Hasta La Creative!

For its latest campaign for Subaru, promoting the 2015 Outback, agency-of-record Carmichael Lynch teamed up with director Lance Acord (best known for his cinematography on films such as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Lost In Translation) and production company Park Pictures for a couple of 60-second spots emphasizing that the Outback can “go anywhere.”

In “Memory Lane,” a family picks up a hippie grandmother for a road trip to Woodstock. The grandmother imparts some questionable teachings on her granddaughter and finds the spot where she met her grandfather, in a cute moment that also shows the Outback’s off-road capabilities.

“Bison” also features a road trip, as a father attempts to wow his tween son with major American landmarks. The bratty son is unimpressed with Redwoods and The Grand Canyon, more interested in his smart phone than anything outside the car, but the father does eventually get through to him, followed by the voiceover, “There’s nothing I can’t reach in my Subaru.”

Both spots are impressively shot (which shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the director) while delivering their message in a way that should appeal to parents (always a target demographic for Subaru). And if they cross the line into cheesiness, it’s in a way that fits the brand well. (more…)

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Parisian agency Les Gaulois has a new spot for Citroën aimed squarely at canine fans.

In the spot, a Citroën makes a pit stop in the middle of a road trip. The mutt, aware that there won’t be another stop for some time goes through a lengthy stretching routine. It’s a simple, cute way to show the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and what’s not to like about a dog going through a human-like stretching routine? It also acts as something of a thematic follow-up to last year’s “Dog Romance.”

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TDA Boulder shifts approach with its latest campaign for FirstBank, seeking to inspire local businesses.

The campaign launches with the 30-second spot “Legacy,” which emphasizes the distinction between modern Internet “fame” and a real legacy. In the spots first 15 seconds viewers are barraged with viral Internet “fails” such as a balance beam gymnast landing on his crotch and a man cannonballing onto an iced-over pool. “Since when did ‘leaving a legacy’ mean ‘going viral?’” the voiceover asks. At the spot’s midpoint the text “Let’s Grow Business” appears onscreen, accompanied by voiceover, as its shifts to a focus on what a true legacy is, accompanied by images of business and commerce. The way in which the spot seamlessly incorporates humor (via the Internet-culled clips) into its message marks a step forward from previous efforts such as the recent Amish-themed campaign and the creepy “Bargain Dummy” spot.

The spot will run during live sports and new programming on major networks, as well as twenty cable channels, including ESPN, USA, and The History Channel. Other media for the campaign will follow in the coming weeks and months. (more…)

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Saatchi & Saatchi gets emotional in its latest spot for Cheerios, entitled “3rd Shift.”

The 30-second broadcast spot tackles the harsh reality of juggling family life with an unorthodox work schedule for hardworking Americans. At the beginning of the spot, a man sighs as his wife says, “I know, this third shift is rough” and their son watches in the background. In the next scene we see a light flicker on as the boy reaches into the refrigerator for milk, a box of Cheerios under his arm. When his father sternly asks him what he’s doing up so late he replies, “I just wanted to have breakfast with you.”

“3rd Shift” comes as something of a shift to a more down-to-earth approach for the brand, following on the heels of recent spots featuring celebrities both human and feline. The emotional tone attempts to highlight the cereal’s function as a quick, yet somewhat healthy, option for families too busy for a more involved breakfast. We’ve reached out for credits and will add them if/when we receive them.

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McKinney has launched a new campaign courting millenial ears for Sennheiser, focusing on the company’s Urbanite brand.

The campaign is centered around  series of videos featuring a man with a German accent in a Sennheiser Urbanite costume and a giant ear. Both the headphone costume and the giant ear (which weighs in at 200 pounds) were created by Legacy Effects. In the 90-second launch spot, the Urbanite-dressed man professes his love for ears, and things get a little creepy as he demonstrates the various ways he pleasures ears on the giant ear prop. He assures viewers that he will lavish just as much attention on their ears. Other spots, all of which are hosted at Sennheiser’s campaign landing page, see him singing to an ear and explaining that he’s often asked to leave public places.

Starting today, Sennheiser will also be giving away 1,000 “Golden Ears,” which they’ve hidden around New York City, “on 11”x17” posters hanging in record stores, restaurants, boutiques and other locations frequented by millennials.” Each poster contains a removable golden ear, which can be redeemed for a pair of Urbanites “at the Ear Love Palace, a pop-up experience store at 1 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.” Participants can also visit http://sennheiser-urbanite.com and share one of the campaign videos using the hashtag #EarLove for clues on the whereabouts of the Golden Ears. So what is listening to music on Sennheiser Urbanite’s like? Stay with us after the jump to find out. (more…)

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W+K Amsterdam launches a new campaign for FIFA 15 today, entitled “Feel The Game.”

