Hasta La Creative!

SapientNitro recently debuted a new campaign for Britain’s Beer Alliance entitled “There’s a Beer for That.”

Playing on the ubiquitous (and often toyed with) Apple catchphrase “There’s an App for That,” in a broadcast spot in both 30 and 60-second iterations, the agency shows that there’s a beer for every occasion. The spot, which marks the commercial debut of director Michael Winterbottom, opens with the line “If you’re a bit partial to soups with noodles, sharing a burger with your pet labradoodle, or treating yourself to cakes and strudels, there’s a beer for that.” The ad goes on to show different groups of people, young and old, in different situations, enjoying a brew. As beer lovers, it’s hard not to get behind this one, as the message seems pretty on point — there really does seem to be a beer for just about any pairing of food and surroundings you can think of. And while the Apple reference seems a bit obvious at this point, it certainly is catchy and a quick way to make a point about beer’s versatility.

The ad broke nationally during the debut of Downton Abbey on Sunday, and is supported by an integrated campaign including digital, PR and social media elements.

“Our goal was to present an honest depiction of the incredible diversity of both people and beers found in this country,” explained Mark Hunter, executive creative director at SapientNitro. “Given his brilliant work on The Trip, there really was no one better to bring that story to life than Michael Winterbottom.” (more…)

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m:united has a new ad for Microsoft’s Lenovo Yoga Pro 3 that takes aim squarely at a laptop from a certain popular competitor.

“Let’s Dance” opens with shots of the MacBook Air and Yoga Pro 3, as a “dance off” is staged between the two computers, set to the song “Neckbrace” by Ratatat. The spot then proceeds to tout the Yoga Pro 3?s superior thinness, tablet versatility, ability to form “the tent,” and touchscreen capabilities. “Game over” reads text at the end of the spot as the MacBook Air flips shut while the Yoga Pro 3 is going strong, deemed the winner of the “dance off.” Apple bashing is becoming one of the more tired trends in tech advertising, but m:united handles the strategy well enough here, finding an approach that’s a little more fun and less in your face than most by imagining the laptops squaring off on the dance floor. Still, m:united may want to change things up going forward, as this tactic can’t possibly have much more mileage. (more…)

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Cramer Krasselt launched a campaign promoting Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual Knott’s Scary Farm event with a series of short horror videos for broadcast and online.

Created in collaboration with production company Vitamin Pictures, the gritty videos are populated by creepy clowns, demented dentists and hungry zombies, giving viewers an idea of what to expect at Knott’s Scary Farm. In “Clown,” for example, the camera follows a woman as she makes her way through a creepy abandoned room with children’s toys and balloons strewn across the floor. As she turns a corner, a demonic looking clown pops out to greet her. The spot ends with the tagline, “Whatever you’re imagining, it’s here.”

“It was great to be hired to make these little horror films for Knott’s,” Vitamin Creative Director Danny DelPurgatorio says. “There were severed heads, body parts, blood and gooey stuff all over the place. It was a dream come true.” (more…)

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Earlier this month, Ant Farm released a gameplay trailer for the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Now, with less than a week until the game’s release, 72andSunny have unveiled their live action trailer, starring Taylor Kitsch, entitled “Discover Your Power.”

The 90-second spot, directed by Peter Berg, offers a slight tweak on the usual live action gaming trailer, putting the viewer in the first-person perspective as they accompany Kitsch through a series of intense battles with enemies that display how the futuristic setting changes the nature of the game. It’s a welcome change of pace, and makes a lot of sense for a first-person shooter, although it can be a little bit of a dizzying experience. (more…)

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Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation) is the latest marquee Hollywood director enlisted for Wieden+Kennedy’s “Dress Normal” campaign for Gap, following David Fincher‘s efforts in August and taking the reigns of four holiday  spots — a pair each for broadcast and online.

The ads spin the “Dress Normal” tagline by showing some abnormal (and often cringe-inducing) family holiday moments. But then what’s more normal than pondering the family you’ll never understand? Each spot ends with the message “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” preceding the tagline. It’s an interesting approach, positioning Gap as a gift for those family members you have no idea what to give to, but it sits well with the “Dress Normal” tagline and Coppola and company do a good job of making it work in most of the ads.

In perhaps the most successful of the spots, “Gauntlet” a girl returns home to her large, boisterous, and often odd family. Perfectly set to the Johnny Cash song “I Got Stripes,” she makes her way through the house greeting her relatives with an awkward expression on her face that says a lot about the effort she’s putting in to deal with these people. It feels like a telling glance into the lives of a particular family, which is the approach taken throughout these efforts and, along with some great song selections, what makes them charming. The other broadcast spot, “Mistletoe,” documents a particularly cringe-worthy moment under the mistletoe at a holiday party. It’s almost hard to watch, but then that makes it fit the “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” all the more.

