Hasta La Creative!

It appears Sasquatch is sitting this one out, and the absence of Jack Link’s mascot is much appreciated.

Carmichael Lynch takes a different approach with their latest campaign for the jerky brand, based on a concept not all that dissimilar from Snicker’s “You’re not you when you’re hungry” approach: that intense hunger can make you angry, which they define as “hangry.” The series of 30-second spots depict several such hangry individuals, with their intense hunger personified by angry animals that emerge from their stomach, which also acts as a visual representation of the “Feed your wild side” tagline. In “Lecture Hall,” for example, a student is taking a test when his intense hunger causes a puma to emerge from his stomach. It is not until the puma is sated with a piece of beef jerky that it retreats back where it came from, after helping the kid out with a test answer (apparently this is a highly intelligent feline). Other spots take a similar approach, depicting a woman waiting for her flight to take off, and a man stuck in a meeting. The spots will run online and on on channels such as Comedy Central, ESPN, and FX, alongside the existing “Messin’ with Sasquatch” campaign.

“Nothing says Feed Your Wild Side like literally feeding your wild side,” explains Kevin Papacek, director of marketing for Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. “Hangry is how you feel when you experience hunger to the point of being angry – visceral, debilitating hunger. This deeper hunger can only be fed by Jack Link’s Jerky.”

Stick around for “Middle Seat” and credits after the jump. continued…

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Droga5 reveals Motorola’s new entry-level smartphone, the Moto E, in an imaginative and inventive 60-second spot.

The spot, entitled “Meet Moto E,” utilizes time lapse footage to show the phone’s durability, while also communicating a host of other features, during a three second free fall during which the phone takes a wealth of abuse. Moto E runs around $130 and, as Adweek puts it, “isn’t going to win over gadget gurus looking for power and superlative specs.” So Droga5 markets the phone as a durable option with a long-lasting battery and enough features to please the consumer who’s just looking for an everyday phone that won’t break down or break the bank. Droga5 was able to accomplish this, with help from production company 1stAveMachine, while also crafting a fun, visually impressive ad with excellent attention to detail that makes the phone look good by association. Stick around for credits and behind-the-scenes footage after the jump. continued…

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Hill Holiday, Boston tapped Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, This Is 40, Freaks and Geeks) to voice the inner musings of a jaded mom in their latest campaign for LG appliances.

Mann voices the internal monologue of a character Adweek described as “a cross between FX’s Louie and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.” While that may be a slight exaggeration — the character is far more in line with Mann’s roles in Knocked Up and This Is 40 — the spots are certainly far more cynical than anything we’ve come to expect from appliance ads aimed at women, and in fact play off those happy family conventions.

In the most edgy, and, not coincidentally, most successful of these spots, Mann’s character notes that her new LG washing machine is very fast. But what’s a good quality in a washing machine is not necessarily a good quality in a husband, as the character suggestively muses. It’s this kind of honesty and portrayal of a less-than-perfect reality that makes the campaign stand out. Other spots in the campaign trade in the sexual innuendo for goofiness, and while none of them are quite as entertaining as “Too Fast” the approach still feels like a welcome departure from typical daytime TV fare, thanks largely to Mann’s comedic timing. Stick around for credits and “Hot Cookies” after the jump. continued…

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Yesterday we brought you news of Adidas’ World Cup spot from TBWA featuring Lionel Messi, a host of other international stars, and a Kanye West track. Now here’s a look at the latest in W+K New York’s World Cup campaign for ESPN.

The charming 60-second spot, entitled “Time Zone,” examines how the World Cup creates “one time zone,” as the whole world rearranges their schedule to watch the World Cup premiere. “Time Zone” opens and ends in Brazil, stopping over in destinations around the world as everyone prepares for the match. Some have an easier time adjusting to “Brazil time” than others. A businessman in Seattle is seen rushing out of the office while updating his voicemail to reflect that he will be “out of the office for the rest of the afternoon” — an accurate portrayal of kickoff times in the states — while an old woman falls asleep watching the game in Russia and in Japan a group congregates before the sun rises. The spot ends with the tagline, “Every 4 years the world has one time zone,” which is reminiscent of the earlier “Every 4 years the conversation starts again.” This newer spot reflects the heightened anticipation for the World Cup kickoff, which is just over two weeks away. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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TBWAChiatDay have launched the “All In Or Nothing” World Cup campaign for Adidas — the biggest in the company’s history, according to The Guardian — with a spot starring superstar Lionel Messi and featuring a previously unreleased track from ubiquitous narcissist (and latest Kim Kardashian husband) Kanye West called “God Level.”

The 60-second spot, entitled “The Dream,” takes a look inside the dreams of the Argentinian forward. In a rapid-pace montage, we see in-game footage of Messi (among other stars) interspersed with practice/workout scenes and some more surreal elements (such as German star Bastian Schweinsteiger practicing in a very Game of Thrones-esque frozen forest). Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) builds towards a mood of anxious anticipation, undoubtedly echoing the feelings of Messi and other World Cup athletes who know that nothing less than perfection will give their team a chance at the Cup. At its conclusion, the spot asks viewers to choose between “all in” or “nothing” with corresponding landing sites.

“Giving anything less than everything will not win the World Cup,”global brand marketing director for Adidas football Tom Ramsden told The Guardian. “We are incredibly proud of this film and the entire ‘all in or nothing’ campaign.”

