Hasta La Creative!

Fresh off of LeBron James Sprite duties, Translation is back with a new 30-second State Farm spot that includes the Scooby-Doo Mystery Gang and one lucky animated insurance agent. A far cry from the days of slackers triumphantly yelling “Can I get a hot tub?” this ad mixes together some interesting threads of nostalgia and pop culture. Even if people no longer watch Scooby-Doo, the characters are, for better or worse, iconic. Of course Velma knows how to summon help. Of course Shaggy knows how to set the exposition with his stoneresque wail of a voice. If the creatives really wanted to get creative, they could’ve brought it all together with Shaggy yelling, “Can I get a hot tub?” Still, the spot is a cool little change-up from the Da Tailgate spot that we’ve seen too much during football season. Credits after the jump.

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For their latest campaign for Coke Zero,  Zulu Alpha Kilo, along with social media agency Dare, found real hockey stories online using social media and retold them with Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos. The newly released second film in the series, “The Trade,” tells Shawn Warford‘s story of being traded from the team his father coached.

At the beginning of the spot, Stamkos (as Warford) enters his father’s office and is told he is being traded. “You can’t trade me, I’m your son” he replies, followed by an annoying and completely unnecessary voiceover intrusion proclaiming “That’s going to be an awkward car ride home.” Between the terrible acting and gratuitous VO, this is where, if I wasn’t paid to write about it, I would stop watching this ad. To be fair, it does pick up a little bit from here, thanks largely to Bob the zamboni driver.

Bob explains why Kevin Wheeler gives the team exactly what they’re looking for and is the perfect trade. He goes on to enthusiastically extoll the virtues of the team’s new addition at length. A fed up Stamkos asks for the new jersey, which is when the spot slows down to tell us this is his “Moment Zero.” In the first game with his new team, he goes on to score five goals, each dedicated to exacting revenge for a different moment his father pissed him off.  ”It’s a moment he wouldn’t trade for anything,” says the annoying narrator in what is supposed to be the payoff. At least they (eventually) used Stamkos for what he’s good at (scoring goals) after what felt like an eternity of Stamkos struggling through what he’s terrible at (acting). I understand and appreciate the social engagement the “real hockey stories” angle brings to the table, but next time let’s have a higher ratio of hockey to stories. Or get a hockey player that can act, if such a person exists. Credits and the first installment of the “Moment Zero” campaign after the jump. continued…

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This seems kind of odd considering the kudos DUMBO-based The Joey Company received for a Trojan campaign launched just a few months ago (above) from the likes of Buzzfeed  and Adweek, but we’ve received multiple tips over the last 24 hours that the brand has parted ways with the DUMBO-based agency. Inquiries to the Joey crew have been left unanswered and we really didn’t make any inroads either with Trojan parent company, Church & Dwight, which could only serve up this measly statement: “Church and Dwight does not comment on the status of our agency partners and the brands they work on.” We’ll keep checking on the matter as we’re also hearing that another client relationship may be on the rocks at Joey. As for C&D, along with Trojan, the company also houses brands including Arm & Hammer, Nair and Orajel.

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I may be something of a Sony loyalist, but I’ve got to admit CP+B’s new spot “Invitation” makes the Xbox One shine. Even some of Sony’s biggest fanboys might concede it looks a lot better than the recent PS4 spot.

Directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley, the commercial vet who recently helmed the R&B-inflected DirecTV spot starring the Manning bros (and who earned an Emmy nod for Grey Poupon’s “The Chase,” also from CP+B),  “Invitation” features users invited into the world of several different games, and one movie. The spot opens with a giant robot warrior crashing a business meeting and making a “come here” gesture to a man giving a presentation. Then we see soccer player Steven Gerrard inviting a fan down from the stands. Spock invites a girl along for some sci-fi adventures. A sports car parks itself in front of some dude’s car and opens its door for him. (This is the automotive equivalent of “come here” apparently.) A zombie attempts to cajole a student in a library to join him, loses an arm, and then tells him to come along with the other arm.

