Hasta La Creative!

FCB San Francisco teamed up with Imaginary Forces and directors Miguel Lee and Charles Khoury for the above teaser for EA’s Battlefield Hardline, which is slated for an October 21st release.

The team takes a minimalist approach to the teaser, eschewing voiceover in favor of close ups of the game’s weaponry while also teasing a clash between law enforcement and criminals. True to the teaser format, the spot reveals little, leaving viewers wanting more. To pull off the trailer, Khoury and Lee directed separate shoots on the same stage. While Lee’s crew “was responsible for filming all of the actors, vehicles, weapons, gear and paraphernalia in a sleek, action-packed fashion,” Khoury and his team “shot at high speeds to capture all of the slow-motion explosions and actual weapon fire including a submachine gun, pump shotgun and assault rifle.” While the teaser reveals little about the Battlefield Hardline‘s plot or gameplay, weapon-loving fans of first-person shooters should eat this right up. Credits after the jump. (more…)

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CHI & Partners latest for Lexus’ “Amazing in Motion” campaign is a visually stunning look at performers in LED suits exploring the Kuala Lumpur skyline.

The LED suits were created by costume designer Vin Burnham and technical director Adam Wright, with inspiration from Lexus’ “iconic spindle grille and LED headlights.” Director Adam Berg and his team then utilized a “purpose built computer system and complex DMX software” (which, we imagine, stops, drops, and opens up shop), “created to wirelessly trigger the suits to strobe on demand” and captured a group of stunt men and acrobatic performers as they made the Kuala Lumpur skyline their playground. It’s a simple concept, but it makes for a visually intriguing 60 seconds, even if viewers are left wondering what they’re watching an ad for until right before the “Amazing in Motion” tagline. Since it’s so hard to take your eyes off of, that might not even be a problem. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Never underestimate the power of chutzpah.

Oddly enough, it took a German ad man to prove that point. One of the last stories from Cannes-Lions making its way into the headlines concerns the bold actions of Michael Trautmann, CEO of German-based Thjnk.

ICYMI, Bono was discussing AIDS awareness and his foundation (RED) when he brought Jony Ive, Apple Design SVP, on stage and gave the backhanded compliment heard ’round the hipster nation. Following the applause and passing of the Kool-Aid at Genius Bars, Trautmann did the unthjnkable.

And it worked.

(more…)

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Elizabeth Hurley gets vulgar in the latest addition to Droga5?s “If We Won” campaign for Newcastle, which imagines how much better America would be if Great Britain had won the Revolutionary War.

The campaign kicked off last week, with a humorous spot featuring Stephen Merchant. Hurley’s spot borrows a bit from that one, as it devotes quite a bit of time to how many great curse words we’d have at our disposal had we remained British, something Merchant touched on in the original “If We Won.” Still, we suppose the subject doesn’t hurt from further exploration, and the video has over 300,000 views since being uploaded earlier today as people seem to be amused by seeing Hurley stringing together British expletives. Hurley’s 39-second video is just part of the wealth of material put out by Droga5 for the campaign, which also includes Zachary Quinto in a pair of spots and a second appearance from Merchant, who explains how his British accent helps him appear intelligent and get laid. If you’re wondering what American actor Zachary Quinto is doing in this campaign, you’ll just have to watch the video, along with the second Merchant spot, after the jump. (more…)

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Erwin Penland has a fun new campaign remixing classic Atari games promoting Denny’s “Greatest Hits Remixed” menu.

The agency worked with Atari on remixed mobile versions of the games Asteroids, Centipede, and Breakout. All three were reimagined to feature breakfast items, and reborn as Hashteroids, Centipup and Take-Out. The games come complete with bizarre, breakfast-related storylines, such as this one for Centipup, as related by Joystiq: “Once upon a time, a young boy named Danny came across a bottle of syrup and with just a slight squeeze the bottle’s sticky contents had the power to turn anyone or anything into a fried egg.”

The campaign aims to capitalize on the nostalgia of Gen-Xers, an oft-overlooked demographic as advertisers focus more and more energy on appealing to Millenials. It also marks the first partnership for Atari since filing for bankruptcy early last year. “We are excited to be partnering with Denny’s on this partnership,” said Atari CEO Fred Chesnais in Marketing Land. “Transforming our classic and beloved games into a retro, remixed promotion will be a natural way to expose our brand to a new generation and resonate with our long-time fans in a fun and unique way.”

You can check out a trailer for the games, which are available for iOS and Android devices, above.

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Production company Great Guns mixes molotov cocktails and soccer in their filmtrack for Santigold’s “Kicking Down Doors,” part of Pepsi’s Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album.

