Hasta La Creative!

This summer, 72andSunny debuted a design for “Eat Like You Mean it” boxers for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. CKE Restaurants fell in love with the design, and they decided to ask fans of the brand on Facebook if they would buy the boxers, given the opportunity. Fan response was enthusiastic enough that 72andSunny has made them available for sale, in a limited launch of 2,000 boxers for the holiday season. Having never enjoyed the pleasures of Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s (one of the negatives of living in the northeast), I can’t truly understand the need to represent the fast food franchise. But this does seem like a funny gift for the burger lover in your life (although a bit expensive for a pair of boxers at $20). It’s also interesting that the brand used Facebook as a litmus test to see if their fans would be interested in the item. Seems like a smart move.

Since being released, the  boxers have made a big splash on the company’s Facebook page, as well as on Instagram. If you’re interested in purchasing “Eat Like You Mean It” boxers, you can do so here for a limited time.

So far, there are no plans to release the phrase on women’s underwear, where it would be given a significantly more suggestive connotation.

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For the new campaign for Stoli Vodka, Toronto shop Jacknife asked directors to tell an origin story of their choice. Stoli’s tagline is “The Original Vodka for Original People,” whatever the hell that means, but the origin-story theme can make for some interesting recreations. Director Sean Wainsteim decided to focus his efforts on the origin of The French Exit, when people leave a party without saying goodbye. We’ve all been there. A clingy come-on at a bar, friends of friends who you don’t really know that well, the weird Uncle. For the anti-social, goodbyes are unnecessary social conventions usually meant for people you don’t care about.

You’ve probably never heard of Bentley Theodore French, but he invented The French Exit while at a stuffy, waspy party that may be set in the 1930s, at least according to Stoli’s two-minute narrative ad. Bentley even passes up the chance to dance with two ladies at the same time on his way out the door. I’m not sure why he’s at this party if he dislikes everyone in attendance, but he is a social innovator who will never be forgotten. I still use his work to this day. Credits after the jump.

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Lorraine Bracco (she of The Sopranos and Goodfellas fame, of course) lends her familiar voice to Deutsch LA’s new holiday spot for Netflix, and predictably, makes the ad work.

In the spot, “Tree Topper,” Bracco voices the part of the smiling porcelain tree topper that has been part of the McDermott family for 34 years. Through the tree topper we see the wild antics of the McDermott boys, as well as Christmas cooking failures and Uncle Luther’s fake snow. Despite the occasional difficulties living with the McDermott family, Bracco’s tree topper enjoys when the family curls up to enjoy watching something on Netflix.

It’s not the most original of concepts, but Bracco makes it work. Her voice is not only recognizable, but dramatic and expressive. This helps make the idea of a sentient tree topper seem less ridiculous, and even imbues the character with emotion and personality. It helps make the spot not seem overly sentimental, and her delivery of the spots’ final line really brings out just the right amount of curmudgeon from Bracco’s character. While celebrity voice acting is so often an afterthought used as an easy cash-in, Deutsch LA hits the mark by casting Bracco for “Tree Topper.” Hopefully other agencies are taking notes. Credits after the jump. continued…

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With Thanksgiving over (and  Hanukkah currently underway), the 2013 winter holiday season is upon us, and with it comes Deutsch NY’s annual Christmas Price Index for PNC. In case you don’t know, the Christmas Price Index shows the actual cost of all the gifts mentioned in the ubiquitous (and somewhat annoying) carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

For the Christmas Price Index’s 30th anniversary this year, Deutsch NY decided to offer up something a little different. Visitors to the PNC Christmas Price Index website will be given the opportunity to digitally build and customize their own versions of the gifts from the carol. The 3-D Gift Maker features twelve toys with customizable accessories, all designed by Invisible Creature. Visitors to the site will be given the opportunity to win “24 3-D custom designed toys over the course of 12 days.” If this sounds exciting to you, you better get started, as the contest only lasts until December 13th.