In addition to the two online ads — “Crooner” and “Pinball” — the campaign is supported by print and OOH elements, as well as digital banner ads launching on Gap’s social media channels and GapGiftGuide.com on November 3rd. (more…)

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Halloween tends to lend agencies a certain leniency with how over-the-top, ridiculous and gory they can make their ads. Even so, Superior’s new ad for Lithuanian mineral water brand Vytautas stretches the limits of appropriateness for even this holiday, and is easily the most fucked up Halloween ad you’ll see this year.

Superior teamed up with director Tadas Vidmantas, who was responsible for this spec ad, which Adweek named “the single craziest commercial of 2012? for the ad, which debuted online yesterday. In the spot, a man is visiting his friend, who lies unconscious in a hospital bed and enjoying a Vytautas. Then he gets the idea to replace the friend’s IV with a bottle of Vytautas, reviving and, uh, arousing the friend as a nurse walks in. What happens next is unexpected, to say the least, and involves flying buttons causing considerable damage. You really need to see it for yourself above because it kind of defies description. And, yes, this is a real ad (not a spec). According to Adweek, there’s even a (slightly tamer) broadcast version for Lithuanian television. The bar for Halloween craziness in advertising has officially been raised, or lowered, depending on your point of view. (more…)

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Carhartt’s in-house creative team worked with production company Furlined to launch a fall integrated advertising campaign promoting the brand’s Rain Defender technology, available in select outerwear, sweatshirts, pants and accessories.

To showcase the Rain Defender technology in the 60-second “Weatherman” the Carhartt and Furlined team traveled to rainy Washington state to capture arborists, dock workers, farmers, and ranchers battling the elements in Carhartt gear to get the job done. The spot opens on a man watching a weather report calling for clear skies and sunny weather. “Leave the rain gear at home,” the weatherman says, but when he glances outside he sees it is already raining. He slips on his Carhartt jacket, steps outside, and gets to work.

“…hardworking men and women trust their Carhartt, not their local weather forecast,” said Tony Ambroza, senior vice president of marketing at Carhartt. “Having gear that protects against even the
harshest weather conditions is just as important to them as their work truck, tool belt, hard hat, etcetera – they want to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.”

The broadcast campaign will run primarily across national sports and outdoor programming networks, and will be aided by digital support on social media and sports websites. (more…)

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F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi has launched a new campaign promoting Skol’s new Beats Senses beer.

At the center of the campaign is a broadcast spot crafted as an homage to Skol’s blue bottle. The ad shows a bizarre, surreal party, shot entirely underwater. (There is a shark on a leash. Repeat: There is a shark on leash.) To accomplish the unique look of the spot, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi and PBA Cinema/Produtora Associados used “strategically located divers for each actor to provide them with oxygen – invisible to the eye in the finished film.” The results are pretty unique, and well worth a look. The spot debuted, in both 30 and 60-second versions, on cable and broadcast on October 23rd and the campaign also features digital initiatives. (more…)

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adam&eveDDB has a new broadcast spot promoting Sony’s 4K Ultra HD TV with a new spot called “Ice Bubbles.”

The 60-second spot takes a look at the majestic beauty of bubbles freezing in mid-air. As the bubbles freeze, intricate crystalline patterns form inside them, and despite their almost unearthly beauty, the spot was purportedly shot without the use of special effects. It’s a clever (and visually stunning) way to reflect the kind of detail captured in Sony’s 4K Ultra HD TV.

“We were blown away by the beauty of the intricate patterns that the freezing of the bubbles’ surface was creating at very low temperature. The feather, flower and star ice shapes were so delicate and mesmerizing when they reflected light,” Leila de Blinkk told Adweek. “To bring out all these details in 4K was to almost discover a new world, that we didn’t suspect existed.” (more…)

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Publicis Kaplan Thaler teamed up with the the Advertising Council to launch a PSA campaign for various groups dealing with children’s learning and attention issues.

The campaign is designed to direct parents to the new website Understood.org, designed to help parents better understand their children’s issues and help them reach their full potential. In one broadcast spot, a man asks Siri, “How can I help my daughter with her reading?” and instead gets results for “Dachsund breeding.” It’s revealed at the end of the 30-second spot that the mistake was intentional:  “…I was trying to show you how Sarah feels every day. Frustrating, isn’t it?” before directing him to Understood.org. Broadcast spots also appear in Spanish-language versions. While comparing problems with voice recognition software to learning and attention issues may be a bit of a stretch, it also should get the attention of parents struggling to understand their kids’ problems in school and get them to the website.

“The crux of the campaign is that understanding is everything,” Larissa Kirschner, a creative director at Publicis Kaplan Thaler, told The New York Times. “Put yourself in children’s shoes and you can truly understand their frustration. We took the cultural phenomenon of Siri, a smartphone not always getting you, as our way in.”

The campaign also includes print, radio, and outdoor elements, as well as a social initiative that includes weekly Twitter chats for parents. The website itself attempts to educate parents through a series of videos and interactive experiences designed to simulate the experiences of children with learning and attention issues. (more…)

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