw “concierge” guide visitors through a “scent and emotion journey” in the Feelings Lounge, with scents such as Blooming Peony and Red Honeysuckle Nectar. The brand also teamed up with Cirque de Soleil for an October event in Madison Square Park. (more…)

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Poo-Pourri made waves last year with the viral “Girls Don’t Poop” video introducing its toilet deodorizer with pun-filled toilet humor that went on to garner over 30 million views on YouTube. While the follow-up, “Second Hand Stink,” didn’t draw quite as much attention, the brand’s latest, “Even Santa Poops” has the potential to attract attention to the brand once more with the holiday season right around the corner.

Written and directed by Pete Marquis and Jamie McClelland, who worked on HelloFlo’s “Camp Gyno” and “First Moon Party,” in collaboration with copywriter Joel Ackerman, who was behind the original “Girls Don’t Poop” spot for Poo-Pourri, “Even Santa Poops” should prove a success. The setup is new: Santa is delivering gifts when all the cookies and milk catch up with him and he has to retreat to the toilet for relief. His stench wakes three British sisters, who attempt to blackmail him for extra gifts and inform him of the Poo-Pourri which he should be using to mask his odor. Otherwise the formula is familiar: plenty of poo puns and a quick introduction of the product as a solution. Mostly the puns are pretty clever and while some may object to the premise, others will be all too happy to gleefully share this with friends and the timing of the release works to promote Poo-Pourri as a holiday (gag) gift while people are shopping for the season.

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BBH New York enlisted dancers from the New York City Ballet for a series of ads depicting victory celebrations for PS4, an extension of the “Greatness Awaits” campaign.

Each of the six spots begins with a group of dancers performing classic ballet moves in scenery/dress meant to evoke certain styles of games (sports, space, war, etc.) before a musical change signifies a shift in style and they perform a more modern victory dance. At the end of each 30-second spot, viewers are invited to contribute to the linked social initiative, calling on gamers to submit their own victory dance on Instagram for a chance at winning a PS4. At this point, any gaming advertising that tries something different is a welcome departure, and the social initiative has the potential to lead to some fun engagement with fans. We do wish, however, that they had managed a take of “Dunk” (stick around for it after the jump) where she actually makes the shot. (more…)

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Ogilvy & Mather Chicago created an Instagram campaign for The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park adapting three classic Hemingway novels into 15-second videos.

The idea behind the campaign is that, while Hemingway’s novels are rightly considered modern classics, younger generations aren’t reading his work. So The Ernest Hemingway Foundation tasked Ogilvy & Mather Chicago with finding a way to stoke interest in the author, and the agency decided to use the popular Instagram platform. The videos are all fairly tongue-in-cheek, telling the entire plot of each novel — A Farewell To Arms, For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea – in a way designed to pique interest in the works. Director Eduardo Cintron made every second count, as the videos had just 15 seconds to tell the entire plot of a novel. Sometimes the self-effacing humor risks going to far and parodying the work to the point where it undermines it, but for the most part they strike a balance between reverence and irreverence (after all, these are supposed to be fun), with each video ending by directing viewers to the The Ernest Hemingway Foundation’s site. Whether they can get kids to actually read For Whom The Bell Tolls is another story. (more…)

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MMB teamed up with production company Aggressive for a new holiday campaign for Subway employing a mix of methods in three different spots.

The animated 30-second “Winter Wonderland,” introduces Subway’s holiday “Customer Appreciation” event, which sees the fast food sandwich chain offering two of its most longstanding offerings — the meatball marinara and coldcut combo — for a reduced price. “Winter Wonderland” keeps the holiday vibe low-key, with the music and background animation celebrating the season in general rather than a specific winter holiday in particular. Two 15-second spots take a similarly laid-back approach, but swap out the animation for live action spots with appearances by NFL stars Justin Tuck and Robert Griffin III in “Famous Fans” and the brand’s longtime spokesman in “Jared.” There’s nothing particularly memorable here, as MMB and Aggressive seem to rely on the deal speaking to fans of the brand without any unnecessary bells and whistles. (more…)

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Tampa agency PP+K is launching a new campaign for Bright House Networks with a 60-second broadcast spot entitled “First Dance.”

