Well, looks like our tipsters jumped the gun last week on who actually won the NAPA account, but it’s now official, as you may have heard, that Kansas City-based, WPP-owned VML has been named agency of record for the auto parts chain. From what we’ve heard, DDB was also in the pitching mix for the account, which includes all national creative duties including TV, radio, print, sponsorship activation and digital. The 88-year-old NAPA brand previously worked with what is now Publicis Kaplan Thaler, which had handled the account since 2009.
Jon Cook, CEO/president of VML, says in a statement, “We’re incredibly proud to be selected as NAPA’s agency of record. VML’s focus has always been about challenging conventional thinking and delivering more relevant, innovative and category-changing ideas. These were some of the priority ingredients that NAPA wanted in an agency partner, and we can’t wait to get started.”
Making bad advertising is easy. But, every now and then, somebody produces something so atrociously heinous that it almost makes you want to stand up and applaud.
Congrats, Samsung. “Are You Geared Up?” may be the absolute worst thing we’ve seen this year. You found rock bottom, and you dug even deeper. You combined bad acting with a nonsensical script, added in a dash of uncomfortable pacing and stretched the whole thing out to a cringeworthy two-and-a-half minutes.
Not only did you create The Room of online advertising, but your ad was so shitty that it went viral. Your spot was featured on the front page of Reddit under the headline “Hands down the worst ad I’ve ever seen. Take a bow, Samsung.” On top of that, the online legions have taken to your Samsung Mobile YouTube page, where you’ve received 13,000 thumbs down votes to 2,000 thumbs up votes. And, some genius left the comments on, which just adds to the chaos of terrible. Here are just a smattering of some of our favorite comments:
“There’s no way this is a real ad from Samsung. That would mean someone from Samsung had to actually watch this train wreck of a commercial and approve it. So it has to be fake. Right?”
“I feel like I just watched porn without the porn.”
“I’m almost speechless because of how terrible this is. I’m embarrassed that it’s for an Android product.”
“Thanks Samsung, I forgot for a moment that women are prizes that can be won through the creative use of technology and being creepy as fuck.”
“HAY GURL CHECK OOT THEESE COOL PICS I TOOK OF YOU SEECRETLY WHILE I FOLLOWED YOU. TEE HEE YOUR PICTURES OF ME ARE SO FLATTERING HERE IS MY CONTACT INFORMATION ANONYMOUS STRANGER I WILL BE ALONE IN MY HOTEL ROOM TONIGHT. HAHAHA I AM GOING TO HAEV SEX WITH YOU BECAUSE MY WATCH IS A PHONE!”
In other words, it’s been a pretty fun morning. However, one Reddit-er has an interesting theory for why this terrible, terrible thing exists:
This was shot in Korea (that’s why everyone has a Russian accent). It was probably never meant to be seen in English. The main audience will see this with a Korean dub (that’s also why the actors speak so slowly).
The English script was probably written and edited by non-native speakers, and the company probably doesn’t give a shit what the English version sounds like, because the Korean dub is the one that will be seen. All that matters is that the white people look cool and pretty. It’s like that other commercial with the Samsung hard drive or whatever.
It’s an interesting theory, but as one commenter replied, “I wonder if Samsung has heard of the Internet.” Judging by this, it seems unlikely. If anyone has any info on the agency behind this, or would like to nominate anything else for Worst Ad of the Year, please do so in the comments.
Right about this time every year, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA debuts its TV spots for the Grammys. And, every year, they’re pretty underwhelming. A few years back, we got a swirly, graphics overload with CGI re-tellings of artists like Eminem’s life story. Last year, we got the hashtag-happy #TheWholeWorldIsListening, which aimed to put viewers into the shoes of stars like Rihanna while trying to convince them that the awards show was still in any way relevant.
This year’s first spot, “Anthem,” looked more like a VH1 commercial than anything else, and it seemed we were in for yet another year of mediocrity. But then, dare we say it, the Grammys and Chiat LA ctually surprised us. The latest spot in the Music Unleashes Us campaign, “Drive” (above), does a fantastic job of convincing viewers that they owe it to the artists who get them through times of sorrow and heartbreak to watch their performances on the Grammys.
