Hasta La Creative!

Production company Great Guns mixes molotov cocktails and soccer in their filmtrack for Santigold’s “Kicking Down Doors,” part of Pepsi’s Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album.

For Santigold’s filmtrack, director Andy Morahan was inspired by “The Christmas Truce,” a soccer-fueled temporary peace that took place between English and German forces on Christmas Day, 1915. “The English and German soldiers put down their guns and played some football in No Man’s Land,” explains Morahan. “I was thinking of a way to try and tell that story in a modern light. Obviously I didn’t have the budget for a war scene, but a riot was more reasonable as a severe stand-off between people. It’s showing football, and sport by extension, as this beacon for humanity.”

In the film, a riot breaks out, with molotov cocktail wielding forces squaring off against riot police. A group of boys falls asleep at the edge of the scene. When one of their balls makes its way into the heart of action, both sides throw down their arms and beginning playing an impromptu pickup game. It’s not a bad idea for a World Cup spot, but seems a bit stretched out as an over four minute music video — although you may feel differently if you actually enjoy the song.

Morahan filmed the scene in Kiev, which has seen its share of rioting in recent history, although he insists the location was chosen purely out of convenience. “I was in Prague and wanted to shoot it there but the budget wouldn’t fit, so we were only an hour flight from Kiev and I’d worked there before so knew some people there who could help me out,” he explains. “Really, it was just close by and it fit the budget.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Since 1927, Wheaties has been known as “The Breakfast of Champions.” The man behind the iconic tagline was Knox Reeves, a Minnesota advertising executive who created his own agency that would be bought by Bozell in 1975 (Good Jeopardy trivia there).

Reeves needed to a slogan to go on a billboard for Wheaties, then a fledgling cereal brand that sponsored the radio broadcasts of the Minneapolis Millers, a minor league baseball team. That inspired Reeves to sketch on a Wheaties box: “Wheaties-The Breakfast of Champions“.

A brand was born then. Today, according to the New York Times, General Mills is looking to appeal to a younger demographic.

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Full-service brand response agency Hawthorne Direct has launched a new campaign rebranding entalPlans, “the largest dental savings plan marketplace.”

The result of “an intensive creative and customer insight research process performed by entalPlans over the past year,” the campaign includes a television spot and branded videos, as well as a new logo, tagline, and iconography. Their approach is perhaps a little too shaped by the insight research, as the video stretches well beyond the two minute mark in an attempt to squeeze in information. That the video is a bit on the dry side to begin with makes the extended duration a bit of an ordeal to sit through, although you may be glad you came across it if you are in fact in the market for a dental plan.

“The challenge of helping a company communicate their offerings while driving response is one that our team at Hawthorne excels at,” said John Pucci, chief creative officer at Hawthorne Direct. “This endeavor was made much more rewarding by the willingness of the entalPlans team to work closely with us as an active, engaged partner. Our goal here was to develop a contemporary TV campaign that would bring new life to the entalPlans brand. The commercials were created to be simple and uplifting. The look, feel and tone of the new brand are translated across all of the commercials and videos that Hawthorne created.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Infiniti Motor Co. will meet (or has already met) with seven agencies before selecting finalists to pitch for its global creative account, Adweek reports.

The meetings took place this week, and leave Infiniti “on track to complete its search by August,” according to Adweek. Infiniti’s initial request for proposal reported that the brand spends approximately $450 million annually. Among the agencies in the running are Publicis, FCB, Havas Worldwide (pitching with sister shop Arnold), Bartle Bogle Hegarty, M&C Saatchi and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, according to Adweek‘s sources. Interestingly, also pitching is Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, partnering with incumbent Omnicom agency TBWA. After the initial meetings, Infiniti will narrow the field to three or four agencies, a cut that “could come as soon as next week.” Infiniti’s RFP noted that “alternative approaches are paramount as Infiniti cannot outspend its competitors in broadcast,” and identified the U.S., China and Hong Kong as priority markets.

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Disaronno is launching a new campaign in the U.S. which will go global in November 2014.

The new campaign maintains the “Be Originale” tagline from previous years, but with a shifted focus “from cocktail creation (i.e. their famed “Disaronno on the rocks” advertisement) to celebrating originality in all aspects of life.” In a new 15-second spot, young Disaronno drinkers “shake originale,” “groove originale,” and “flirt originale,” demonstrating the new campaign’s approach of celebrating the brand as a lifestyle, at the risk of coming across a bit over-the-top. The spot was directed by Laurence Dunmore, who also shot the photography for the campaign’s print elements.

“From the unmistakable aroma to the warm, sophisticated taste and the unique hammered glass bottle design made by master glass craftsmen from Murano, Disaronno defines what it means to ‘Be Originale’,” said Augusto Reina, CEO of Disaronno. “With this new exciting campaign, however, we wanted to bring the spirit of Disaronno’s individuality to life and challenge consumers to constantly shake things up.”

