Hasta La Creative!

Adidas is celebrating the launch of its revamped NBA Swingman jersey line with a new spot starring Portland Trailblazers star Damian Lillard.

The spot follows Lillard as he is shadowed by his “swingman,” who is as devoted to being a great “swingman” as Lillard is to being a great basketball player. He sets out to “think like Damian, act like Damian, smell like Damian,” even if he can’t play like him. The ad attempts a humorous tone, but while it shoots for laughs, it ultimately comes up empty. Additional ads in the series featuring Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets and Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls will follow in the coming days. Adidas’ NBA Swingman jerseys are available now at NBAStore.com and the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue and retails for $110.

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R/GA enlisted Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in its latest ad for fashion headphones brand Beats, entitled “Straight to the Gym.”

Newton, of course, is no stranger to advertising, having recently appeared in spots for Gatorade and Under Armour (which he can be seen wearing here).

The basic approach of the “Straight to the Gym” is nothing new. “Give up, that’s what they want you to do. Stop, that’s what they want you to do,” says Newton in a voiceover that plays as he puts on a pair of wireless Beats and begins an intense workout. The 60-second spot leans heavily on its soundtrack: Kendrick Lamar‘s guest verse on Jay Rock‘s “Pay For It.” In the ad’s most interesting moment, Newton lets out an agonized scream mid-pullup, driving home the message of the song, and the spot. The ad very much follows in the footsteps of R/GA’s recent ads for the brand showing athletes working out, such as the recent spot celebrating LeBron James’ homecoming, and this ad starring Serena Williams. Maybe it’s time to change up the formula?

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RPA looks to the gifts that you loved receiving as a kid in its “Happy Honda Days” campaign, celebrating such cultural touchstone of yesteryear as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Stretch Armstrong, Strawberry Shortcake and Gumby.

The ads all follow in a similar formula, with each character asking viewers if they remember how excited they were to receive them as a gift, before saying that they can get that same feeling by purchasing a Honda CRV, Civic or Accord. In the 30-second “Skeletor” spot above, for example, the He-Man villain reminds viewers of the exultation they felt when they got him as a holiday gift, before touting the CRV’s rear-view mirror, used to detect danger (in this case, He-Man). Children of the eighties and/or fans of these characters should appreciate the dose of nostalgia present in these ads as they tout the vehicles’ features, and RPA went ahead and applied the formula to half a dozen different characters so viewers don’t grow tired of the same ad.

“Every season consumers are inundated with holiday ads. Our goal is to break through the clutter by tapping into people’s memories of their favorite childhood toys and helping them relive that feeling of getting something they loved for the holidays by getting a great deal on a new Honda at the Happy Honda Days Sales Event,” explained Susie Rossick, senior manager at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The broadcast spot will be supported by print ads in People, Sports Illustrated, and local newspapers in top markets, as well ad network radio ads.

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MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER has launched a campaign for Zoosk entitled “First Comes Like.”

Instead of hard-selling the percentage of matches who end up married or implying that Zoosk can be used as a hookup site, the agency takes a middle ground, showing a couple’s misadventures on their first date and beyond. It’s an interesting approach that positions the brand as an alternative to both dating sites that push marriage (such as Match) and more hookup-centric sites like Tinder. Instead, Zoosk appeals to young people looking for a relationship, but not ready to think of marriage.

The way the spot portrays the excitement and awkwardness of a budding relationship is charming and feels more honest than the typical portrayals of couples in the category. There’s also a 60-second online version (featured after the jump), offering a more complete glimpse of the relationship.  (more…)

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Miami-based agency Alma and the Ad Council are rolling out a PSA campaign for AARP aimed at the 42 million caretakers in the United States looking after elderly parents or other loved ones, with Alma specifically targeting the one in three Hispanic households which include a caregiver (according to research conducted by Evercare and the National Alliance for Caregiving).

The campaign includes 30 and 60-second broadcast spots, digital, print and radio. In the broadcast spots, the changing roles of families are examined. In “Spoon” for example, a father is shown feeding his daughter at the beginning of the spot, with the grown-up daughter trying to get her father to eat in the next scene. “Bath” takes a similar approach, with both ads ending by directing viewers to aarp.org/caregiving and aarp.org/cuidar.

“As Latinos, caring for our elders isn’t a choice – it’s an inherent cultural responsibility,” said Luis Miguel Messianu, president and chief creative officer of Alma. “It’s a big task to take on and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to work with the Ad Council and AARP, who provide support to so many generous caregivers. It’s important to remind them that they are not alone in their efforts.” (more…)

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Multi-disciplinary agency Mistress worked with Ubisoft to create a cinematic trailer for the upcoming release of Assasin’s Creed Unity, the latest in Ubisoft’s long-running franchise which is set for a November 11th release.