In a 2:15 broadcast spot, W+K Amsterdam immerses fans into the on-pitch action as they experience what players in the game do. When it begins to rain, players are suddenly drenched in their apartments, when heavily tackled, they feel the hurt. It’s not exactly a new approach in gaming advertising, but it’s pulled off well. The agency also got Lionel Messi to join in on the action, both on the field and wielding a controller. The campaign airs globally beginning today, across broadcast and digital channels, with the full-length spot also broadcasting in the U.S. during the Manchester United match this Sunday.

“Fast-paced, raw, and explosive, modern football is a spectacle beyond belief. And FIFA 15 puts you right in the  middle of it. We wanted our film to do the same thing, to put you right in the thick of the
action, said David Smith, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam’s creative director. “With the help of Mark Zibert, and the awesome studio at EA SPORTS, we believe we have created a football film that can live up to the best sport action sequences ever filmed.” (more…)

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Publicis Seattle has a new campaign for family-owned tire chain Les Schwab, highlighting the company’s dedication to customer service (according to a Benenson Strategy Group brand tracking report, its customer service rating is higher than Zappos and Nordstrom).

For the campaign, Publicis Seattle created two television spots based on real-life customer stories. Each spot features the customer reading their letter to Les Schwab, praising the exceptional customer service they received. In “Nanny,” for example, a woman tells the story of how her car broke down on her way home from work. She knocked on a door asking for help, and the man who answered happened to own a local Les Schwab. He fixed her car, without pay, and she was quickly on her way. The other spot, “RV Weekend,” takes a similar approach. The spots will air across western US markets including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Montana. (more…)

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GSD&M has a new campaign for the Air Force, bringing back the slogan “Aim High,” after a fifteen year absence.

The campaign, entitled “American Airmen,” launched Monday with two spots and a website. In “New Frontiers,” Airforce Chief of Staff General Mark A. Welsh III becomes the first Air Force general to be featured in an advertisement. The 30-second spot seeks to inspire with a celebration of technological innovation from the Air Force, such as breaking the sound barrier, and space exploration. “America’s Future,” meanwhile, draws on U.S. Air Force Academy commencement speeches from former Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The campaign also includes online video content entitled “Barrier Breakers’ hosted on the Air Force website, and a multi-platform digital media buy, which will make the Air Force the first military branch to partner with PlayStation via a link on the PlayStation store menu. It will also make use of mobile advertising platform TapJoy and Spotify, where “users will view ‘Barrier Breakers’ video content while a custom playlist generator suggests music based on their current selections.”

The campaign arrives as the Air Force faces bad publicity for its decision to deny reenlistment to an atheist airman for refusing to sign an oath including the phrase “So help me God.” (more…)

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BBDO New York has a new campaign for Visa showcasing how quick and easy the brand’s Visa Checkout service is.

In the campaign’s first spot, “Surfer,” BBDO New York teamed up with professional surfer Kolohe Andino, with voiceover from the inimitable Morgan Freeman. Over the course of the 60-second ad, Andino demonstrates how quick and easy Visa Checkout is by using it to order a Pizza Hut pizza while surfing a giant wave. The spot ends with the tagline, “Everywhere you want to be” (it appears they’ve dropped the “it’s”) before directing viewers to sign up for the service at visacheckout.com. “Surfer” debuted this past Sunday during FOX’s NFL broadcast, as Visa is using its NFL sponsorship to promote the campaign and get the word out about its recently-launched payment service.  (more…)

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Earlier this year, Droga5 and Honey Maid celebrated families of all kinds with a campaign called “This Is Wholesome.”

Now, Droga5 is continuing its celebration of diversity in families with a new ad entitled “#NotBroken,” a reference to the outdated phrase “broken home” to refer to families of divorce. As the two-minute ad points out, “More than 40% of Americans are part of a blended family,” so it seems odd that we so few of them in advertising that this spot is noteworthy for including one.

“#NotBroken” is constructed as a sort of two-minute documentary (it will also debut as a 30 second broadcast spot today). “Sometimes it’s hard to explain our family to people. I have two moms, and I’ve got two dads,” says a boy named Isaac, at the opening of the ad. We then follow Isaac and his family, which is celebrated as well-functioning and supportive. “At first I didn’t think there were a lot of families like ours, but now I realize that we aren’t that different,” he eventually concludes. The spot ends by inviting people to celebrate their own blended families with the #NotBroken and #ThisIsWholesome hashtags, which are sure to get some love.

So far, the “This Is Wholesome” campaign has proven to be a success for the brand, with both increased sales figures and Google searches for “Honey Maid,” as Adweek points out.
(more…)

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