Hasta La Creative!

We have heard it coming for years: Wearable technology is going to be a hot trend. The fact that it’s now here is no surprise, but what may be are the gaggle of advertisers ready to pounce, according to Businessweek. 

From watches that engage with your phone to glasses that help you get your NSA on, wearable technology has been discussed for years. The masterminds behind these new toys have been working to perfect it. Now that they’ve developed a few decent products worth shilling, advertising is ready to focus on what this story calls “the new frontier.”

To boldly go, indeed.

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Newly-launched Venice,California-based agency Adams&Partners have debuted the first-ever campaign for thinkThin, which positions the “nutritionally balanced high protein bars” as something you don’t have to feel guilty about — unlike some other things.

The 30-second “Runner” takes this idea in a somewhat uncomfortable direction, with a group of women lecherously staring at a nearby guy on a morning run. When he passes them, he recognizes one of the women, saying, “Oh, hey Mrs. Adams. Hey, say ‘hi’ to Brian for me.” A voiceover follows, saying, “There are lots of things to feel guilty about. thinkThin isn’t one of them.” A second spot, “Text”also tackles mom guilt issues, but chooses a less uncomfortable target than staring at your son’s friend’s ass, which perhaps takes the approach a bit too far.

“We all have things that we feel guilty about,” explained Chris Adams, executive creative director at Adams&Partners. “This campaign is about laughing at the little things that make us feel guilty every day, while making the more serious point that eating thinkThin bars is something you should never have to feel guilty about.”

We’ve included “Text,” along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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Cheil Worldwide and R/GA teamed up with production company Psyop for the six minute conclusion to Samsung’s ambitious sci-fi soccer epic, “The Match.” The first episode in the series launched all the way back in November.

“The Match Part 2? picks up with Earth’s Galaxy 11 team trailing 3-1 at the half, and in need of some serious rallying to defeat the alien team. Of course, it’s hardly a spoiler to give away that the team is up to the task. Samsung wasn’t about to end its month long campaign with an alien apocalypse, as that would hardly help them move product. For those who have been following all along, it’s the ending they were waiting for. While Samsung’s timing is a little questionable — “The Match Part 2? was released just two days ago as a coda to the World Cup, while “The Match Part 1? made its debut with the opening of the tournament — it has still seemed to find its audience, with over four million views in two days. We’ve included “The Match Part 1? as a refresher after the jump. (more…)

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Michael Jordan is back (this time, thankfully, sans Hitler mustache) for Hanes in a new spot by The Martin Agency.

The 30-second spot is Jordan’s first appearance in a Hanes television commercial since 2010, and also marks his 25th year as Hanes spokesperson. In the spot, entitled, “Golf Test,” Jordan mocks his partner’s truly awful golf game. “Golf Test” promotes Hanes’ X-Temp t-shirts and briefs, which “speeds evaporation to help keep you cool and dry,” preventing such conditions as swamp ass, marsh balls, raw taint and pit stains. The spot handles the “bad golf” approach well enough, although by now it’s become a routine schtick in ads and feels a bit tired. Still, all anyone will talk about is the return of Jordan, and it’s good to see him back.

The campaign also features a digital video series with Vine-sensation Logan Paul traveling around the country attempting dares (supposedly) proposed by fans. We’ve included the teaser for that initiative, along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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BBDO New York and production company MJZ have followed up their “Childlike Imagination” Winter Olympics ad with another spot for GE extolling innovation, which began airing yesterday.

This time around they highlight GE’s focus on technological advancement with a 30-second ad shot in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The spot attempts to answer “What Would Happen” if “energy could come from anywhere,” or if “power could go anywhere,” eventually arriving at the answer “anything.” It’s an intriguing follow-up to the successful approach of “Childlike Imagination,” with excellent pacing and eye-catching, imaginative imagery. Hopefully, BBDO New York stays with this direction going forward. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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The Martin Agency would like you to “Meet the Hopsons,” a family who live in a giant bouncy house.