Emphasizing the immersive nature of the next-gen platform, the spot announces, “This is an invitation to a new generation: where your games and entertainment are no longer separated, but together, in one.” Showing Xbox One users utilizing the system’s voice activation to launch games like Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, and the movie Star Trek: Enter Darkness gives fans an idea of what they can expect on launch day. The spot also shows users making use of the motion sensitive Kinect. You know, the camera that might be spying on you.

Mixing live action with just the right amount of actual gameplay, “Invitation” is slickly produced and should have Xbox fanboys chomping at the bit for the console’s Nov. 22 release date. My biggest problem with the spot is that the one woman featured uses the Xbox One not for gaming, but to watch a movie. Aside from this perpetuation of the gaming industry’s prevailing sexism (which most people won’t even notice), it’s a really solid ad. The whole “invitation” approach works to emphasize both the immersive nature of the system and the all-in-one entertainment value it offers. The $499 starting price, however, is less inviting. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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Today, Infiniti and Campfire have released what they’re calling “a ground-breaking responsive film that dynamically adapts to each viewer, depending on their spoken interactions with the onscreen characters.” In other words, an interactive video advertisement that asks for your phone number so it can “call you.” Supposedly there is an infinite variety of outcomes based on user interaction, but realistically this means they’ve programmed in a set number of responses.

“Deja View” tells the story of “a couple driving in their Infiniti Q50, unsure of who and where they are and whom to trust.” Directed by Phillip Van, the spot stars Charlotte Sullivan (of Rookie Blue and The Kennedys) and Andrew Pastides (Hank and Asha). Campfire tries pretty hard to make this seem like a short film and not a commercial spot. It has a pretty standard film-noir type mystery feel (the trailer even has X-Files-sounding music), without much to set it apart aside from the interactive schtick. It’s a campaign that tries very hard to be clever and cutting edge, but I’m not sure how well it will help sell the new Infiniti. And isn’t that the whole point? Plus it depends on people volunteering personal information to fully experience the ad, perhaps not the best strategy.

You can check out “Deja View” here. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

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It looks like Sharp isn’t planning to just work with small roster shops next year after all. Just days after we reported that the electronics brand and McGarryBowen’s relationship was coming to an end, Sharp has announced that it’s named Minneapolis-based Olson as its new North American agency of record. Mark Viken, Sharp VP/brand marketing, says in a statement, “We were deeply impressed by Olson’s strategic thinking and creativity. We’re looking forward to a great relationship.” Olson will handle the usual duties that come with the AOR title including advertising, digital and design for Sharp, which we’ve been told is placing heavy emphasis on the digital portion moving forward.

As we mentioned previously, McGarryBowen’s deal with Sharp will draw to a close at the end of the year, thus Olson, whose CEO John Partilla‘s  relationship with the brand dates back to his Dentsu days (which probably didn’t hurt matters), will take over as AOR effective Jan. 1, 2014.

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Following a review, Tampa-based seafood-focused restaurant chain Bonefish Grill has shifted its creative duties from one WPP agency to another as Blast Radius has taken over for Y&R Midwest as the brand’s new creative AOR. Blast, the global digital agency housed within WPP’s Wunderman Network, will now handle advertising, in-restaurant, digital and social for Bonefish, which currently has 189 restaurants operating in 32 states.

Blast Radius New York GM Darryl Braunmiller is obviously excited about the appointment as he states, “We’re extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with Bonefish Grill as their creative agency of record. As a digital agency, we have always led with consumer insights, and we will be working with Bonefish Grill to leverage that insight-driven strategy across all of their marketing channels. Their willingness to look beyond traditional agencies indicates an innovative spirit perfectly aligned with our culture.”

Along with Bonefish Grill, Blast Radius, which has 10 offices spread out across North America, Europe and China, works with clients including BMW Canada, Nike, Starbucks and Onitsuka Tiger. No word yet on when first work from Blast for Bonefish will break, but we’ll let you know.

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New York agency Sid Lee created a series of thematically unified spots to promote Syneron Beauty Inc.’s m? “smooth” hair removal system, the “first and only professional at-home system that uses patented elos light technology and is FDA-cleared and clinically proven safe and effective on all skin tones.” The campaign, entitled “It’s for ME, not for her” launched with three spots this week, with two more forthcoming in November.