From Pink and fun., we move to Macklemore and “Doughnut Shop,” another well-produced and compelling spot filmed outside of Inglewood’s famous Randy’s Donuts. Again, these spots excel at following through with what the campaign promises – portraying the affect that popular music has on the average TV viewer. It both ignites and unleashes, an important sentiment for the Grammys to glom onto as the show still figures out its approach to celebrating an industry that doesn’t know what to do next. One more Katy Perry-tinged spot, and credits, follow after the jump.
To kick things off today, let’s start with Kaz/Helen of Troy, the parent company of water filtration brand PUR, which has selected Arnold Worldwide to serve as its new agency of record. Yes, there was a review and the incumbent was TBWA\Chiat\Day, which sources say did not defend the biz. As a result, Arnold will handle brand communications strategy, creative development, and digital marketing strategies. In a statement, Kaz CMO Christophe Coudray says, “We selected Arnold for its breadth of experience, its unique combination of analytical strength and strong creative capability. This will help us meet consumer needs and our business objectives. Identifying a strong agency partner is extremely important to our leadership team and our business. We’re very excited to begin working with Arnold, and look forward to the partnership.”
Rethink takes bromancevertising to the next level with their follow up to “The Beer Fridge” for Molson, the second most viewed commercial online in Canada in 2013.
“The Beer Fridge – Project Indonesia” is a 2:45 ode to Canada, hockey, beer, and, above all, bromance. Two friends decide to surprise a third friend who moved to the Gili Islands in Indonesia years ago. That there are no motorized vehicles in the Gili Islands makes the trek a bit of a challenge. The friends come packed with a satellite so their buddy can watch Team Canada in the 2014 Olympic Games and a red fridge full of Molson (which was obviously not easy to transport). When the three friends finally reunite, it’s actually quite a touching moment. This is probably the most bromantic ad you’ll see this year, and a refreshing angle from Rethink.
Molson released the Internet spot today, with a full-length TV version slated for the Canadian World Junior Hockey Tournament, where it will essentially take up entire commercial breaks. Clearly, Molson believes in this spot. Additionally, a 30 second version of the ad is set to debut on December 26th. Credits after the jump. continued…
Everyone loves a good trailer, but all too often these days movie trailers reveal the plot in its entirety.
Unfortunately, such is the case with the recently released trailer for Netflix’s “Fireplace For Your Home.” Initial shots of the fireplace setup cause viewers to wonder if the spark will catch fire and spread, offering a great teaser to the new home fireplace simulation you can stream on Netflix whenever you please, before they go too far and show [spoiler alert] that the fire does indeed spread to the other logs. The tongue-in cheek trailer was put together, we hear, by San Francisco-based agency Muhtayzik Hoffer, who also offers up a behind-the-scenes documentary.
Hoffer employs a good deal of deadpan, self-effacing humor in the behind-the-scenes video, exploring the wood selection process that went into the making of the fire (and the video), while the director offers up his take on “foreground logs” versus “background logs” as well as commentary about happy accidents that occurred during the day of filming. “None of this ashing here on the left was written in,” he explains, “It just kind of happened on the day.” The 2:22 mockumentary, featured after the jump, is well worth a quick chuckle for its look at Hoffer’s supposed idiosyncratic process. continued…
Earlier this month, Sao Paulo-based F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi launched their “Electrolux Kindness Kitchen” campaign for Electrolux Brasil, which filled some of their appliances with food for those who want to do good this Christmas.
Here’s how it works: During this month, “when a consumer buys any of the ‘full’ products, he or she will receive the household appliance at home and Electrolux will donate all the food to those in need.” It’s a pretty simple way to do some holiday philanthropy, and one that can make a world of difference to a family in need. The campaign was designed to give back to the community and highlight “the company’s social positioning in the country.” It includes the above online film, as well as display ads, a hot site, and social media. This campaign’s focus on digital was nothing new for Electrolux, who invested 10% of the company’s communication budget on digital this year — making it the environment they invested in the most.
The video explains the genesis of the campaign, linking it to all manner of small kindnesses, and offers a brief explanation of how it works. It does a good job of introducing the idea behind the campaign and prompting viewers to further action, such as visiting the campaign site.
“Electrolux Kindness Kitchen” is a refreshingly philanthropic campaign, and it gives people a compelling reason to buy a new appliance during the holiday season. More companies should engage in this kind of community action, during December or otherwise. Credits after the jump. continued…
Following a “confidential agency review process,” 60-year old, family-owned brand King’s Hawaiian, best known for its dinner rolls and sweet breads here in the States, has appointed Energy BBDO as its creative agency partner. As a result, the Chicago-based agency will be tasked with developing the first-ever national TV campaign for King’s, which operates baking facilities in both Torrance, CA and Oakwood, GA.