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Digital agency Modus Operandi has completed their first initiative for client Belvedere vodka, including both a new campaign and completely redesigned website.

The new website hosts the campaign brand videos, conceived by Modus Operandi and directed by Christopher Ferguson via sister company ModOp Films. Belvedere’s new site and brand videos implore viewers to “#knowthedifference” between terms like “dirty,” “wet,”and “dry,” as in the above “Luxury Vodka State of Mind,” which is set at an upscale pool party. Another video features Belvedere’s Claire Smith, “the First Lady of Vodka” celebrating the vodka martini, which we’ve featured after the jump.

“?The goal of the website redesign was to modernize Belvedere’?s digital presence as more of a luxury lifestyle brand,”? says Modus Operandi Creative Director Jay Gundzik. ?”We use creative social campaigns to activate and drive their consumers to the global Belvedere site. Once there, they can get a feel for the brand through a series of creative branded videos and short documentary-style films. Consumers can also find new cocktail recipes and take a deeper dive into Belvedere?s culture and character.?”

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Boston-based agency Full Contact has a new television spot promoting convenience/gasoline staple Cumberland Farm’s Farmhouse Blend iced coffee.

The spot marks a departure for the brand, who in recent years have relied on David Hasselhoff in their iced coffee campaigns, such as last summer’s “Thirsty for Love.” Full Contact takes a simpler, more product-driven approach with “Moving Day,” while still employing humor. “Moving Day” sees a woman give her partner and his buddies Cumberland Farm’s Farmhouse Blend iced coffee to fuel them as they move into a new place. She soon regrets the decision, though, as the guys are so unwilling to put down their iced coffees that they break a series of valuables.

Cumberland Farms Senior Manager of Brand Strategy David Heilbronner said the ad “speaks to the quality and value of Cumberland Farms’ Farmhouse Blend iced coffee, and the spot focuses more on the product itself than our past iced coffee commercials. Our agency, Full Contact did a great job inserting iced coffee imagery into a chaotic and humorous scenario…”

While the ad does highlight the actual product in a way the campaigns featuring The Hoff didn’t, it’s far less memorable than “Thirsty For Love,” and it’s very unlikely that it will draw the same kind of attention to the brand. On the other hand, the ad was clearly made on a tighter budget than previous campaigns and it’s unclear if all the attention surrounding The Hoff actually led to increased sales. Stick around for credits after the jump.  (more…)

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Grey London has a new spot for Gillette documenting the last one hundred years in male grooming.

The video, entitled “100 Years of Hair,” features the new “Gillette BODY, the brand’s first razor built for the terrain of the male body.” It takes the viewer on a journey through the myriad (and often regrettable) styles of decades past, such as the “Pepe Le Pew” mustache, handle bar. clean-shaved greaser, unkempt sixties, and the soul patch. At the spot’s conclusion the man  breaks out the Gillette BODY to shave his chest, displaying Gillette’s latest change to male grooming (which is sure to catch on with competitive swimmers everywhere). Stay with us after the credits for a behind-the-scenes video. (more…)

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Last month, Fallon launched a new campaign for Henkel’s Loctite Adhesives, promoting Loctite Super Glue with a thoroughly ridiculous 30-second television spot featuring fanny pack dancing. Now the agency has continued their campaign with two more television spots, which, unsurprisingly, continue the goofiness trend for the brand.

One of the new 30-second spots, “Breakage” (featured above), sees a man so enamored with Loctite’s adhesive power that he fantasizes about breaking things, just so he and his buddy can glue them back together. The similarly toned “Shoe” sees the same man apprehensive about a shoe emergency. He glues the shoe together and then decides to try to put some weight on it, ensuing in a fairly predictable scenario. Both spots, which were directed by Emmy-winning director David Shane and will debut this week, conclude with a clip from the original campaign spot “Win at Glue.” Stick around for credits and “Shoe” after the jump. (more…)

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Full-service creative agency MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER have offered up a short video entitled “Mom and Dad, I Have Something to Tell You” for  unique recommerce site PreviouslyOwnedByAGayMan.com.

In the 1:20 spot, a young man comes out to his parents as a lover of unique and stylish home furnishings, something his parents have a little trouble understanding. The video, directed by MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER co-founder and executive creative director John Matejczyk, attempts to play off the brand’s identity as a place for ”anyone with impeccable taste (not just gay men, despite it’s name) to buy and sell beautiful items in an environment that virtually eliminates the hassle of using other online channels.”

“This was a great project to work on,” said Matejczyk. “When we were casting for the video, almost all asked if it was for real. We were able to reply that it is very real indeed. The concept of the company is just the right blend of being provocative and respectful. The video we’ve created honors that concept and builds on it with a tasteful edge.”

Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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