The Hopsons fell in love with their neighborhood but, since all the houses have vinyl siding, they assumed they couldn’t paint theirs. Since they love color, this was a problem. The Hopsons came up with an unusual solution and decided to live in a giant bouncy house. And so begin the whacky adventures of “Meet the Hopsons.” At over two minutes the premise, which might have made for a fun 30-second spot, feels stretched far too thin, and it’s not until the last 30 seconds or so that the idea is tied to Benjamin Moore’s Revive paint for vinyl siding. Still, “Meet the Hopsons” is not entirely without some degree of quirky charm. It’s just hard to believe anyone would stick around long enough to see Benjamin Moore’s product presented as the solution. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Here’s yet another item from W+K today, as the agency has debuted its latest campaign for Old Spice, introducing a creepy new android character.

The new character makes his debut in the 30-second “Soccer” (featured above). When the robotic man goes to kick a soccer ball at the beach, he falls directly onto a sunbathing woman, crushing her ribs. Initially irked by the painful injury, she then notices that he smells amazing. When the android says that he can’t get up, she replies, suggestively “Maybe I don’t want you to.” Coming on the heels of the funny Terry Crews-filled World Cup spot, it’s pretty disappointing. It also marks something of a creepiness trend in W+K’s Old Spice work, with the campaign featuring anthropomorphic hair getting the creepy ball rolling earlier this year. Its “our products will make women want you” message is also vaguely reminiscent of Axe’s strategy of marketing to pubescent boys — the only demographic desperate/gullible enough to swallow such a claim. Either approach is irksome enough on its own, but combined they’re truly troubling. W+K’s latest campaign for Old Spice also features the 30-second online spot “Nightclub,” which takes a similar (but possibly even more ridiculous) approach. We’ve featured it after the jump for any interested parties. (more…)

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Sean Astin reprises his role as Rudy in a new spot W+K New York created to hype the new college football playoff format for ESPN.

In the spot, Astin apes his inspirational speech from Rudy, this time riling up the locker room with the promise of a playoff format for college football. When he reveals that the format won’t take effect until 2014 however, the reception falls somewhat flat. Filmed at St. Joseph High School in Brooklyn, New York, the spot takes place in 1975, the year Rudy Ruettiger played for Notre Dame. While the famously cheesy movie certainly deserved a satirical send up, W+K’s spot fails to really hit the mark and feels a bit drawn out at 90 seconds. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Photographer Gregg Segal is fascinated by the trash we make. 

In his artist statement about this ongoing series, he explains “‘Seven Days of Garbage’ is a series of portraits of friends, neighbors, and other acquaintances with the garbage they accumulate in the course of a week. Subjects are photographed surrounded by their trash in a setting that is part nest, part archeological record. We’ve made our bed and in it we lie.”

“Of course, there were some people who edited their stuff. I said, ‘Is this really it?’ I think they didn’t want to include really foul stuff so it was just packaging stuff without the foul garbage. Other people didn’t edit and there were some nasty things that made for a stronger image,” Segal said in an interview with Slate. 

This series is a beautifully executed, albeit sordid case study on what we consume, and the products we polish off and discard—a veritable brand graveyard. There’s a truly poetic quality about these images; they really boil us down to the insatiably ravenous animals we are and the relationships we have with all of the crap we buy.

Via Slate.

Adweek described Deutsch LA’s “MicroRave” for Pop Secret perfectly as “like a sad, seizure-inducing nightclub for corn,” in a post that also questioned whether it was the worst ad of the year.

Deutsch LA points out, defensively, “This wasn’t intended as an ad, but as a quickie video for social media meant to celebrate the EDC festival happening the weekend we launched it,” which may disqualify it from that title. The premise of the spot (or “quickie video” or whatever you want to call it) is simple: popcorn attend a “MicroRave” complete with blasting electronic music, seizure-inducing lighting, beads of butter-sweat (which doesn’t exactly make Pop Secret seem appetizing) and a trail of kernels sadly waiting to get in. As if that wasn’t enough already, there’s also a 20-minute long “Extended Party Version,” which we’ve included for anyone masochistic enough to attempt to sit through it after the jump.  (more…)

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