Hasta La Creative!

Jean-Claude Van Damme is back for Coors Light, sculpting an ice bar in the Rocky Mountains with his bare hands in a new UK spot from VCCP.

Following in the footsteps of last year’s “Epic Split” for Volvo, Van Damme is now synonymous with advertising gold, and the VCCP spot capitalizes on his image in a way reminiscent of that ad. The 60-second “Ice Bar” has just about everything you’d expect given Van Damme’s involvement: Van Damme’s signature mullet/ponytail, cheesy 80s synths, ice block breaking (with bare hands, of course) and a tongue-in-cheek sense of intentionally over-the-top humor. It all makes for a pretty fun spot, which makes you wonder why this isn’t running stateside as well. (more…)

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Lincoln Motor Company has partnered with recent Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey on a multiyear campaign promoting the Lincoln MKZ, Adweek reports.

In a press release, McConaughey claimed to be a long-time admirer of the brand. “Lincoln is an iconic, American brand and I like where they are heading with their transformation,” he said. “I had the chance to drive the new MKC around Texas and I think they’re doing a good job.”

The spots in the campaign, which will be handled by shop within WPP’s Team Detroit division, will be unscripted, although the brand and director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) created a storyline around the MKC for the actor to work with emphasizing the joy of driving. You can check out the trailer above to get an idea of what to expect from Lincoln and McConaughey.

“Matthew is a natural fit with Lincoln and where we are going as a brand,” said Matt VanDyke, director, global Lincoln. “The transformation of Lincoln is well underway. With the MKC coming to market in a hot, competitive segment, now is the perfect opportunity to share to a wider audience what our brand offers. Matthew is the ideal personality to help us tell this story, and it is only the beginning of what we trust will be a fantastic relationship.”

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M:United has a new campaign for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 which takes square aim at Apple’s MacBook Air.

Each of the three spots in the campaign focuses on comparing the Surface Pro 3 with its Apple-made competitor, in an attempt to prove the tablet/laptop’s superiority and sway potential customers to go with Microsoft. In “Crowded” (featured above) for example, an Apple fan is forced to carry around a laptop, tablet, pen and notepad, in order to compete with his boastful Surface Pro pal. “Head to Head” is a simple comparison of features and capabilities, highlighting the MacBook Air’s shortcomings (of course); while “Power” sees a smug Apple user changing his tune.

It’s a simple approach, as each add focuses on computer screens, with their users mostly out of sight. But the spots do offer some pretty persuasive arguments for the Surface Pro 3?s capabilities, probably enough to sway undecided consumers but not to change the allegiance of Apple loyalists. Stick around for credits and two more spots after the jump. (more…)

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Apple has added two new spots to its ongoing “Your Verse” campaign: “Jason’s Verse” and “Yaoband’s Verse.”

The “Your Verse” campaign, as you might remember, debuted in January with an anthem ad featuring the sadly recently deceased Robin Williams‘ recitation of Walt Whitman‘s “O Me! O Life!” (from which the campaign gets its title) from the film Dead Poets Society. It was also notable for being produced in-house, without the aid of Apple’s agency, TBWA/Media Arts Lab, as were the follow-up verses.

Apple’s latest additions to the campaign aim to continue the inspirational tone with two new stories. “Jason’s Verse” follows Detroit resident Jason Hall as he attempts to revitalize the Detroit community through his Slow Roll. What begins as a solitary bike ride turns into a weekly event drawing thousands, with Jason’s iPad Air helping him get word out to the community and build Slow Roll into a sort of institution.

“Yaoband’s Verse,” meanwhile, sees a Beijing electro-pop group’s using their iPad Air for everything from sound-sampling to communicating with fans. Both “Your Verse” stories can be examined in more depth at Apple’s site, where visitors can also access an exclusive concert from Yaoband. Stick around for “Yaoband’s Verse” after the jump. (more…)

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W+K New York has a new campaign for ESPN, promoting the network’s coverage of college football and stoking fans’ excitement for the first year of the college football playoffs.

The campaign, entitled “Who’s In?” will run from the start of the season until a National Champion is crowned in January. “Different Ways In” (featured above), the campaign’s debut spot, launches today across ESPN’s networks and digital properties. Narrated by Burt Reynolds, the 60-second spot manages to cram in references to 20 different schools, as well as cameos from Jerry Jones, Jimmy Kimmel, Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Sam Bradford and JJ Watt. That’s not a bad way to stoke excitement from fans of different schools for the FBS College Football Season on ESPN, which begins Wednesday, August 27. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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At the end of last month, we brought you news of Droga5?s campaign for Under Armour highlighting American Ballet Theatre soloist Misty Copeland. The latest from the brand, created by GreenLight Media and Marketing, tells the kind of story more expected from the brand, turning to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for a new series entitled “Huddle Up.”