So why Energy BBDO? In a statement, King’s Hawaiian VP of marketing Erick Dickens says, “We have aggressive sales and marketing goals for the coming year and we were looking for an agency partner that could help us achieve these objectives. In Energy BBDO, we have an agency with a proven track record of delivering great work that builds and energizes brands. Working together, we know we can take King’s Hawaiian to the next level.”
We’re still checking on who the incumbent is for King’s Hawaiian is–if there is one, that is–but in the in the past, the brand has worked with agencies including Dailey. As for Energy BBDO, while we’ve heard our share of not-so-positive news on the staffing front in 2013, the agency’s King’s Hawaiian win closes out a year that also saw it add Bud Light and Pearle Vision to its client roster.
Since establishing in-house agency Spark 44 a few years back, Jaguar’s ‘Alive’ campaign has strived to inject a little animalistic danger into the luxury car brand. Specifically, Jaguar’s sporty F-Type was taken out of the garage and unleashed on the world in a series of spots that the cars behaving like the wild jungle cats they were named after. The ads were…okay. But, they were still a step forward for a brand that didn’t have a reputation for producing many TV spots (other than EuroRSCG’s break out “Gorgeous” from almost a decade ago).
So it’s surprising to see Jaguar, which has put so much behind the look and messaging of “Alive” (including this weirdLana Del Rey thing), to pivot and produce a comedic takedown of Mercedes-Benz’s “Magic Body Control” TV spot from September with “Jaguar vs. Chicken”. You see, as Jaguar posits, jaguars eat chickens, haha! So take that, Mercedes! Haha! Yeah! Jaguars are better!
This is the second video this month which has marked a strange tonal shift from the brand. On December 10th, the brand released their “take” on viral cat videos, which again seems very out of step with how they’ve been marketing the brand since 2011. As there are no credits, I don’t know if this is still the work of Spark 44 or not, but it will be interesting to see if Jaguar continues on their path away from luxury and toward silliness.
And now, an emotional holiday spot for Apple (which sources say is, yes, another TBWA\Media Arts Lab joint).
Entitled “Misunderstood,” the ad (which features Cat Power’s version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”) follows an adolescent boy and his family through a series of holiday events. The boy always seems to be on his iPhone instead of engaging with the rest of the family, and that certainly seems to be the family’s assumption. At the end of the spot, however, it’s revealed that the whole time he was creating a holiday slideshow for his family.
The :90 effort is about as sentimental as you would expect a holiday ad from Apple to be, but benefits from the moment of relative surprise (okay, it’s not exactly a shocking moment) when the boy’s intentions are revealed. There have been plenty of holiday spots that have attempted to be funny or even controversial this year, but not all that many that go for good old-fashioned holiday sentimentality. So, even if it may be a bit overly emotional, this entry from the Cupertino, CA giant is not entirely unwelcome.
Well, we finally have some details/color to add to the matter. In case you forgot, just over a month ago, we reported that snacking cheese-focused Bel Brands had consolidated its ad duties at Y&R after working with Havas Worldwide Chicago for 15 months. We awaited word and now, agency and client have made it official as Y&R Midwest has been named North American agency of record for Bel Brands USA. This in turn expands a relationship between the Y&R network and Bel Brands parent company Bel Group as the agency’s Paris office has handled advertising for the latter since 2007 and will continue on as the brand’s AOR for Europe. Meanwhile, Y&R Sydney and Montreal will continue handling Bel Brands in Australia and Canada, respectively.
As for Y&R Midwest, effective January 2014, the agency will oversee brand strategy, marketing and social media for core Bel Brands core line including Laughing Cow, Mini BabyBel and Boursin. Regarding his company’s move, Bel Brands USA senior director of marketing Dan Waters says in a statement, “Y&R is the perfect global agency partner for us. Having had the opportunity to see what they can do for our brands in Europe, Australia and Canada, we are excited to see what they will accomplish for us here in the United States. They have an incredibly strong global network complemented by a commitment to deep local understanding in each market they serve. We have been particularly impressed with their understanding of how to engage American consumers over digital and social media, and we are excited to see their ideas come to life.”
Look for the first work from Y&R Midwest for Bel Brands USA to launch at a date tbd in 2014.