For Santigold’s filmtrack, director Andy Morahan was inspired by “The Christmas Truce,” a soccer-fueled temporary peace that took place between English and German forces on Christmas Day, 1915. “The English and German soldiers put down their guns and played some football in No Man’s Land,” explains Morahan. “I was thinking of a way to try and tell that story in a modern light. Obviously I didn’t have the budget for a war scene, but a riot was more reasonable as a severe stand-off between people. It’s showing football, and sport by extension, as this beacon for humanity.”

In the film, a riot breaks out, with molotov cocktail wielding forces squaring off against riot police. A group of boys falls asleep at the edge of the scene. When one of their balls makes its way into the heart of action, both sides throw down their arms and beginning playing an impromptu pickup game. It’s not a bad idea for a World Cup spot, but seems a bit stretched out as an over four minute music video — although you may feel differently if you actually enjoy the song.

Morahan filmed the scene in Kiev, which has seen its share of rioting in recent history, although he insists the location was chosen purely out of convenience. “I was in Prague and wanted to shoot it there but the budget wouldn’t fit, so we were only an hour flight from Kiev and I’d worked there before so knew some people there who could help me out,” he explains. “Really, it was just close by and it fit the budget.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Grey London get rather fantastical in their new 30-second spot for Go Ahead, featuring wrestlers, a brass band, lots of drummer, and men with jet packs, all set to a Backstreet Boys song.

In the spot, entitled “The Most Important Snack of the Day” a woman sits at her drab office desk and takes a bite out of her Go Ahead snack bar. Immediately she is transported to a bright, fantastical world where she is hoisted up above the crazy scene below. It’s old-fashioned glitz and cheese, without a hashtag or social initiative in in sight, which is kind of refreshing. Surprisingly enough, the elaborate production for the spot was purportedly shot in only one take. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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To promote the new social sharing app SpeakingPhoto (available on Android and iOS), which sets “itself apart from youth-based social sharing apps by offering a way for consumers and businesses to document, keep and share important stories with their communities and customers,” Sorcher Films was tasked with telling stories with a real emotional payoff. Sorcher Films and writer/director Peter Sorcher responded with a series of branded content videos.

Sorcher worked directly with SpeakingPhoto to create an “interwoven, multi-character narrative to drive home an emotional connection to SpeakingPhoto.” He took a feature-film approach, creating back stories for all the characters, despite knowing that most of the footage would be cut from the final edit. This, coupled with quality editing (also from Sorcher), makes for the impression that the characters are more fleshed out than what we see onscreen, allowing for emotional moments that speak to the SpeakingPhoto’s uses.

“People see spots for apps with people engaged with screens and just tune out, so I wanted to create something that really makes the viewer take an active role to figure out who these characters are and what they are doing with SpeakingPhoto,” Sorcher said. Stick around after the jump for credits and another SpeakingPhoto spot. (more…)

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Disaronno is launching a new campaign in the U.S. which will go global in November 2014.

The new campaign maintains the “Be Originale” tagline from previous years, but with a shifted focus “from cocktail creation (i.e. their famed “Disaronno on the rocks” advertisement) to celebrating originality in all aspects of life.” In a new 15-second spot, young Disaronno drinkers “shake originale,” “groove originale,” and “flirt originale,” demonstrating the new campaign’s approach of celebrating the brand as a lifestyle, at the risk of coming across a bit over-the-top. The spot was directed by Laurence Dunmore, who also shot the photography for the campaign’s print elements.

“From the unmistakable aroma to the warm, sophisticated taste and the unique hammered glass bottle design made by master glass craftsmen from Murano, Disaronno defines what it means to ‘Be Originale’,” said Augusto Reina, CEO of Disaronno. “With this new exciting campaign, however, we wanted to bring the spirit of Disaronno’s individuality to life and challenge consumers to constantly shake things up.”

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Digital agency Modus Operandi has completed their first initiative for client Belvedere vodka, including both a new campaign and completely redesigned website.

The new website hosts the campaign brand videos, conceived by Modus Operandi and directed by Christopher Ferguson via sister company ModOp Films. Belvedere’s new site and brand videos implore viewers to “#knowthedifference” between terms like “dirty,” “wet,”and “dry,” as in the above “Luxury Vodka State of Mind,” which is set at an upscale pool party. Another video features Belvedere’s Claire Smith, “the First Lady of Vodka” celebrating the vodka martini, which we’ve featured after the jump.

“?The goal of the website redesign was to modernize Belvedere’?s digital presence as more of a luxury lifestyle brand,”? says Modus Operandi Creative Director Jay Gundzik. ?”We use creative social campaigns to activate and drive their consumers to the global Belvedere site. Once there, they can get a feel for the brand through a series of creative branded videos and short documentary-style films. Consumers can also find new cocktail recipes and take a deeper dive into Belvedere?s culture and character.?”

(more…)

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