Hasta La Creative!

Lorraine Bracco (she of The Sopranos and Goodfellas fame, of course) lends her familiar voice to Deutsch LA’s new holiday spot for Netflix, and predictably, makes the ad work.

In the spot, “Tree Topper,” Bracco voices the part of the smiling porcelain tree topper that has been part of the McDermott family for 34 years. Through the tree topper we see the wild antics of the McDermott boys, as well as Christmas cooking failures and Uncle Luther’s fake snow. Despite the occasional difficulties living with the McDermott family, Bracco’s tree topper enjoys when the family curls up to enjoy watching something on Netflix.

It’s not the most original of concepts, but Bracco makes it work. Her voice is not only recognizable, but dramatic and expressive. This helps make the idea of a sentient tree topper seem less ridiculous, and even imbues the character with emotion and personality. It helps make the spot not seem overly sentimental, and her delivery of the spots’ final line really brings out just the right amount of curmudgeon from Bracco’s character. While celebrity voice acting is so often an afterthought used as an easy cash-in, Deutsch LA hits the mark by casting Bracco for “Tree Topper.” Hopefully other agencies are taking notes. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Minneapolis-based, Omnicom-owned agency Martin Williams has crafted a new site for Minnesota-based brewing company Finnegans. What sets Finnegans apart is their pledge to donate 100% of profits to feed the hungry, an admirable deed for any company and (to our knowledge at least) pretty unheard of in the beer market.

Martin Williams VP/GCD Steve Casey said, ”…our biggest priority was making sure the brand’s unique mission was front and center,” and that’s certainly the case. The new site features an introductory video (featured above), as well as text explaining who the company is and what their unique mission entails: donating all of its profits to a community fund where it is used to buy produce from local farms that is then donated to food shelves to be distributed. It’s such a noble mission, it doesn’t even really matter if the beer tastes good. The video introduces the viewer to a cast of characters including Finnegans CEO Jacquie Bergland, Head Brewer Damian McConn, and Laura Frerichs of Loon Organics farm. If you have a spare 2:53, it’s worth it for for an uplifting look at a brewery making a positive impact — which is especially nice on a Monday.

Martin Williams‘ new site for Finnegans also offers up information and pairing suggestions for the two varieties of Finnegans beer, a calendar of events, a store locator, and lets you pick up all kinds of Finnegans gear. There are also opportunities to become a Finnegans intern or brand ambassador, as well as to volunteer or donate to Finnegans Community Fund.

While we couldn’t really say anything about the quality of the beer — Finnegans is only available regionally in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota – we’d recommend picking up some Finnegans anyway, if you can find it where you live. How often can you feel good about donating to a worthy cause, while simultaneously getting your drink on? Let us know what you think of Finnegans beer, and their unique brand mission, in the comments section.

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Get ready for bathroom puns. The World Toilet Organization, which does exist, is looking to raise $30,000 to build a toilet facility in an underprivileged South African school. The timing is no coincidence, either, since the WTO is hoping consumers will use some of their Black Friday money on a charitable initiative that embraces the brown. The WTO asks you to “Give a shit” by donating to their Indiegogo campaign that runs till early January.

Cute jokes aside, the campaign is much more necessary than you may expect. After all, many of us take school bathrooms for granted. But according to the WTO’s data, two-thirds of the 24,000 South African public schools do not have proper toilet facilities. What does that mean exactly? Well, the schools average three stalls for 800 students. And, because of the sanitation issues, 57% of girls skip school during menstruation. The WTO is hoping their efforts will erode the educational gender gap, one toilet at a time. Their plan calls for 10 facilities to be built by the end of 2014. So, if you’re about to flush down some cash on a Cyber Monday deal for a sweater or whatever, maybe you can donate your savings toward a new toilet.

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In October, we brought you news of #mamming, “the act of laying your (clothed) boobs on a flat surface” to promote breast cancer awareness and remind women to get mammograms. Now, we have the sequel, thanks to a couple of mystery (we’re guessing British) creatives. If #mamming wasn’t ridiculous enough for you, you’re going to love this new parody, called #manning.

