Hasta La Creative!

With the World Cup a week away, the barrage of World Cup-themed ads isn’t showing any sign of slowing down, and this 5 minute spot R/GA put together for Beats might be the biggest one yet. Indeed, as Adweek writes, the spot seems to “Out-Nike Nike.”

Entitled “The Game Before The Game,” the ad tackles the pre-game rituals of stars such as Brazil’s star Neymar Da Silva Santos, Jr. His pre-game ritual involves talking with his father, whose inspiring pep talk is the heart of the ad. Also featured in “The Game Before The Game” are Spain’s Cesc Fabregas, who kisses the ring he received from his girlfriend precisely four times; Mexico’s prayerful Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez; and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who kisses a tattoo on his wrist of his children’s names. Elsewhere stars such as Bacaray Sagna, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Blaise Matudi, Daniel Sturridge, Jozy Altidore, Mario Gotze and Robin Van Persie can be seen slipping on their Beats headphones and doing their thing. Tthe spot is set to “Jungle” by Jamie N Commons & The X Ambassadors and st times takes on the feel of a music video, which makes a lot of sense given the brand. Interspersed with the players’ preparations are fans performing their own pre-game rituals. This includes a slew of celebrity cameos, such as Lil Wayne, Lebron James, Serena Williams, Stuart Scott, and Nikki Minaj. Check out the spot for yourself above, and stick around after the jump for partial credits. continued…

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TDA Boulder has a new ad for Firstbank highlighting the bank’s free checking entitled “Bargain Dummy.” If ventriloquism freaks you out, stay clear of this one.

In the spot, Firstbank’s free checking is contrasted with a less promising free giveaway. A man at a yard sale holds up a ventriloquist dummy and asks, “How much is this?”

“Oh, that’s free” replies the seller. When the man inquires what’s wrong with it, the woman replies, unconvincingly, “Nothing.” As the man walks away with the dummy on his shoulder, the dummy’s eyes shift and look around. “Free isn’t always a good thing,” says a voiceover, accompanied by eerie music, “except when it comes to free checking at Firstbank.”

The creepy 30-second spot is aimed at the 16-39 audience and will run on all broadcast networks, with an emphasis on sports and primetime, as well as more than 20 cable channels, including AMC, ESPN, Comedy Centeral, and USA Network. “Bargain Dummy” will also live online on sites such as EPSN, Pandora, Hulu, Yahoo, and Tremor, where it is sure to creep out unsuspecting site visitors. The geo-targeted online buy includes Colorado, Pheonix, Arizona, and Palm Springs, Califronia. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Los Angeles-based Standard Time has a new ad for cosmetic company Too Faced’s “Better Than Sex” mascara.

As you might expect, the spot, starring Jeannie Ma (of Style Network’s How Do I Look and NBC’s Today Show segment “Fashion Tips Today”) is ripe with sexual innuendo. As Ma opens up her mascara tube a low, sultry voice begins to seduce her. The mascara gives her the “longest, thickest, most luscious lashes of her life” with a satisfying experience Ma is not likely to forget, making “the case for eyelashes as the new erogenous zone.” Ma makes suggestive faces while applying the mascara, as the innuendo-filled narration piles on. If this all seems a little ridiculous, that’s kind of the point, as the approach fits with Too Faced co-founder Jerrod Blandino‘s “wild sense of humor and more-is-more style.” Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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If you feel like getting in the multilingual mood, here’s a new spot from McGarryBowen for United Airlines dubbed “Pecan,” which features an assortment of languages including Italian, French and Japanese. The globe-trotting spot hypes the airline’s travels to Europe, Asia and Central America, starring one character who knows his way around foreign languages. It’s breezy, quick and painless and includes the classic “Rhapsody” theme, but we do miss the most recent United theme redux. Credits after the jump.

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72andSunny has a new campaign for longtime gay rights supporter YouTube, entitled “ProudToPlay.” The star-studded campaign celebrating diversity in sports is set to run through the end of June, which is LGBT Pride Month, reports AdWeek.

In addition to gay athletes such as Jason Collins, Michael Sam and Robbie Rogers, the spot also features clips of Nelson Mandela, President Obama and Kobe Bryant talking about the unifying power of sports and the importance of gay rights. Set to Katy Perry‘s “Roar,” the “#ProudToPlay” video clocks in at two minutes, ending with a rainbow soccer ball YouTube logo tying the spot to the impending World Cup in Brazil (as does some of the footage used). “#ProudToPlay” is already getting a lot of attention. Since its launch yesterday, the video has racked up almost 3 million views (and an unfortunate but completely expected rash of homophobic comments).

“We applaud the courage and openness of athletes at all levels who have come out and admire their teammates, friends, families, and supporters who are all proving that it doesn’t matter who you are or who you love—what matters is that you put forward your best effort,” YouTube wrote in a blog post. “We stand with our community in the belief that youth everywhere should all have the same opportunities to grow up and pursue their dreams and passions, on or off the field.”

