Hasta La Creative!

If you’ve already seen “Elysium,” “Kick-Ass 2,” or “2 Guns” and need to get a quick action fix, then you can always check out Verizon’s new thriller, “Catch Me If You Can.”  The plotting and scriptwriting is probably on par with regular films that fizz out in theaters, and this spot, which was created by mcgarrybowen, even has The Bourne Identity/Swingers/Mr. And Ms. Smith director Doug Liman behind the camera.

In the one-minute spot, an unnamed protagonist races to find his Droid phone after leaving it in a New York City cab. Making the stakes even higher, the cabbie drives like a typical cabbie, so the phone is sliding all over the place and smacking into windows. Luckily, Droid phones now have scratch-resistant glass. I don’t want to say anymore and spoil the ending, but as with most action movies, the hero gets the girl, or phone, or whatever object is the focus of the chase.

Credits after the jump.

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At this point, Nike and AOR W+K are just showing off. Their latest spot, “Possibilities,” is a fat, splashy kick-off to the 25th anniversary of its ubiquitous slogan, “Just Do It.” These type of Nike ads have always had a mythical quality, compared to other sports brands – like certain BBDO Foot Locker commercials – that are solid and funny. Nike is serious. W+K Portland is serious. Nike, Inc. is set to earn $25 billion in revenue this year, meaning we must be serious, too, when it comes to our purchases.

Being serious does not preclude Nike from a certain playfulness if you look hard enough. For “Possibilities,” the lightness comes from some Bradley Cooper voiceover that makes the viewer want to just do it, even though said viewer knows he/she can’t do it as well as professional athletes. That’s where stars like footballer Gerard Piqué and basketballer LeBron James come in, cameos that are almost taking the money out of your wallet before you know it.

For LeBron, the unofficial king of the summer, Nike has been creatively pumping out his spots for a few years now. This one may be a joint venture, but he subtly dominates the end with some clever winking done in the form of a fake dunk content. LeBron has never entered the NBA dunk contest. Maybe this is a hint for 2014? Or maybe it’s just smart marketing? Plenty of possibilities to choose from.

Credits after the jump.

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Madden is turning 25 this year. That means decades of video game football obsessions have now been around long enough to be passed from parents to children and then some. To kick off the game’s promotional campaign, EA Sports debuted “Running Back Sons” yesterday, a minute-long spot about the origins of star running backs Arian Foster and Marshawn Lynch. While you might expect their motivation to come from supportive families, inspirational coaches, and the love of the game, it turns out that their success can be traced back to a friendly battle of brinksmanship between their fictitious fathers, Darian Foster and Marshawn Lynch Sr.

Fathers Foster and Lynch (played by the actual Foster and Lynch, respectively) spend all of their time playing Madden in unusual places as their sons train for football. At one point, young Marshawn even spins around a bear, establishing the beginning of “Beast Mode.” Finally, now that Arian and Marshawn are millionaires, their fathers can play Madden in the pool, which sounds about as dangerous as training with a bear.

This spot is sure to get plenty of airtime in the next few months, especially considering Foster and Lynch have decent acting chops when it comes to commercials. As Marshawn Sr. says, that’s that beast mode right there (raspy old-man laugh) Credits after the jump.

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Hot Sauce. Skip to My Lou. Main Event. Kevin. The park league nickname has always been a valued tradition in the realm of streetball, meaningful monikers passed down from the basketball gods that can become legend, a la Dr. J or Pee Wee Kirkland. Kevin Durant, for all of his NBA greatness, has yet to merge his skills with an equally skillful nickname. Yes, there’s KD and the Durantula (and perhaps the best one via Jalen Rose, who resurrected the name Iceberg Slim), but it just doesn’t feel right yet.

For the latest Nike effort from W+K Portland, which was created in partnership with Foot Locker, the agency decided to take Durant’s lack of nicknameness and build an ad around it. The sixty-second spot, which features comedian Hannibal Buress as MC, is the coming-out party for Kevin “Kevin” Durant. Buress runs through pre-game introductions and calls out intricate nicknames for random guys like Don Juan Have a Picnic by the Pond, but when he gets to Durant, the crowd goes silent. Kevin Kevin: It’s funny because it’s true. Credits after the jump.

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While Walmart has yet to respond to our inquiries, we have received confirmation from other parties involved that Andy Murray, founder and former chairman/CEO at Saatchi & Saatchi X who parted ways with the agency at the end of 2011, has accepted the position of SVP/creative with the Bentonville, AR behemoth.

Since his departure from Saatchi X, Murray has spent the last two years building his own Fayetteville, AR-based social media/marketing technology agency, Mercury 11, which is now on the verge of being bought up by Project:Worldwide. In fact, the global agency network has officially announced its intent to acquire Mercury 11 and merge it with its own Dallas-based shopper engagement unit dubbed Shoptology, which is led by Murray’s old Saatchi X cohort (and former North American CEO), Charlie Anderson.

