Hasta La Creative!

Today, Saatchi & Saatchi New York is launching the first ever campaign for the gun responsibility organization Evolve, encouraging people to take personal responsibility for gun safety and generally not be dumbasses.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s pro-bono campaign features a short, satirical video called “The Bill of Rights for Dumbasses.” The 1:40 video portrays Thomas Jefferson and other historical figures debating the language of the second amendment. Jefferson thinks the amendment runs a little long, and after much debate, convinces the rest of the council to remove the “as long as they aren’t being dumbasses about it” part from the amendment. While the founding fathers are debating the matter, viewers are treated to a humorous montage of gun owners engaging in questionable practices, before Jefferson concludes it’s common sense that you shouldn’t act that way with a gun. The video ends with the founding fathers playing pinata with a gun, followed by the tagline, “It’s the right to bear arms, not the right to be dumbass” and a message prompting viewers to go to takeonthecode.com and sign the code of gun responsibility.

Evolve co-founder Rebecca Bond hopes that “Humor can be a gateway to taking away the defensiveness that is the legacy of these discussions.” Joe Bond, also an Evovle co-founder, added, “We want the ‘Dumbass’ concept to catch on in popular culture the way ‘friends don’t let friends drive drunk’ did for safe driving.”

Since it’s rare to find people discussing guns without getting hysterical about it, Saatchi & Saatchi’s employment of dumb humor is somewhat refreshing. But will it really chip away at the defensiveness that gun rights activists feel when discussing anything related to guns? Or are they more likely to take offense at the video depicting gun owners, and even founding fathers, as dumbasses? Unfortunately, I doubt the video will convince many viewers to “take on the code,” because even though Evolve professes to be a “third voice” in the gun debate without political affiliation, gun rights activists will still likely view the video’s satire as an attack on them. Meanwhile, the video will appeal to plenty of gun reform proponents — people who don’t need any convincing on the importance of gun safety, and mostly don’t own guns (and therefore have no need to take Evolve’s pledge). That’s too bad, because Evolve’s responsibility code is really just common sense and something any gun owner should be able to get behind — which makes this feel like a missed opportunity. Credits after the jump.

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McCann Oslo has just released the follow up to their popular 2012 “Grandpa’s Magic Trick” spot for Wilderoe Airlines, with the new sentimental effort, “Snowball.”

The 55-second spot documents a long-distance relationship in which a woman complains that her boyfriend doesn’t come to visit her often enough. Things seem to be going bad when he says “I thought about visiting you…” The woman seems ready to give up, and indeed hangs up the phone, when her boyfriend offers up a big surprise. Directed by Marius Holst, who was also behind “Grandpa’s Magic Trick,” “Snowball” is a serious attempt to pull at your heart strings that, in the end, lacks the magic of Holst’s previous Wilderoe work. Heartfelt but strained, “Snowball” lacks the seeming effortlessness and natural joy that made the last spot so popular. Stay tuned for credits and “Grandpa’s Magic” after the jump. continued…

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L.A./Seattle-based The Pitch alum Wongdoody crafted a new campaign for the nation’s largest take and bake pizza chain, Papa Murphy’s.

The new work from Wongdoody, who have served as Papa Murphy’s AOR since October 2012, promotes the chain’s “HeartBaker” pizza with an ad celebrating family-friendly Valentine’s Day celebrations. “Remember when you were just dating and Valentine’s Day was all about romance and flowers and fancy dinners out?” asks the new spot. Well, then, to paraphrase Louis C.K. “people [came] out of your vagina and [stepped] on your dreams.” Now, according to the “HeartBaker” spot Valentine’s Day is about “the really good stuff.” The online version (featured above) interrupts the sentimentality with a disclaimer that the “good stuff” may include things like “itchy tutus, “getting hand-made Valentines out of the dog’s mouth,” “glitter everywhere,” “mysterious carpet stains” and “nightmares about cupid.”

As Wongdoody chairman and executive creative director Tracy Wong explains, “The original HeartBaker spot is a sweet, poignant take on the family Valentine’s Day dinner…That said, for every 15 seconds of wonderful, ‘I’ll-remember-this-moment-for-the-rest-of my life’ parental bliss, there’s often a lot of funny, messy, chaotic stuff that happens along the way. So we’re poking some fun at ourselves and the perfect angelic child-filled Valentine’s we’ve portrayed in the original spot concept to remind couples that love, romance and humor play a role no matter how they celebrate Valentine’s Day.”

Here’s a free culinary tip: disregard Papa Murphy’s “Love at 425 degrees” tagline. For pizza, you want the oven as hot as possible, so crank that shit up to 500 (or higher). Stick around for the original TV spot after the jump. continued…

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Back in 2012, the Jamaica Tourist Board decided to stick with Draftfcb New York (who started work for them all the way back in 1991) for five years following a competitive review.

That decision seems to have paid off, as Draftcb just released a case study for the Jamaica Tourist Board, and the results are pretty irie. The agency’s recent campaign for Jamaica Tourist Board, which included setting up a the world’s largest stress ball in Times Square this past November, brought results including a 423% increase in Facebook daily impressions, 1,264% increase in Facebook engagement. Draftfcb spends the ending of the 2 minute video interviewing New Yorker’s who are clearly still stressed out. Maybe they need to take the advice of the Tourist Board’s Christopher Dobson, and “come down to the beautiful, warm island of Jamaica,” where they have more efficient means of relaxation. Credits after the jump.

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If you’ve been watching the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at all, chances are you’ve seen the above spot for GE by BBDO New York.