For the remainder of the month, YouTube will be sharing a collection of videos about the LGBT community and sports on the YouTube Spotlight Channel, and invites users to upload their own videos “talking about what being #ProudToPlay means to you.”

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As a follow up to last year’s “Feeding Without The Drama” campaign, Boston-based Full Contact advertising has launched a new, integrated campaign for Tommee Tippee’s new and improved pacifier line.

The new campaign, “Naturally Soothing,” includes pre-roll and digital spots, which will run on parent-focused sites, including Babycenter.com, FitPregnancy.com and TheBump.com. With the new campaign, Full Contact “aims to playfully disrupt a low-interest category where many Moms struggle to find what they want and loyalty is low.” The spot, which has both 30 and 15-second executions, highlights the pacifier as “accepted by more babies on their very first try.” Babies are depicted in a variety of “naturally soothing” settings, such as chilling on a beach, relaxing by the fire, and getting the full spa treatment (complete with cucumbers over the eyes), with music to accompany the scenarios. Check out the 30-second spot above and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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DDB Chicago teamed up with Smuggler and Whitehouse Post to create “McDonald’s GOL!,” an online and broadcast spot for the World Cup sponsors.

The 1:50 video (above) celebrates amateur trickshots, including a few from unexpected sources, as players around the world show off their skills in anticipation of the 2014 World Cup, now less than 10 days away. It’s a fun approach, and many of the trickshots are quite impressive. At the conclusion of the video, viewers are prompted to visit gol.mcd.com, home of the campaign’s augmented reality trick shot game. The app utilizes Qualcomm Vuforia AR technology to allow players to bounce a digital soccer ball off real world items, but only after it is triggered from any of the 12 limited-edition FIFA World Cup™ fry boxes — which have supplanted the iconic red boxes for the World Cup promotion. Over the course of the campaign, the game will “be available to play from 1.5 billion fry boxes in almost 120 countries,” making it the largest AR experience ever created. Stick around after the jump for credits and a look at some of the fry boxes. continued…

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It appears Sasquatch is sitting this one out, and the absence of Jack Link’s mascot is much appreciated.

Carmichael Lynch takes a different approach with their latest campaign for the jerky brand, based on a concept not all that dissimilar from Snicker’s “You’re not you when you’re hungry” approach: that intense hunger can make you angry, which they define as “hangry.” The series of 30-second spots depict several such hangry individuals, with their intense hunger personified by angry animals that emerge from their stomach, which also acts as a visual representation of the “Feed your wild side” tagline. In “Lecture Hall,” for example, a student is taking a test when his intense hunger causes a puma to emerge from his stomach. It is not until the puma is sated with a piece of beef jerky that it retreats back where it came from, after helping the kid out with a test answer (apparently this is a highly intelligent feline). Other spots take a similar approach, depicting a woman waiting for her flight to take off, and a man stuck in a meeting. The spots will run online and on on channels such as Comedy Central, ESPN, and FX, alongside the existing “Messin’ with Sasquatch” campaign.

“Nothing says Feed Your Wild Side like literally feeding your wild side,” explains Kevin Papacek, director of marketing for Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. “Hangry is how you feel when you experience hunger to the point of being angry – visceral, debilitating hunger. This deeper hunger can only be fed by Jack Link’s Jerky.”

Stick around for “Middle Seat” and credits after the jump. continued…

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USA Today named Movement Strategy its soial agency today. They will be responsible for the conceptualization and creation of social branding and channel content that emobdying USA Today’s “Smarter. Faster. More Colorful” brand position.

Jill Engle, vice president of marketing at USA Today said that the brand was “excited about the relationship and working with Movement Strategy to capture social moments for our readers.”

“We are honored that USA TODAY has decided to place its trust in us,”said Jason Mitchell, co-founder of Movement Strategy. “Being given the chance to go over and above this iconic brand’s expectations with our social campaigns and channel content is fantastically exciting.”

USA Today will join Movement Strategy’s growing list of clients, which includes A&E Networks, Nickelodeon, LAN – TAM Airlines, and numerous NBA and NFL teams.

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Droga5 reveals Motorola’s new entry-level smartphone, the Moto E, in an imaginative and inventive 60-second spot.

The spot, entitled “Meet Moto E,” utilizes time lapse footage to show the phone’s durability, while also communicating a host of other features, during a three second free fall during which the phone takes a wealth of abuse. Moto E runs around $130 and, as Adweek puts it, “isn’t going to win over gadget gurus looking for power and superlative specs.” So Droga5 markets the phone as a durable option with a long-lasting battery and enough features to please the consumer who’s just looking for an everyday phone that won’t break down or break the bank. Droga5 was able to accomplish this, with help from production company 1stAveMachine, while also crafting a fun, visually impressive ad with excellent attention to detail that makes the phone look good by association. Stick around for credits and behind-the-scenes footage after the jump. continued…

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