Hasta La Creative!

You may not be aware, but Santa Monica’s RPA recaptured the business of West Coast convenience store ampm in 2015 after a 13-year break.

The agency’s first move after winning the account was to launch a new company spokesman named Toomgis, who was designed by Bodin Sterba and Legacy Effects as an embodiment of the chain’s slogan “Too Much Good Stuff” or TMGS (go ahead and try to pronounce it yourself). This is particularly appropriate since RPA developed the line 20 years ago.

He’s quite literally made of snack food, and he has the sweet-but-dumb affectation of so many cartoonish spokesmen.

Toomgis made his commercial debut exactly one year ago, and we’ve been introduced to him for the first time as part of a press push to highlight client/agency efforts to celebrate his first birthday … and the opening of the 1,000th ampm location.

Here’s the original broadcast ad, which first aired last March.

He’s almost like a mashup of the Spike Jones’ Wild Things* and the 1961 Looney Tunes Abominable Snowman. We wanted the big guy to say, “I will name him Alan, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him.”

We’re told that Toomgis came about due to a need to modernize that tagline, which initially came from the astute observation that people often visit ampm to score their junk food fix, bro.

As the website tells it, “He’s a friendly, gentle giant comprised of over a hundred different kinds of food and drinks, and 35 kinds of generosity and kindness.”

Did you notice the straw dreads? We kinda thought they were Twizzlers.

The series continues with each short focusing on another product.

It seems that Toomgis is particularly interested in all the single ladies…

Dude doesn’t discriminate, though.

The fully integrated campaign also included radio spots, a tumblr page that “gave ampm fans a unique look into his inner thoughts and passions,” and even an activation in which he threw the opening pitch at a Dodgers game.

The release tell us that Toomgis has led to increased brand awareness and 30-day purchase and that his fans have left voicemails and Fans even left voicemails and dressed up as him for Halloween. Kids seem to love the guy!

When your daughter falls in love with @ampm‘s #Toomgis at a @Dodgers game and wants him as her birthday cake, and your wife can pull it off. pic.twitter.com/wv34jY9BsX

— James Parker (@_parkerjames) October 22, 2016

We haven’t seen much of the birthday stuff, but Toomgis is all over the place.

Toomgis hearts donuts. No, seriously. His heart is a donut.

A post shared by ampm (@ampm_tmgs) on Feb 7, 2017 at 4:20pm PST

And apparently he’s still looking for a date.

In summary: California is a state of mind, man.

*One of the worst movies ever made. And we will argue that point, so come at us.

CP+B Boulder returns with more “Captain Obvious” work for Hotels.com, featuring the character thrown into scenarios involving binge watching, online dating and a drill sergeant.

The agency first introduced Captain Obvious over three years ago and since then its use of the character has grown slightly less heavy-handed. Rather than focus on the Captain for the entirety of the 30-second, the character enters a comedic scenario to chime in with his self-evident observations.

In “Binge,” for example, easily the highlight of the bunch, a couple has just finished a binge-watching marathon in which they went through “all ten seasons in one sitting.” For sanitary reasons, we hope they didn’t mean “one sitting” literally, but at any rate they managed to stack up their fair share of mail and takeout containers in the process. Captain Obvious shows at the spot’s conclusion to point out that “Binge watching isn’t always rewarding, but Hotels.com is.”