SS+K is behind a new campaign for “high-end” boxer brief company Tommy John (which has been called “weird” more than once by those who made us aware of it) that, as mentioned, takes on a double standard in underwear.
The 53-second spot opens with a beautiful model slowly undressing, a sure way to get men’s attention. Eventually she reveals a stained, raggedy pair of underwear. “If I can’t get away with this underwear, why do men think they can get away with theirs?” she asks, attacking the double standard that women have to wear sexy lingerie at all times while men can get away with undergarments that have been through the wash 2,000 times and are falling apart. The message is reinforced by the tagline “Don’t like what you see? Women have felt that way for years.”
Of course, the truly feminist message would be to suggest that women should feel free to wear whatever is comfortable. But SS+K is selling underwear here — high quality men’s underwear — so instead they put pressure on dudes to step up their game and expend the same effort (and spend the same amount of money on) selecting their undies as ladies do. It’s a smart way to get the fellas to reconsider their “underwear is just underwear” attitude and perhaps shill out the extra money for Tommy John so their ladies will be impressed. Unfortunately, this campaign also includes a website inviting guys to Instagram their old, ratty undies. And that’s just gross. Credits after the jump. continued…
DDB Canada has a new campaign for K-Y Brand lubricant called “Warm Up To Love Again.” As the title suggests, this campaign is targeted at couples having intimacy issues, rather than continually fapping, hormonal teenage boys (another key lubricant demographic). More specifically, the campaign speaks to “women, who want to stay connected with their partner through enjoyable physical and emotional intimacy, but who have not been comfortable introducing a personal lubricant into their relationship.”
DDB manages to do this with lighthearted humor, important because of the awkwardness of broaching the issue of personal lubrication. In each spot, a woman witnesses her (conspicuously unsexy) partner performing an everyday task in slow-motion, while an R&B slow jam plays in the background. The idea is that K-Y “makes physical intimacy with your partner so comfortable and easy, women will view sex, and their partners in a whole new light,” explains agency ECD, Denise Rossetto. So, suddenly seeing her partner starting up the lawnmower or do push-ups is enough to turn each of the women in these spots on, culminating into the campaign’s “Warm Up To Love Again” tagline. DDB keeps things short and to the point, with the trio of adverts each clocking in at 15 seconds. The campaign debuted online on December 12th, and will make its television premiere next month. Credits and “Sit-Ups” after the jump. continued…
Pereira & O’Dell nabbed creative duties for Airbnb in September, and three months later, the San Fran shop is launching Birdbnb, their first campaign for the global travel renting company. To supplement Airbnb’s colorful site full of rental options, Pereira & O’Dell created a conceptual platform where artists built 50 birdhouse-sized renderings of actual listings. The finished products will be on display in Audubon Park in New Orleans December 16-22.
The official name of the campaign is “Every Traveler Deserves a Home,” and the 2:10 cut of the above video feels very homey, which is probably the best compliment I can give a travel rental commercial. The 4:30 version drags a bit, kind of like that nice older lady who rents you a room but keeps talking your ear off about topics you don’t care about (2:10 version here, FYI). She’s still kind, but you want to tell her to keep it brief, since, after all, you are the customer. However, selling this type of service does not lend itself to easy choices for advertising, and this effort finds a way to tell a story that makes travel rentals personal.
Credits bookended by some behind-the-scenes videos after the jump.
Texas stalwart The Richards Group teamed up with Sugar Film Production and director Chris Smith to create a new, four spot campaign for H-E-B.
The 30-second spots – “One For Each,” “Laundry Sorting,” “Splendid” (featured above)– all feature those fundamental playoff perennials/San Antonio Spurs stars Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Kawhi Leonard in humorous scenarios. Each of the spots employs a type of self-depreciating humor too often absent from self-serious athlete endorsements. Even more refreshing is that the majority of the spots actually succeed at being funny. This is all thanks in large part to solid writing. The Richards Group delivers “scripts tailor-made…for the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the players…” and it really shows.
The funniest of the spots, “Splendid,” features Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili taking a steak dinner at home a little too seriously. “Laundry Sorting” is almost as amusing, highlighting Kawhi Leonard’s impressive laundry skills. “One For Each” and “Tough Talk” see the Spurs stars talking up H-E-B sauces and Mootopia (a type of post-workout drink) respectively. Stick around for “Laundry Sorting” after the jump.