#Manning is “the act of cupping your hand onto a pair of (clothed) balls. A friend’s. A colleague’s. Maybe even a Michael Jackson-esque selfie?” While the idea is executed as a parody of mamming, the folks involved sincerely hope that people use it to promote “awareness of testicular cancer to the millions of men who should be regularly checking their balls.” As goofy as manning might be, testicular cancer is no joke, and if this stunt can get more guys to check their balls for cancer then that’s a good thing.

Visitors to thisismanning.com are offered a quick definition and description of manning. As they scroll down the page they can view manning photos, read a (very) brief “About Us” section and learn how to participate. If you’d like to get involved you can Instagram a picture of yourself cupping balls, or having your balls cupped, with the hashtag #manning; talk to the dudes in your life about checking regularly for testicular cancer; or check out organizations like Movember, Everyman, Ballboys, and the Mark GorryFoundation. You might wonder about the timing of this campaign, coming as it does right after the end of Movember, but there’s never really a bad time to touch your balls.

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Organized retail theft costs Canadian businesses $4 billion a year, but is often perceived as harmless shoplifting. So DDB Canada created a new campaign for Toronto Crime Stoppers, called “It Costs Us All,” to raise public awareness of the realities of organized retail theft.

Sean Sportun, vice chair, Toronto Crime Stoppers explains, “Organized retail theft is often perceived as harmless shoplifting, when in fact, it’s a lucrative, criminal enterprise and part of the business plan for gangs funding other illegal activities.” So those stolen retail goods could go to funding guns, and drugs, which could wind up in the hands of Rob Ford. Their solution? “…asking the public to have their say for stiffer penalties and to contact Crime Stoppers to anonymously report suspected cases of organized retail theft,” says Sportun.

The campaign includes “flyers, wild postings, in-store posters, newspaper, radio and online advertising, which appear like conventional on-sale advertising, but instead of showing prices being discounted, the prices are marked-up on the merchandise shown.” Each of these approaches drives the consumer to the It Costs Us All website. It’s an interesting tactic, combating consumer indifference by showing consumers how they are  ”ultimately paying for the crimes of others,” says David Ross, ACD at DDB Toronto. The result is slightly less heavy-handed and melodramatic than your typical public service campaign, even if the “It Costs Us All” tagline is a tad on the serious side.

“It Costs Us All” was launched with the following corporate partners: BOMA Toronto, Building Technologies, FACECROOK, Interac Association, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mac’s Convenience Stores, Retail Council of Canada, Sobeys and TJX Canada.

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Some brief morning news that combines philanthropy and creative design – Free Arts NYC, a non-profit that focuses on providing arts education to “underserved children” just launched a rebrand with Red Peak. The organization’s A to Z Project solicited artistic renderings of 45 letters, numbers, and characters from sources such as Warby Parker and Harper’s Bazaar. Presumably, the characters will be used on merchandise and as a new font for Free Arts, as outlined a bit vaguely in the promo video. The artwork itself is worth a look: most of the designs fall into a sleek, street-arty aesthetic that seems to fit the organization’s direction. If you’re interested in donating to Free Arts NYC, you can more find relevant information here.

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Last week, we introduced you to McGarryBowen’s new “Denskies” campaign for Sears, and it wasn’t pretty. The spots employed a tired “There’s a better way to…” gimmick and random offensiveness without any real humor attached. Now there’s a new spot in the campaign,”Chupacabra,” and it’s pretty much more of the same.

There aren’t any mouth-raping squirrels in “Chupacabra,” but there is a chupacabra. The Denskie patriarch accidentally beams the chupacabra into the house with a teleportation device he created to get products the family ordered there sooner (that’s the “There’s a better way…” tie in for this spot). What the husband, or any rational viewer, doesn’t expect is that the chupacabra isn’t bent on destruction but rather takes a fancy to Mrs. Denskie. (What is it with McGarryBowen, Sears and bestiality?) This ridiculousness is played up with the wife still deciding between Mr. Denskie and the chupacabra, in a “To be continued…” ending for the 1:10 spot. I’m not sure who decided this (or any of the “Denskie” spots) needed a sequel, as I can’t imagine anyone clambering for more after watching “Chupacabra.” Maybe it was just easier to run with this concept than to come up with a new, random idea incorporating zoophilia. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated”series for AT&T has been one of the most recognizable campaigns on television for a while now, offering up different variations on the “kids saying cute, funny things in a classroom discussion” theme with straight man Beck Bennett. Indeed, the campaign has been so ubiquitous and well-received that it basically landed him a spot on SNL.

