Hasta La Creative!

TBWA Media Arts Lab has launched a star-studded campaign for Conservation International, entitled “Nature is Speaking,” which employs celebrities as elements of nature delivering the message that environmental reform is an immediate concern.

Star voices include Julia Roberts as Mother Nature, Harrison Ford as The Ocean, Kevin Spacey as The Rainforest, Edward Norton as The Soil, Penelope Cruz as Water and Robert Redford as The Redwood. The campaign debuted at SXSW Eco and rolled out yesterday on YouTube, with the Mother Nature film highlighted on www.conservation.org. That nearly two-minute video functions as the campaign’s center point and introduction. Roberts, as Mother Nature, casts aside the notion that nature is something separate from people to be used. “I don’t really need people, but people need me,” Roberts intones over footage of natural marvels (bonus points for time-lapse footage of oyster mushrooms growing). She goes on to point out how the fate of humans is linked to nature. “When I thrive, you thrive,” she says. “When I falter, you falter — or worse.” She concludes, “One way or another, your actions will determine your fate. Not mine…I am prepared to evolve, are you?” It’s a powerful message, hammering home the immediacy of the issue with emotion.

It also functions as something of a rebranding for the environmental movement. As Dr. M. Sanjayan, Conservation International’s executive vice president and senior scientist points out in a press release, “The environmental movement has missed the mark when talking about nature because it tends to present nature as something that is separate from people. By making it clear that people need nature to survive, we are turning the conversation around and making the movement relevant to entirely new audiences.”

As the campaign continues, Conservation Internation will highlight a different film each week on www.conservation.org, with an accompanying post on its Human Nature blog. Next week will focus on The Ocean (voiced by Vice Chairman of Conservation International Harrison Ford), followed by The Rainforest (voiced by Spacey) and The Soil (Norton). We’ve included Ford and Spacey’s contributions after the jump. The campaign also includes a social extension, with HP promising to donate one dollar to Conservation International, up to one million, for every use of the #NatureIsSpeaking hashtag. (more…)

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Fire Station Agency is bringing POM back to TV for the first time in three years, with a new campaign entitled “Crazy Healthy.”

The campaign imagine the antioxidants in POM as various types of warriors, from archers and samurai, to cyclops and dragons. This approach emphasizes the free-radical fighting nature of the antioxidants in pomegranate juice, a key health benefit of the the product. It comes across as an effort to make the brand seem more fun and youthful, while still emphasizing its health benefits. To create the campaign, Fire Station teamed up with director Tarsem Singh and VFX studio Framestore, who helped bring the anti-oxidant fighting warriors to life. (more…)

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BBDO New York has a new spot for Foot Locker that pits James Harden against the Internet in a best of three game of Horse.

It’s a really fun idea, in a “Why hasn’t anyone though of this before?” kind of way. Fans sent in their best shots to challenge Harden, and Harden attempts to recreate the shots. When he can make them, the Internet gets a letter, when he can’t Harden gets the letter. It makes for some compelling viewing for NBA fans, and fans of Harden in particular, and is a good way for the brand to offer original content to fans in what could easily be turned into a recurring series. Check out the video above to see how it panned out. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, Goodby Silverstein & Partners has a new campaign for Rock the Vote that attempts to scare young people into voting, entitled “#CareLikeCrazy.”

In the above 30-second spot, a right-wing lunatic espouses his (scary) views on women’s rights, preceding his rant by letting you know he never forgets to vote. He says women, who “think they want equal pay” are just having their minds poisoned by feminism and its the responsibility of men to protect them from themselves. His psychotic rant is followed by the a horror movie scream and the message “He votes. Do you?”

Since, unfortunately, there really are people like this out there, this is a clever approach. For those who don’t think there’s reason to vote, it’s a reminder that sane, rational people are needed to cancel out the votes of people like this guy. Similarly minded spots take on other topics (with other crazies) like war, the environment and voting rights. (more…)

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Havas Worldwide, London teamed up with AnalogFolk for a new campaign promoting luxury whiskey brand Chivas’ “The Venture,” a one million dollar fund to support up-and-coming social entrepreneurs.

The campaign, entitled “Win the Right Way,” celebrates those social entrepreneurs who run their businesses in a way that benefits society, not just shareholders, and is the latest installment in the brand’s “Live With Chivalry” campaign. Havas called on the talents of actors Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) and Liao Fan for three different ads slated for different markets, all directed by Daniel Wolfe. Isaac stars in the 60-second spot for the US market (featured above), pacing around a boxing ring while celebrating those business owners who care enough to worry about something other than profits. The campaign rolled out yesterday, with the ads, short documentaries about social entrepreneurs and a website created by AnalogFolk.