Terms of the deal are undisclosed, but in a statement, Murray says, “I’m excited for Mercury 11 to join the Shoptology team. Charlie is an experienced builder and has a keen appreciation for how to scale a top team to bring world-class digital shopper marketing solutions to blue-chip client partners. I have no doubt Mercury 11’s capabilities and people will add value to Shoptology’s offering and will be in good hands.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Well, in not-so-breaking news, barely 10 days after renewing its relationship with Kmart and adding the retailer’s fashion business to the fold in the process, Draftfcb Chicago has now nabbed global AOR duties for food/uniform/facility management services company, Aramark. From what the parties involved say, Aramark previously worked with a host of agencies on a project basis and “reviewed a number of firms before deciding to consolidate its business at Draftfcb.”   The new Aramark AOR will handle everything from B2B and brand identity work to 360 advertising efforts.

In a statement, Aramark president/strategic assets & CSO, adds the usual explanation, saying, “We were seeking a partner with the creativity and strategic thinking to complement our business strategy The Draftfcb team displayed that and more, demonstrating the best grasp of our vision for ARAMARK plus the reach of a strong global network.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Not only should you fear James Harden‘s beard, but now you should fear his voice, too. There’s a long history of athletes who want to be rappers/singers, and that history stars and ends with this awesomely terrible Deion Sanders single from 1994. Luckily, Harden’s leap into the music industry is all in good fun on behalf of Foot Locker. BBDO New York has been pumping out quality NBA-related spots for the brand in the past, and “Harden Soul” is no different. It’s crisp, funny, and capable of appreciating the offbeat moment of humor.

Basketball fans may also recognize sharpshooter Stephen Curry as the voice of reason, begging Harden to give up the strain on his vocal cords. But, as Harden says, “I just had the best year of my career, I gotta keep things fresh.” For those interested in things that are kept extra fresh, Foot Locker also released a full version of “Harden Soul” on Youtube (you can listen after the jump). Watch out for the lyrical genius of lines like, “I wear my shirt open/so you see my chest…I keep my stock open/so you can invest.” Almost worthy of a Grammy.

Credits after the jump.

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The title is not a bathroom pun. Saatchi & Saatchi created a new campaign for Fiber One built around the 80′s song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” originally by Bonnie Tyler. If you’ve ever been within 50 yards of a karaoke bar, you’ll recognize the tune, and apparently, the 1983 hit is getting a second wave of popularity decades later. A May survey by UKbathrooms.com reported that it is the most popular song people sing in the shower. And more recently, actor and vocal impressionist Christina Bianco had a video of her singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the voices of 19 different divas go viral (1.8 million hits in four days).

So the relevance for the Fiber One campaign is there. We have two spots to show you, one titled “Turn Around Barry,” and the other, “Turn Around Barbara.” Ignoring the missing commas, both are about hapless characters on diets who want to eat food that tastes good but won’t make them fat. Those people do deserve power ballads playing as the soundtrack to their lives. The set-up is slightly confusing, because each ad includes multiple characters who we are supposed to assume are all named either Barry or Barbara. At one point, it looks like one Barry is even holding a leek he’s about to eat whole. But then he finds Fiber One. All in 30 seconds.

Watch “Turn Around Barbara” and read some credits after the jump.

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Days Inn Canada and Toronto-based digital/social shop Entrinsic are offering potential customers a unique perspective on staying away from home: no frills, nothing fancy, not trying to go above and beyond. The sort of approach that can be down-to-earth or lazy, depending on how you think about Days Inn and the hotel industry as a whole. It’s definitely original, since every other chain tries to maximize the number of amenities offered.

In the one-minute spot, a puffed up CEO-type removes all of the frills from his hotel and shows us why swimming pools should be used for swimming. Basically, basic price = basic service. P.S., if you like to wear ascots, you should avoid this commercial and all Days Inn establishments.

Credits after the jump.

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The future of TV is evidently here, and a new series of spots from 72andSunny for Samsung portray the typical American family coming to terms with the fact that they will forever be enslaved to the glowing rectangle in their living room, especially considering that it now hooks up to the Internet.

Yes, Samsung’s smart TV comes with a remote that turns the set on when you hold it up to your mouth like a microphone and say “Hi, TV.” Useless? Maybe, until you consider that crippling loneliness that most of us endure. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone sometimes, you know? Even if it is just a TV. A nice, friendly TV who you can tell your problems to and routinely greet.

Samsung is also offering an “Evolution Kit,” which you can stick on the back of your grandfather’s TV. Of course, being a total grandpa, gramps will inevitably turn the conversation into one about his hip. Silly grandpa! Always talking about his fake hip. What a total grandpa move. One more spot, which features the grandpa and the dad watching Star Trek, and credits follow after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.