The spots all end with the line “You deserve the m?, but you might know someone who doesn’t,” before directing viewers to the m? website. Each spot precedes this with a woman explaining how they will tell everyone they know about the m?, except for one person who they really hate.

In the above video, “One Upper,” it’s the dreaded copycat who makes the spot’s protagonist attempt to one up her adversary in order to stay one step ahead and preserve her identity. Not a terrible premise, but the execution falls completely flat. This and the other spots’ attempts at humor all come across as awkward and cringe-worthy — and not in a funny Stephen Merchant kind of way. The other two spots feature a criminally bad blind date setup and a woman who always brings a large crowd along uninvited to intimate gatherings. Again, either of these premises could have been funny if well-executed but just come across as awkward and annoying.

We also see very little of the product being used — just a few seconds at the beginning and end really — with most of the time spent on cringe-inducing attempts at humor. If the product (which retails at $395!) is really as great as they say it is, shouldn’t they spend a little more time extolling its virtues? Especially if they’re going to ask women to drop $395, maybe Sid Lee and Syneron should use something other than spite to sell the product. Maybe explain what the hell “elos light technology” is (I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t know) and why it’s such a step up from the competition.

The spots were an attempt to cut “through the lingerie and bikini clad cosmetic noise of the category and [speak] to our audience as a friend, not a corporation,” explains Sid Lee New York CD Brandon Drew Jordan Pierce. Unfortunately, the spots come across as that one friend who means well but who you avoid because they won’t stop making terrible jokes and you hate the pressure of feeling like you have to force-laugh to avoid making them feel bad.

Perhaps the one redeeming quality of the campaign is the invitation to viewers of the m? website to submit via Facebook, email, or Twitter an explanation of someone who doesn’t deserve to find out about the m?. Although it would work better if the ads held up on their own, this could be a fun way for viewers to vent about a specific problem person in their life. It will also undoubtedly yield better stories than those featured in the current m? spots. Maybe Sid Lee can mine these stories for their next installment in the campaign. Stick around for the spot “Strangers” after the jump. continued…

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The latest from Onion Labs sees them working with DSW to rile the folks at PETA in a new campaign called “Bad Pet Owner.”

This new campaign for the discounted shoe outlet where I once picked out and purchased a pair of shoes in under four minutes while en route to a wedding opens with the spot “Goat.” “Goat” features about as many pet deaths as you’re ever likely to see in an advertisement. Each time the bad pet owner (inadvertently) kills a pet, he goes to DSW for a new pair of shoes so he can use the shoebox to bury his deceased animal pal. By the end of the spot, he has a quite the shoe collection — and a backyard pet cemetery. Watch it before PETA files a complaint to have it taken down.

In addition to the “Goat” spot (and one forthcoming) Onion Labs has also rolled out a Men’s Fashion section on TheOnion.com sponsored by DSW. The section includes older content that fits the category, as well as new, sponsored content like “Dead Hamster Feels Its Life Has Been Properly Honored With Shoebox Coffin,” which dovetails nicely with the “Goat” spot. Incorporating material on its parent site in addition to the humorous video really plays to the budding agency’s strengths and shows what kind of potential they have in the future.

Good luck with the (inevitable) ensuing PETA lawsuit, Onion Labs. We’re pulling for you. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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After spending the last 11 years at Minneapolis-based food giant General Mills, home to everything from Cheerios and Lucky Charms to Pillsbury and Betty Crocker, Doug Moore is leaving the company. Here’s a statement from General Mills to clarify: “Doug has announced plans to leave General Mills at the end of the year.  He and we have communicated Doug’s decision to our agencies and our brand teams.  No announcement has been made regarding a successor… or Doug’s future plans.  But he is continuing to work with our brand teams and our agencies to ensure that strong plans are in place.”

Moore initially joined General Mills in 2001 as VP/advertising & branding before being promoted to his most current role as VP/advertising & media in 2006. Prior to joining the company, Moore spent several years on the agency side working in various account roles including a lengthy stint as EVP/group account director at Saatchi & Saatchi (which of course counts General Mills as a key client) and VP/account supervisor at BBDO, where he worked with clients including Pizza Hut and HBO.

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