As for the actual index itself, 2013 shows a 7.7% increase from last year, with the current cost of Christmas listed as $27,393.17. That would be the cost of one verse of the song, but since the song has many repetitions the “True Cost of Christmas” (counting each repetition) comes out to $114,651.18. There’s good news for fans of partridges and/or pear trees, however: the cost of a partridge in a pear tree is now $199.99, down 2.4% from last year. So buy now. It’s not a good year to be in the market for nine ladies dancing however, as the current cost is $7552.84, up a full 20% from last year. That cash in your pocket just doesn’t buy as many pipers piping as it used to. Check out a couple of stills, along with credits,after the jump. continued…

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Four months after parting ways with TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, where he was replaced as creative chief by Matt Ian, Mark Figliulo is now collaborating with Team Sprint–Leo Burnett, DigitasLBi and MediaVest– via his new agency, Figliulo & Partners. From what we’ve been told, “Bringing in new partners and ideas who complement an already strong multi-agency team, is both healthy and consistent with the dynamic needs of brands, consumers and the marketplace.” From what sources tell us, Figliulo will continue working out of New York City with a focus on broadcast. During his career, Figliulo, who replaced Gerry Graf at Chiat NY, served as chief creative officer at Y&R Chicago.

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A few weeks ago, we announced that BSSP had won creative and digital duties for streaming services device Roku. Now, the Sausalito, California agency has debuted their first work for Roku with the “Moxkat Grvida” campaign.

The idea is simple, yet clever: You might not get Roku for Christmas, so buy it for yourself, wrap it, and say it was from Moxkat Grvida, your dear Ukranian friend. In “Merry Christmas from Moxkat Grvida,” Grvida introduces the concept in a friendly message extolling the virtues of Roku and offering up his services as an excuse for buying yourself one this holiday season. You can think of Grvida as a sort of friendly, older, Ukranian version of Borat. With so many holiday ads trying too hard to be over-the-top and ridiculous, it’s refreshing to see a simple, direct idea like Moxkat Grvida executed well. It’s worth a chuckle, and the humor is employed in a way that could actually help sell the product.

In addition to the above, minute long “Merry Christmas from Moxkat Grvida” spot, there are also three 15 second ads along the same lines. One of these, “Moxkat’s Favorites” finds Grvida sharing a few of his favorite movies. We’ve featured it, along with credits, after the jump. Enjoy.  continued…

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens have the oldest, and arguably fiercest, rivalry in the NHL. So to celebrate the two teams meeting in the NHL season opener this year, MacLaren McCann and Mastercard invited fans to submit their best heckles on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. They then took these messages and delivered them, via barbershop quartet.

During opening night on October 1st, over the course of eight hours, 56 heckling videos were shared, each dedicated to the user who submitted the message. The campaign was a hit, with over 4.3 million Twitter impressions and over 17,000 social engagements. While the idea behind the campaign is kind of interesting in theory, the execution suffers from a loose definition of “heckling.” Case in point can be viewed in the above video: “OMG, can’t sit down to study. So pumped for tonight.” is decidedly not a heckle. The problem with this idea is that its entertainment value increases with the meanness of the heckling. But for obvious reasons, Mastercard and MacLaren McCann wanted to keep things family friendly. What we’re left with too often is a barbershop cheerleading squad, considerably lamer than a heckling barbershop quartet. It almost feels like a bait-and-switch. Check out a couple of our favorites, along with credits, after the jump. And feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.  continued…

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Brooklyn-based shop Dead As We Know It was apparently so impressed with Blur Studios’ production work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s intro that they used the production company as not just collaborators but inspiration for their new spot for The Kraken Rum, entitled “Black Ink.”

Directed by Tim Miller, “Black Ink” is a departure from the previous 2D woodblock print style Dead As We Know It has used for their spots for Kraken, instead employing realistic 3D/CG animation to show the kraken on the rum bottle come to life and destroy a ship. The kraken in the spot is depicted in quick close-ups that jump quickly from shot to shot, implying the violence and danger of the mythical beast.