“We have always valued entrepreneurship, and generosity is at the heart of Chivas, so supporting those who use their success to create value for others feels like a natural fit,” said Richard Black, global brand director, Chivas Regal. “We are committing significant resources through The Venture to find and support the most inspiring social entrepreneurs around the world, and hope that each of those businesses will inspire other entrepreneurs to use business as a force for good, creating a growing movement with real momentum behind it.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Martin Agency will be producing creative work for Ritz Crackers starting in 2015, a Mondelez spokeswoman confirmed to AdAge yesterday. Ritz spent an estimated $16.6 million on measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media.

The agency will take over for Havas Worldwide, which has handled creative duties on Ritz since 2007. Mondelez made the decision without any review, but The Martin Agency already handles creative duties on Mondelez brands Oreo and Chips Ahoy (and has since 2012).

“Havas Worldwide New York and Mondelez International are parting ways after a seven and a half year partnership,” said the Mondelez spokeswoman in a statement. “We experienced great success together, most evident in the Ritz ‘Open for Fun’ campaign, which earned multiple awards including a Bronze Effie and two One Show Design Silver Pencils. The campaign also contributed to Ritz being named ‘America’s favorite snack’ brand two years in a row and helped grow the business upward of 35%. We wish them continued success.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Creative agency Brave has a new pre-roll campaign for EAT which cleverly utilizes the “Skip Ad” button.

The spot begins with the message “Don’t Skip Breakfast” as a man unwraps a breakfast sandwich. Then, the word “Don’t” appears over the “Skip Ad” button, as a way to get people to stick around which also ties in with the message. Viewers who make it all the way through are told “Well done breakfast lover!” and offered a coupon for EAT’s hot bacon roll. While certainly not the first or best use of the “Skip Ad” button we’ve seen, Brave found a clever way to get people to not press the skip button (not an easy thing to do), and maybe think twice about skipping breakfast while they’re at it. (more…)

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Ogilvy Paris has a new online spot for Dove examining how mothers’ insecurities about their bodies carries on to their daughters.

For the spot, Ogilvy Paris asked mothers to fill out a survey asking what they did and didn’t like about their own bodies. Then, they had their daughters fill out the same survey, which, unsurprisingly, contained many of the same answers. When the mothers were then presented with their daughters’ surveys, they realized how they were passing down their feelings about their bodies, both positive and negative, to their daughters and resolved to be more confident and happy with themselves.

“Whether a mother, aunt, coach, teacher or sister, all women can set a positive example for the next generation by expressing their own beauty with confidence,” Jennifer Bremner, director of marketing at Dove, told Adweek. “Dove has long been dedicated to fostering positive self-esteem in women and girls, and we invite all women to join us in making a difference to the next generation by ensuring their own beauty legacy is a positive one.”

Ogilvy has made Dove synonymous with empowerment through its advertising celebrating different ideas of feminine beauty, winning accolades for the viral “Real Beauty Sketches.” While the more recent “Patches” was criticized by some as condescending and inauthentic, even receiving its own parody, “Legacy” marks a nice return to form, with its positive message reminiscent of the success of “Real Beauty Sketches.” The spot, which was uploaded today, will have an uphill battle to reach the same level of viral success as that ad, but its shareability all but ensures it will reach millions of views before long.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Team Detroit teamed up with production company King And Country for a new 30-second broadcast spot for Ford Transit employing a mix of 3D animation, design and live-action.

The spot introduces the new line of Ford Transit vehicles with an approach borrowed from Team Detroit’s “Rant” campaign for the Ford F150, ending with the “Built Ford Tough” tagline. “9 to 5?ers” tweaks the familiar formula to illustrate how a range of professionals who rely on their vehicles can utilize the Transit models. It was shot over the course of two days on a soundstage in Los Angeles, making use of both green screen and practical sets, including a room that was actually flooded with 3,000 gallons of water. The interiors and exteriors of the vans, meanwhile, were captured in-camera and later augmented with CG. (more…)

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Erwin Penland teamed up with production company Harpoon Picures for a visually striking tribute to Alaska, celebrating the network’s arrival in the 49th state.

The well-shot 30-second spot highlights some of the state’s natural beauty before concluding with the Verizon team showing up and saying, “We’re here Alaska.” The ad celebrates the fact that Verizon’s expansion into the territory has made the company Alaska’s largest and fastest 4G LTE network. Harpoon was able to assemble a team and put the spot together over the course of just several days.

“A project like this reminds us that it takes more than a great director to produce a great spot,” said Chris Miller, Harpoon’s director of new business development.”Harpoon put all our best problem solving skills to the test and our amazing production team deftly pulled off every challenge presented to them in an incredibly short amount of time.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.