The spot follows the story of a young boy as he learns to dance and attempts to win over a crush, getting help from Bright House Networks products and services along the way. Opening with the boy stealing a glance at his crush, the spot shows him learning to dance and concludes with him at his first dance, crossing over from the boys side of the auditorium to girls (anyone who has ever been to a middle school dance is familiar with this gender divide) to ask his crush for a dance.

“A boy figuring out how to impress a girl is a timeless story,” explains Paul Prato, creative director at PP+K. “What’s different is that technology is now so intuitive and integrated into our lives that it creates new means to fulfill this type of personal journey.”

The spot, which broke yesterday, was a collaboration with Serial Pictures, shot on location in Los Angeles by director Matt Bieler and then completed at PP+K’s Tampa office by its internal production house. It marks the beginning of what will be an ongoing campaign for Bright House Networks, entitled “Connecting Friends,” which aims to “pursue common themes that truly matter in people’s lives: love, learning, self-improvement, family and friendship.” Additional spots will being airing early next year. (more…)

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Last year, FCB Chicago (then Draftfcb Chicago) caused a stir with its “Show Your Joe” spot for Kmart and Joe Boxer. The spot, which showed boxer-clad men jiggling their unmentionables to the tune of “Jingle Bells” went viral while stirring up controversy among the easily offended and earning the unofficial title “Jingle Balls.”

This year, FCB Chicago is back with a new holiday musical, moving on to a new body part but sticking with same song. “Jingle Bellies” features men clad in open suit tops and pajama bottoms exposing their bellies, as you might imagine, and performing a percussive rendition of “Jingle Bells.” The 60-second spot ends with a surprise tip of the hat to last year’s spot, and the same “Get More Christmas” tagline. Fans of last year’s spot should enjoy it well enough, although without the same level of controversy it’s unlikely to generate the same viral success as “Show Your Joe” and those irked by that attempt will continue to not be amused. The ad, which like last year’s spot was directed by Christian Weber, makes its broadcast debut tonight.

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m:united has launched a new holiday spot for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3, entitled “Winter Wonderland.”

As you might have guessed from the title, the 30-second spot makes use of the carol of the same name. And as you might have guessed from recent Surface Pro 3 ads, the spot is based on a minimalist comparison with Apple’s MacBook Air, visually limited to the computers in question and two pairs of arms. “My Mac is great, it’s so delightful,” begins the ad, with a reworking of the holiday carol sung in a somewhat grating voice. “So’s my Surface, it’s just as powerful,” answers a chorus, as the ad then goes on to list the features that make the Surface Pro 3 superior: the touch screen, digital pen, kickstand and detachable keyboard. By the end of the spot, the Mac booster is ready to make the switch to the Surface Pro. Somehow we don’t think most Mac fans will be quite so easy to convert.  (more…)

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After winning the Turkish Airlines business last September, CP+B’s “Selfie Shootout” spot for the brand, starring Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant, went viral, eventually reaching over 138 million views to become the most watched ad of the year on YouTube. CP+B brought back Messi again this year for the follow-up effort, this time pairing him with fellow soccer star Didier Drogba for the third and final spot in a series that began with the 2012 “Legends on Board” spot from Turkish agency Alametifarika, also starring Messi and Bryant.

In the new spot, called “Epic Food,” Drogba travels to different locations around the world for exotic meals (showcasing all the places Turkish Airlines flies to). At each restaurant he visits, however, he finds a photo of Messi, who has already been there. This only strengthens his resolve to find a place Messi has yet to visit, upping the ante with places farther and farther off the beaten path. If you enjoyed the previous spots in the series, chances are you’ll like this one as well. If not, “Epic Food” doesn’t change the formula up enough to change your mind. The spot will be hard pressed to outdo last year’s “Selfie Shootout,” this time without Bryant along for the ride, but should go viral even if it doesn’t reach quite the same level of success.

The 60-second spot is supported by an initiative calling on viewers to upload their own epic travel photos through EpicFoodMap.com with a competition offering a chance to win a trip to the locations featured in the commercial. Drogba and Messia will be kicking it off themselves, on November 18th, with their favorite foods. (more…)

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