To accomplish the more realistic approach, the kraken was “designed with reference to actual octopus tentacles and eyeballs for a photo-real look to the movements and destruction.” This new approach isn’t such a drastic departure from the feel of the agency’s previous work. The shift in style is pulled off very well, and feels more like an evolution in approach than a drastic alteration of strategy. Dead As We Know It ECD Mikal Reich ridiculously describes the new spot as “dark and horrific, while at the same time luxurious and sexy.” While the spot is undeniably good eye candy, there’s nothing really sexy about it — unless you’re into tentacle porn. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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I’m not sure where the “myth” that gum-chewing gives a bad impression comes from, but Beldent and Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi set out to disprove it in a social experiment called “Almost Identical,” which was conducted October 1st at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Buenos Aires.

The experiment, conducted under the assumption that such a myth exists, employed five pairs of identical twins. Each pair of twins were dressed and presented identically, with the only difference being that one of the twins was chewing gum. Onlookers were then asked a series of questions about their impressions of the twins, ranging from “Which one seems like he has more friends?” to “Which of these bosses would give you a raise?” to “Which one has a better sex life?” The gum-chewing twin received the more positive answer 73% of the time. Beldent would like that to mean that they’ve proven that “chewing gum doesn’t give a bad impression” but, rather, does the opposite. Obviously, that’s extrapolating a bit much from the limited survey, but this is marketing, not social science. I just feel bad for the twins that had to chew gum all day. That must have been hell on their jaws. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Yesterday, Air New Zealand announced its latest campaign entitled “Middle Earth is Closer Than You Think,”  a continuation of its association with The Hobbit Trilogy. The airline, dubbed “the official airline of Middle Earth” rolls out the campaign two weeks ahead of the launch of the second film in Peter Jackson‘s saga. The campaign was announced with a 2:30 video, “Just Another Day in Middle Earth,” featuring Dean O’Gorman, who plays dwarf Fili, and the voice of Sylvester McCoy, The Hobbit Trilogy’s Radagast the Brown.

Tolkien fanatics are well aware of New Zealand’s association with Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films, but stoking their interest with a Hobbit-themed campaign makes a lot of sense for the airline. Tourism New Zealand survey figures from last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey marketing campaign “showed 82 percent of international survey respondents stated the campaign increased their interest in New Zealand” and “8.5 percent of international visitors to New Zealand during January-March this year said The Hobbit Trilogy was a factor in stimulating their interest in New Zealand.” So using Tolkien to sell New Zealand is a proven method, and Air New Zealand doesn’t disappoint with their latest installment.

The “Just Another Day in Middle Earth” video employs a cheeky sense of humor to merge Middle Earth references with Air New Zealand’s friendly approach. Tolkien fan boys will undoubtedly eat this one up, even if there aren’t quite as many cameos as in last year’s “An Unexpected Briefing.” My only complaint would be that in a 2:30 spot, I’d expect to see more shots of New Zealand’s stunning landscapes, but I imagine most people are here for The Hobbit factor and I’m in the minority. It’s a cute little video, and if you’re a Tolkien obsessive, it should make you want to visit New Zealand even more than you (presumably) already do.

Another important component of the campaign is a contest allowing participants to choose from entering for one of two prizes: tickets to the Hollywood premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, or a “once-in-a-life-time Middle-earth experience for two in New Zealand.” Personally, I don’t see why you’d take the Desolation of Smaug premiere over a chance to visit New Zealand, but I’m sure a certain breed of Tolkien/Jackson fanatic would rabidly disagree with me. Air New Zealand is also resurrecting the idea of decking out one of its planes, Hobbit style, from last year’s campaign. This year, they will be turning a Boeing 777-300 into a flying billboard for Jackson’s latest installment. The plane will be unveiled December 2nd, leaving that night in time to touch down for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premiere in Hollywood. Most Tolkien nerds would kill a bag of puppies for a spot on that plane.

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