The first episode in the series begins with the Panthers’ disappointing end to the 2013 season. While the season is over, Newton has his work cut out for him in a busy offseason that sees him working towards a college degree, recovering from surgery, and helping the kids at his program. Over the course of around six minutes, viewers are given a well-rounded view of Newton’s life off the field as he prepares for training camp.

Under Armour vice president of creative Brian Boring told Fast Company that the goal of the series is to “create stories that inspire athletes,” adding, “The content series format gives us an opportunity to tell a deeper story through the voice of an athlete, specifically in this case, football players.” (more…)

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RKCR/Y&R cast real British families in their latest campaign for Vodafone.

The series of 60-second spots promotes Vodafone’s new Red+ plan allowing multiple people to share one simple data allowance and aims to show how this helps bring families closer together. Casting for the campaign was done “through a combination of focus groups, postings on Mumsnet and street castings.” While the approach might come across a little dry at times, the real-life families lend it an air of authenticity.

“We know that mobile technology plays a big role in family life, but we also know that families worry about keeping data usage under control,” explains Daryl Fielding, Vodafone director of brand marketing. “Red+…allows families to share their data allowance and data caps under one shared and simple bill so they can share freely without worrying.”

You can check out the first spot, “Sunday Lunch” above, and stick around for credits after the jump.  (more…)

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Wongdoody taps Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in a new spot for Alaska Airlines.

In the 60-second spot, Chief Football Officer Wilson puts the Alaska Airlines crew through training camp, remarking, “Alaska Airlines and I are basically one and the same: we’re always prepared. The separation’s in the preparation.” Wilson runs snackuracy and teddy bear tossing drills, and quizzes the team on routes and seat switching strategy. The airline training camp schtick is not a bad idea, and it is timely, but the full-length spot stretches the idea a little thin. It is much better served by the 30-second version, which we’ve included, along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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Leo Burnett has a new campaign for Delta Faucets introducing the portmanteau “HappiMess” to describe the joy of using Delta’s products to wash away fun messes.

The 30-second anthem ad features a variety of messy situations highlighting Delta’s different faucets. A woman clears a collection of dirty dishes at a dinner party and washes them in her Delta kitchen faucet; children play in a garden and are then ushered inside for a bath; a father and daughter enjoy a muddy hike and then the father washes his hands with a motion sensor faucet; a woman gets blasted with colored powders on a color run and returns to take a shower. “When Delta bath, toilet, shower and faucet innovations make getting clean just as beautiful as getting dirty, that’s HappiMess,” the voiceover intones. As The New York Times points out, the tagline is similar to children’s bath bubble brand Mr. Bubble’s, “Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty!” Only Leo Burnett aims to translate the idea for adults.

“When you think back to when you were a kid, getting messy in the garden, or baking and getting flour all over you were always considered to be a great things,” Leo Burnett Creative Director Jo Shoesmith told The New York Times. “But for adults, getting sweaty going for a run, or going on a mud run or a color run — those also are moments in life that people love and Delta plays a role in that, because where there’s a mess you need to be cleaned up.”

The campaign, which also features print and digital components, also marks the first time the brand is advertising the whole brand rather than a single product, according to Catherine Roper, director of brand marketing for Delta Faucet. It aims to celebrate the product innovations — such as the detachable shower head with temperature indicator, and motion sensor touch-free faucet — but these can be easy to miss over the course of the ad. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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JWT has launched the new “Forever Faster” brand platform for Puma, starting with the new anthem ad “Calling All Troublemakers.”

With the stated mission “to become the Fastest Sport Brand in the World,” Puma tapped the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, and a host of other star athletes for a global multimedia campaign. Alongside Bolt in the 60-second “Calling All Troublemakers” are soccer icons Mario Balotelli, Sergio Agüero, Marta Vieira da Silva; golfers Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson; and the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team. The athletes were chosen for their individuality in “both performance and personality,” and the spot does have a bit of a mischievous streak to it. But Puma sees “Forever Faster” as more than a campaign tagline — it’s also a company motto representing the desire to “quickly identify product designs and innovation, trends and style and bring them into the marketplace in a more dynamic manner.”

“Forever Faster is about Puma making a statement as a brand and reminding people that we are and will continue to be the fastest sports brand in the world,” explains Adam Petrick, global marketing director at Puma. “We’ve always been known as a brand that takes risks and that’s not going to change, Forever Faster clearly represents that. This is going to change the way we approach product design and innovation as well as how we market our brand.” Stick around for limited credits after the jump. (more…)

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