The 60 second spot, “Childlike Imagination,” portrays GE’s range of individual businesses (turbines, aviation, 3-D printing, and others) through the imagination of the daughter of a GE employee. Its artful approach marks a departure from previous GE campaigns, which tended to focus on just one of these businesses. This change of approach works well for GE. The girl imagines “underwater fans that are powered by the moon,” “airplane engines that can talk,” “hospitals you can hold in your hand,” and “trains that are friends with trees.” The imaginative concept makes for a fun, visually interesting effort designed to capture your attention. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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My my, where does the time go? Well, Facebook as you may know has officially turned 10, and with that, the social network has teamed up with L.A.-based production company Strike Anywhere to say thanks in a matter of  60 seconds. Seeing as Facebook’s 10, the parties involved probably figured why not show how other kids from across cultures celebrate this auspicious birthday? The clip above is quick, cute and brings back those ol’ childhood memories. We’re gonna go shed some tears now. Credits after the jump.

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When they stumbled upon archival pictures of a man and his 1955 Beetle, Volkswagen Canada and Toronto-based agency Red Urban realized they had a story to tell. As it turns out, that story is pretty amazing. They tracked down the man in the photo, Paul Loofs, who has driven the car around the world three times. Amazingly enough, that car is still running.

So Volkswagen Canada and Red Urban teamed up with Academy-nominated director Hubert Davis to tell his story in an (approximately) 30-minute documentary film. That documentary, Once More, The Story of VIN 903847, premiered on Discovery Channel and Bravo in January and is featured above (not a bad way to spend a lunch break). It tells the story of Loof’s unlikely, low-budget solo treks around the globe, which included many obstacles and unexpected, fortuitous events. Loofs eventually sold the car back to Volkswagen for use in an advertising campaign. A man named Emmanuel Thuillier bought the car and tracked down Loofs on the Internet, then surprised him by reuniting him with the vehicle for the first time since 1967.

“We feel that it really speaks to our fans, not only reinforcing the emotional connection so many people have to the brand, but celebrating the truly remarkable stories that so many of our owners have. It is not so much about a single car, although this Beetle is remarkable, it is more about how one car connects so many different people and their experiences, proving itself as The People’s Car,” said Volkswagen Brand Marketing manager, Lynne Piette. The documentary will continue to air on Discovery Channel and Bravo until February, with the following showtimes:

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Last week, we brought you the behind-the-scenes video for Air New Zealand’s collaboration with Sports Illustrated, the flight safety video, “Safety in Paradise.”

Now, without further ado, is that full clip (above). “Safety in Paradise” celebrates 40 years of Air New Zealand flying to the Cook Islands, and 50 years of Sports Illustrated helping adolescent boys explore their budding sexuality with their Swimsuit Issue. The new safety video features swimsuit models Ariel Meredith, Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis, and Jessica Gomes hanging with Cook Island natives — as well as a cameo from three-time cover model Christie Brinkley (who just turned 60!) from her Hollywood home.

“The behind the scenes video has generated much conversation around the world about our brand and the Cook Islands as a destination since it was released last week. It’s exciting for us to release the full video today and we hope it will encourage many viewers to consider a trip to the Cook Islands,” says Jodi Williams, Air New Zealand global head of brand development.

To celebrate the launch of “Safety in Paradise,” Air New Zealand is giving online viewers the chance to win one of five trips for two to the Cook Islands. The video goes live today and “will be progressively rolled out on board across Air New Zealand’s fleet from the end of February.”

“Safety in Paradise” marks the latest in a long line of innovative safety videos from the airline, including videos starring Richard Simmons, Bear Grylls, and Betty White, and a Hobbit-themed safety video timed to coincide with the release of Peter Jackson‘s first Hobbit film. It also marks just one aspect of a “major worldwide marketing campaign planned to celebrate the 50^th anniversary” of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

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Chicago-based agency O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul wasted no time releasing their first campaign for Big Lots, after winning AOR duties for the company in late January.

OKRP worked with former Kmart CMO Andrew Stein(who was the man who of course led the infamous “Ship My Pants” campaign) on the new digital effort promoting the fact that Big Lots “ is now the official Hostess Thrift Shop.” The campaign, “#thriftisback” is centered around two Hostess-themed videos. “Mostess” is a 60 second spot featuring a group of choreographed moms dancing to a song name-checking Hostess treats. Yeah, OKRP definitely went the goofy route with this one. As tough as “Mostess” is to watch, the 90 second “Twinkie Time,” which features a car ride marred with an a capella Twinkie song, is just plain insufferable. (It could just  be me, as I have a strong aversion to a capella, but I don’t think so.)

“Videos are emblematic of the kind of quick-to-market, impact-driven and unexpected work that we are doing for clients who need to turn around campaigns yesterday,” explains O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul CEO Tom O’Keefe. In addition to the videos, the campaign also features social media and digital marketing. Stick around for “Twinkie Time” after the jump (if you dare), and head on over to Big Lots’ YouTube page for more.  continued…

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Integrated agency Stack has launched a new campaign for Nivea Men Originals sharing “life hacks” to help make life a little easier for Nivea Men customers.

The online campaign launched today with the first “Life Hacks” video, which shows a bloke suiting up for a Sunday football (soccer) game while utilizing a series of lifehacks. These hacks include throwing wrinkly laundry in the tumble dryer with an ice cube instead of ironing (I’ve got to try that one), using rechargeable batteries in your remote, putting smelly shoes in the freezer to eliminate unpleasant odors (may cause cold feet), and others.

The “Life Hacks” campaign, which will appear across social media channels such as YouTube and Facebook, was designed around “the truism that men use the internet as a source of how-to guides, tips and new information,” explained Stack CEO Liz Wilson. “Life Hacks offers an original yet relevant way to engage with the audience who consider men’s skincare regimens as elaborate and cumbersome. It is a fun way of busting that myth.”

Check out the full video above, and keep your eyes peeled for more “Life Hacks” from Stack and Nivea Men in the near future.

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