Mistress teamed up with production company Mothership Media and VFX studio Digital Domain to bring the trailer to life. The spot opens on in-game action, which text informs the viewer takes place in 1789, during the French Revolution. Then the action cuts to a group of friends sitting in a row, each with controller and headset in place, demonstrating the game’s new cooperative multiplayer feature. From here action switches between the friends and their in-game counterparts in the all too common “thrust into the action” trope. Still, Mistress and company pull it off better than most, pacing the transitions well and giving a good glimpse of the action gamers can expect while presenting a persuasive representation of being thrown into the world of the game. The ad ends with a new tagline for the franchise, “Make History,” which seems like a great fit.

“We loved working with Mistress because they had a distinct vision of what the spot should be, they stuck to it and Ubisoft trusted that instinct,” Director Neil Huxley said. “Using everything from the performances of the gamers which were edgy and fun to every weapon at our disposal from our VFX pipeline, helped us arrive at a very stylized cinematic spot we’re all very proud of.” (more…)

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O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul has launched a holiday anthem for Big Lots, which named the agency its AOR back in January, entitled “Nailing It.”

Also notable for the presence of Big Lots chief customer officer Andrew Stein, who was CMO at KMart for the infamous “Ship My Pants” campaign (and also part of the team behind this travesty), the ad continues O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul unfortunate penchant for musical ads. At least it makes some kind of sense in this setting (Christmas carols and whatnot). Still, while the “Nailing It” song, sung by America’s Got Talent finalist Deanna DellaCioppa, goes for catchy and “provocative” it arrives at something more like grating and over the top. The broadcast campaign is supported by a social effort around the #NailingIt hashtag.

“We’re really trying to create a new edge in the work that we do that shows we’re feisty and we’re different,” Stein told AdAge. “We’ve honed in, since I’ve been here, on who our customer is.”

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adam&eveDDB crafted what is sure to be one of the most talked about holiday ads of the year with “Monty The Penguin” for John Lewis.

Of course, this hardly comes a surprise, given the pair’s track record with holiday advertising. But “Monty The Penguin” still manages to stand out. The two-minute ad tells the story of a boy and his best friend, a penguin named Monty. We follow them through scenes of their day-to-day activities, and get an idea of their relationship through a charming montage set to a cover of the John Lennon-penned “Real Love” by Tom Odell. Somewhere along the way it becomes apparent that Monty is missing something, as he wistfully watches couples in the park and in movies. The conflict reaches its adorable conclusion on Christmas morning, coupled by a reveal that is effective even if it doesn’t come as a surprise.

The broadcast spot, which cost around $1.6 million dollars to make, is part of John Lewis’ overall $11 million holiday campaign. It is supported by a children’s book called Monty’s Christmas, an audio app version of the book narrated by Dermot O’Leary, a single release of Tom Odell‘s version of “Real Love,” and an in-store experiential event called Monty’s Den, created in partnership with Samsung and including Monty’s Goggles, an Occulus Rift like technology created using Google Cardboard.

“At John Lewis, this time of year is all about helping our customers create their dream Christmas,” Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis, told Adweek. “We hope this uplifting tale of Sam’s love for his friend Monty will remind people of the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes and inspire them to think how they can make the festive season extra special for their friends and loved ones.”

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BLITZ has a new campaign for CiCi’s Pizza, touting the pizza buffet chain’s recent improvements following the arrival of new CEO Darin Harris last year.

The “Better. Believe It.” campaign acknowledges that the brand “listened to and acted upon its customers’ desire for product improvements.” At the beginning of the spot a CiCi’s manager says, “At CiCi’s pizza, we notice things,” like how a customer named Cristy would always look for the cheesiest slice, so CiCi’s made improvements like a garlic butter crust, more meat toppings and “to see Cristy smile, more real cheese.” Speaking of cheese, the ad ends with the man crooning to Cristy in a reworked version of a certain disco hit.

The ad represents the first broadcast work for CiCi’s by full-service digital agency BLITZ, and is part of a larger brand revitalization effort which aims to “enhance the brand’s engagement with its customers online.” English and Spanish language versions of the ad break on national cable today.

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Upstart girls engineering toys brand GoldieBlox is back, following up its “This Is Your Brain on Engineering” spot from April with a new Orwellian ad introducing an action figure for girls.

The ad (like previous efforts, created in-house) opens with the message “Fashion dolls teach girls to value beauty over brains. One is sold every three seconds.” Then a screen shows a Big Sister figure repeating, “You are beauty, and beauty is perfection,” as identically-dressed girls line up to receive Barbie-like dolls from a conveyor belt. Then one girl, dressed in overalls and Chuck Taylors, breaks from his spot in line and smashes the screen, causing GoldieBlox’s action figure to be produced instead.

“There’s Bob the Builder, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jimmy Neutron—they’re all boys with IQs off the chart,” Goldieblox creator Debbie Sterling told TIME. “That’s intimidating for all kids, but particularly for girls who suffer from this thing called math anxiety where they have really, really high standards for themselves when it comes to math.”

While it effectively communicates its message, the spot lacks the same staying power as the clever “This Is Your Brain on Engineering” and the video that catapulted the brand onto the scene early last year. Still, the real question is whether it’s enticing enough to get girls to replace Elsa with GoldieBlox’s new offering. Stick around for a “behind the scenes” video after the jump. (more…)

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