Hasta La Creative!

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…

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

continued…

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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…

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“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.

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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.

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San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners continue their ”Protect Yourself from Your Digital Self” campaign for McAfee LiveSafe, produced by its in-house content production facility, Lumberyard, with a new spot entitled ”Beth vs. @simply_the_beth.”

The spot builds on the notion of the careless, naive digital self they’ve explored in the past. In this case, @simply_the_beth’s carelessness leads to identity theft, an opportunity for VB&P to tout McAfee’s identity protection. The way in which this happens is a bit over-the-top, and I have to think the spot would be more successful if  @simply_the_beth got in trouble in a more realistic way. I understand the ad is attempting to be humorous, but it really pushes things way past believability. Aren’t you trying to get people to identify with Beth and her digital self? And by making Beth’s digital self a complete idiot, aren’t you kind of insulting your potential customers? Making @simply_the_beth so unbelievably stupid just seems like a big misstep. On an unrelated note, I really want that owl mug Beth is holding.

In the slightly more successful Gregg vs. @greggs_benedict (featured after the jump), VB&P plays on the animosity between Greg and his digital self without making the digital self quite so cartoonish (he’s more of a dick than a moron). Let us know what you think of the new spot, and the ”Protect Yourself from Your Digital Self” campaign in the comments section.  continued…

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Well, the holiday items keep pouring in today. This one is a “Christmas miracle” from our neighbors to the north.

Canadian airline WestJet and studio m collaborated to give visitors to Toronto and Hamilton International Airports a Christmas miracle. They discovered what more than 250 Calgary-bound passengers had on their wish lists, with help from a tech-savvy Santa. Then 175 Westjet employees acted as elves, taking notes on passenger’s Christmas wishes, shopping, wrapping the gifts and delivering them to the Calgary airport ahead of the gifts’ recipients. When the passengers arrived at baggage claim in Calgary, they were met with a Christmas miracle — the gifts they had wished for were there waiting for them — addressed from Santa, of course. As the wrapped presents went around the carousel, Santa himself showed up to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

Making baggage claim fun is truly a miracle, and WestJet clearly jumped through hoops to pull this stunt off. It made a lot of peoples’ days, and the kids who got presents from Santa that day will probably remember it forever. Not a bad way to engender brand loyalty, but intentions aside, WestJet staged a really heartwarming event. The genuineness of the gesture and its perfect execution more than make up for any excess cheesiness in the video, which plays on the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (better known by its first line, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”). Stick around for “Santa’s Bloopers” after the jump, but beware, the cheesiness increases exponentially.  continued…

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