The Adidas campaign comes considerably later than rival Nike’s World Cup campaign from W+K, which we covered last month. The brand announced a tie-in with rapper Kanye West back in December, but kept the details of the collaboration a secret until the campaign’s launch.

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JWT Brazil has a new campaign attempting to make decaf seem like an enticing option for Pilão Decaf.

Now decaf coffee is a pretty hard sell, other than with those can’t have caffeine for health reasons, but JWT Brazil came up with an interesting angle. The campaign sets out to prove that decaf coffee, like regular coffee, can be a great working companion — even without the stimulative benefits of caffeine. So they show that great things can be achieved after some sleep by highlighting great breathroughs made after a good night’s sleep, inspired by dreams. In the animated spot above, for example, JWT Brazil tells the story of Dmitri Mendeleev, who got the idea for the period table of the elements in a dream. Unfortunately, the narrative being set to a lullaby only detracts from its impact. The print campaign is more effective, utilizing surreal, dream-like imagery in telling the story of other important ideas inspired by dreams. Stick around after the jump for an example of the print campaign, along with credits. continued…

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Yesterday was Victoria Day in Canada, a May bank holiday up north, and Toronto-based agency Entrinsic has released a timely spot for Victoria gin, celebrating its namesake Queen Victoria.

The 30-second broadcast spot, “That’s The Spirit” was created by Entrinsic in collaboration with production company Revolver Films and director Christopher Wahl. It relates a series of unexpected but true facts about Queen Victoria: She ruled the British Empire at 18 while still living with her mom; she married her first cousin and had nine children; she was almost assassinated seven times. “If you were Queen Victoria,” the spot concludes, “you’d be ready for a drink, too.” The visual approach is straightforward, showing Queen Victoria gradually walking toward the camera and then sitting at a bar enjoying some gin. Entrinisic and Wahl also teamed up for the accompanying print campaign, which will roll out later in the year. Credits after the jump. continued…

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72andSunny mined memorable moments in film, TV, and the Internet for their new campaign unveiling Samsung’s Curved UHD TV, called “The Curve Changes Everything.”

The new broadcast spot debuted last night during primetime programing including AMC’s Mad Men,  NBC’s Women of SNL, and the season finale of Fox’s execrable Family Guy, to name a few. The 60-second “The Curve Changes Everything,” mines such sources as Clueless, Jurassic Park, Gravity and that screaming goat you saw on YouTube to stitch together “not only excitement for the curve and the experience, but how the curve impacts different family scenarios and living room environments.” 72andSunny worked with production company Caviar, director Rian Johnson (Looper, a couple of great episodes of Breaking Bad) and Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) to bring the spot to life.

“The Samsung Curved TV is just a beautiful object,” said Rian Johnson. “Beyond the quality of the picture, the industrial design of the TV – with its subtle curve – is really stunning when you see it up close in person. We were tasked with finding ways to show off the curve, but you really just need to point a camera at the TV and it pops off the screen. It was a pleasure to shoot.”

In addition to broadcast, the campaign also features print, digital and out of home (OOH) components. “The Curve Changes Everything” will continue to run on major networks, cable and online. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Leo Burnett Toronto has a new campaign for Coors Light, called “Say Yes to Yes,” which doesn’t put up much of a front about promoting “drinking responsibly.” Instead, they’re promoting the kind of drinking that leads to pantlessness, “going to bed not in your bed,” and “winning donkeys named Richard.” Coors Light can’t promise you all these things will happen, but they can promise “Saying yes to adventure” (in this case, “adventure” means “watery light beer”) will lead to better stories.

All these “not promises” are delivered from an unexpected, and pretty ridiculous source. Clearly, the target of the campaign is the barely above drinking age crowd, who can still be swayed into thinking Coors Light is the perfect thing a night of drunken debauchery. In addition to the 60-second version above, Coors Light will air a 30-second broadcast version, which will run until the end of the summer. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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This August marks the 70th anniversary of Smokey Bear (apparently Smokey the Bear is a misnomer and we’ve all been saying it wrong). First created by FCB West in partnership with U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council in 1944, the Wildfire Prevention campaign is the longest running, and one of the most successful, PSA campaigns in America. 96 percent of the U.S. adult population recognize Smokey Bear, while 70 percent can recall Smokey’s “Only you can prevent forest fires” tagline without prompting.

“Few advertising icons have become as much a part of the American vernacular as Smokey Bear,” said Peggy Conlon, soon-to-be-retired president & CEO of the Ad Council. “Smokey’s persistent popularity from generation to generation is not only a testament to the quality of work done on his behalf pro bono by FCB, but also ensures that his legacy will be one that results in continued impact in the area of wildfire prevention.”

For Smokey’s 70th birthday, FCB West worked with Butcher Editorial to create two new PSAs (running in both 30 and 15 second versions) that celebrate Smokey’s milestone, while still spreading his message of forest fire prevention. In one of the spots (above) a group of children and park rangers bring Smokey Bear a birthday cake. Seeing only the fire hazard of the candles, Smokey reaches for a bucket of water, but thankfully one of the children has the presence of mind to blow them out. In another 30-second PSA, which really ups the creepiness factor, Smokey sneaks up on a man to inform him of a fire hazard. Both spots end with Smokey rewarding fire safety prevention with a bear hug. continued…

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