The agency’s latest, Thanksgiving-themed “Pet Turkey,” while enjoyable, is not the greatest effort in the series. If you’re a fan of the approach, you’ll probably enjoy this new one; if you’re getting tired of this direction, chances are it won’t do anything to dissuade you.

“Pet Turkey” sees Bennett asking the group of kids, “What’s better on Thanksgiving?” When one boy suggests, “a pet turkey,” Bennett offers his rational take on that answer. Again, nothing new here, just more of the same approach from BBDO. Since this brand of cute funny has worked so well for them in the past, it’s understandable that they don’t see the need to change things up. But something about “Pet Turkey” makes it feel like BBDO is treading water, like the approach is finally losing steam and they need to inject “It’s Not Complicated” with some fresh ideas if they want to prolong its shelf life. Although with Bennett’s star on the rise, the campaign’s days may already be numbered.

“Pet Turkey” will debut this Sunday, November 24th and will run throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season. Credits after the jump. continued…

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It seems that the fight for the craziest, most absurd holiday ad is in full force, with McGarryBowen Chicago being the latest agency to throw their hat in the ring with three new spots for Sears that introduce us to “The Denskies.”

While Draftcb’s currently causing controversy with its Joe Boxer jingle for Kmart (and let’s not forget the earlier Satan/Genghis Khan layaway spot), McGarryBowen makes that holiday effort seem tame in comparison to its “Squirrel Revolt” ad. It wouldn’t stand out from the other two “Denskies” installments, in its “let’s be as crazy as possible” humor, were it not for the line (assuming I’m hearing this correctly), “Oh god, it’s mating with my mouth.”

The aforementioned spot (which you can watch above, though you probably shouldn’t) begins with Papa Denskie explaining to his wife that he’s trained “those pesky squirrels” to cut coupons. Everything, though, soon goes haywire, the squirrels attack the man and elicit the crazy, over-the-top response from the above paragraph. (You know, the one where the guy gets orally raped by a squirrel with a rage boner.) If people were pissed off about Kmart’s “Show Your Joe,” I can’t imagine how they’ll respond to this one.

The other two “Denskies” spots for Sears have plenty of crazy to spare as well. In “Robo Granny,” the same man builds a robotic grandmother so that the family won’t have to go visit their real, living grandmother. Predictably, chaos ensues, dragging on for way too long, with the spot clocking in at 1:23 but seeming more like a 5-minute endurance test. Meanwhile, “Medium” sees agency and client portraying their subject as some kind of crazy, possessed witch lady. I’d almost feel bad for real mediums if it weren’t for the fact that they make their living by pretending to talk to dead people (sorry, Sylvia Browne, RIP). The message from Sears this holiday season seems to be the tired “Don’t do something crazy to save time and money, shop here” approach–just with the crazy pushed well beyond the point of reason. You can check out the other two after the jump, along with credits.

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Brooklyn-based shop Dead As We Know It was apparently so impressed with Blur Studios’ production work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s intro that they used the production company as not just collaborators but inspiration for their new spot for The Kraken Rum, entitled “Black Ink.”

Directed by Tim Miller, “Black Ink” is a departure from the previous 2D woodblock print style Dead As We Know It has used for their spots for Kraken, instead employing realistic 3D/CG animation to show the kraken on the rum bottle come to life and destroy a ship. The kraken in the spot is depicted in quick close-ups that jump quickly from shot to shot, implying the violence and danger of the mythical beast.

To accomplish the more realistic approach, the kraken was “designed with reference to actual octopus tentacles and eyeballs for a photo-real look to the movements and destruction.” This new approach isn’t such a drastic departure from the feel of the agency’s previous work. The shift in style is pulled off very well, and feels more like an evolution in approach than a drastic alteration of strategy. Dead As We Know It ECD Mikal Reich ridiculously describes the new spot as “dark and horrific, while at the same time luxurious and sexy.” While the spot is undeniably good eye candy, there’s nothing really sexy about it — unless you’re into tentacle porn. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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