Back in October, we brought you news of David&Goliath’s new campaign for Kia Optima starring L.A. Clippers power forward Blake Griffin and Jack McBrayer (an actor best known for his work on 30 Rock) as a superhero team saving people from non-Kia purchases. We were a bit disappointed with the initial spot, but hoped that the spot’s title “Trailer” indicated it was just a teaser for things to come. Now, David&Goliath have released two new spots for the campaign, “Zipline” (featured above) and “Apologize to You.” Unfortunately, both fail to live up to the potential of the premise.
“Zipline” features Blake Griffin and sidekick Jack McBrayer crashing in on a lame Internet shopping session. They present the Optima as a better option, to a man who is understandably freaked out by this series of events. Griffin and McBrayer have good chemistry together, but the spot fails to capitalize on it and ultimately falls flat. It might help if the two interacted more, instead of seemingly splitting screen time in separate shots.
That “Zipline” is actually the better of the two spots should tell you something about “Apologize to You.” The spot features Griffin and a fire extinguisher-wielding McBrayer demanding a passerby apologize for not selecting the Optima. It’s repetitive to say the least, lacking any real substance in exchange for a failed attempt at cheap laughs. Hopefully, the folks over at David&Goliath can rebound from these efforts, as we still think this campaign has the potential to be funny. Credits and “Apologize to You” after the jump. continued…
In reaction to five proposed logos for Canada’s 150th birthday, Canadian Designer Ibraheem Youssef, who was appalled at the quality of the proposed logo, took it upon himself to rally other Canadian designers to come up with something better.
To showcase the work, Youssef launched The150Logo to rally support and plead the country not to go down the path of mediocrity.
We’re pretty sure anyone who looks at the official proposed logos versus those highlighted on The150Logo will clearly see how bad the official ones are and how much better Youssef’s are.
“Forever Faster.” Remember that mantra as it’s the 2014 tagline for Puma, which has now appointed JWT as its global creative agency in a move that will span North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East/African regions. In a statement, the sports/shoe/apparel brand’s CEO Björn Gulden says, “In JWT, we have found an agile agency with a global reach that understands the PUMA brand and culture. The team quickly proved that they could deliver on our new mission to become the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. Together we’ll craft a more nimble creative structure that will allow us to support all of the company’s sporting and lifestyle categories with a single consumer message and streamlined creative concept across territories.”
JWT New York will spearhead creative on the account, which was previously handled by Droga5. According to sources, BBH and Barton F. Graf 9000 were also in the pitch, which we hear JWT wasn’t initially invited to but eventually became a “dark horse.” Yet, “chemistry” worked out and due to touting a “small agency-style creative” at a network agency, which the brand didn’t expect, JWT won out thanks to a pitch led by the agency’s NY CEO Peter Sherman, North American CCO Jeff Benjamin and director of business development Emilie Vasu.
Does anyone really care what a canned pasta brand thinks about world events?
Some brands have made real-time marketing and social media an opportunity to comment on relevant political events, social issues and world topics. But many are just filling an ever-widening content pipeline with noise.
What’s fueled all this is technology: The need to fill ever-widening pipelines with “content,” and the ability to spread messages around the world in seconds. Technology makes it easier for brands to pull the trigger on even the most mundane of sentiments. Unfortunately, the nice posts are forgotten in minutes, but when they go wrong, they can have consequences far outweighing their real significance.
It’s also possible that all this social media consciousness is very disingenuous. Brands are, of course, the public face of corporations — many of which wield their political and financial power to do some unsavory things behind the scenes. We shouldn’t be surprised that they show their happy face to the public through their social media efforts.
The 2014 World Cup may not start for 183 days, but Visa is jumping on the publicity wagon extra early with “One Worldwide,” a singing welcome for all 32 teams playing in Brazil. Sources tell us Atmosphere Proximity is on the creative of the campaign. All of the singing comes courtesy of the Children’s Choir of Petropolis.
The three-and-a-half-minute video drags a little long since it fits in lyrics for every nation. Kids are cute, it’s hard to argue against that, and kids in face paint puffing out their chests in support of their respective teams can be fun, but the music choice gives off a haunting, strange tone at times. Let’s just say this is a far cry from Lionel Messi‘s Samsung spot that used little kids singing the Lorde single “Royals.” That felt flashy and happy with some high-production value. Made the viewer feel excited about soccer. The Visa spot doesn’t do any of those things. At least there’s still time to rethink things for the next 182 days.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