“First Date” examines the familiar scenario of online dating gone creepy, with Captain Obvious’ contributing a well-timed observation, while “Drill Sergeant” fails to make the most of another tired trope. Each spot concludes with a look at how Hotels.com’s “instant savings” and rewards features can help users save money.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: CP+B Boulder, USA
VP / Chief Creative Officer: Ralph Watson
Creative Director: Brian Friedrich
Associate Creative Directors: Brett Dixon, Nicholas Buckingham
Copywriter: Ian Hill
VP / Executive Director Of Art Direction / Design: Dave Swartz
Designer: Billy Li
Art Producer: Lindsey Baltimore
VP / Director of Content Production / Boulder: Sloan Schroeder
Producer / Video: Rachel Noonan
Production Company: Caviar / Los Angeles
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Executive Producers: Michael Sagol, Jasper Thomlinson
Director Of Photography: Ken Seng
Editorial Company: No6 / Santa Monica
Editor: Chan Hatcher
Assistant Editor: Randy Baublis
Post Producer: Michelle Dorsch
Post Production: No7 / Santa Monica
Vfx Artist: Verdi Sevenhuysen
Mix Company: Lime Studios / Santa Monica
Mix Artist: Mark Meyuhas
Executive Producer / Mix: Susie Boyajan
Animation Company: Method Design Studios / New York
Telecine: Co3 / Los Angeles
Colorist: Siggy Ferstl
Senior Producer / Telecine: Matt Moran
Account Director: Sarah Castner
Content Management Supervisor: Brice Tomlinson
Content Supervisor: Alyssa Fitterer
Content Manager: Ilyssa Schwartz
Business Affairs: Daphne Papadopulos
Head of Integrated Strategy: Dean Mcbeth

JWT Brazil launched a campaign for the Social and Environmental Institute (ISA) tackling the issue of prejudice against indigenous peoples in Brazil.

JWT’s first campaign for the ISA is reportedly the largest in the ISA’s history. At the center of the effort is a PSA spot focusing on the Baniwa people of the region of the Northwest Brazilian Amazon. A Baniwa man provides narration echoing prejudicial views of indigenous culture while footage dispels these notions.

“Or at least that’s how it was in 1500,” the mans says at the conclusion of the PSA,” asking, “And if everything has changed and you’re still considered a ‘white man’…Why can’t we change and continue being indigenous?”

“Part of the population created -even with the help of school books- the image of the ‘pure’ native, the native more indigenous than others, as if those who strayed from this stereotype do not deserve to have their rights guaranteed,” JWT creative director Mariana Borga explained in a statement. “We want to shatter this prejudice.”

“[The Baniwa] identified with the proposal, because they frequently have their identity questioned,” added ISA communications coordinator Bruno Weis. “They feel like, recognize, and present themselves as natives, but a part of the population insists that they are not.”

“We are not at all like our great-great-grandparents, and that doesn’t mean that our identity is questioned, so why do this to the indigenous peoples?” asked JWT CCO Rodrigo Grau.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: J. Walter Thompson, Brazil
Chief Creative Officers: Ricardo John, Rodrigo Grau
Executive Creative Director: Humberto Fernandez
Head of Art: Humberto Fernandez
Creative Director: Mariana Borga
Art Director: Caio Gandolfi
Copywriters: Diego Ferrite, Mariana Borga
Account Management: Renata Buess, Henrique Sarcinella, Caio Sabag
Media: João Dabbur, Camila Bertoli, Pedro Graça
Planning: Fernand Alphen, Bertrand Coca e Marcus Pesavento
RTV Director / RTV Producer: Marcia Lacaze
Producer: Prodigo Films
Directors: Andre Godoi, Daniel Klajmic
Executive Director: Francesco Civita
Executive Producers: Gregory Bontá, Nathalie Gautier
Executive Producers / ISA: Beto Ricardo, André Villas-Bôas, Bruno Weis, Jurandir Craveiro
Executive Producer / Oibi: André Baniwa
Director of Cinematography: Daniel Klajmic
POS Coordinator / Post – Production: Tutu Mesquita
Editor: Kauê Kabrera
Finishing: Dot
Account Management / Production Company: Tatiana Cinelli, Chico Pedreira, Claudia Rocha
Sound Production: Satelite Audio

DDB launched a new spot for State Farm, encouraging viewers to volunteer for neighborhood causes with the 60-second “Following.”

“Following” focuses on a man who, throughout his day-to-day activities, encounters a series of issues which follow him around in the form of what we really do not want to call spokespeople or “brand mascots.”

The group includes a stray dog, a veteran, school dropouts and the homeless. As the spot goes on, the line of people representative of different causes stretches further and further behind him.

Finally a voiceover suggests, “You can lift the weight of caring, by doing” as he walks into a youth outreach center to volunteer. It concludes by calling on viewers to visit NeighborhoodofGood.com to volunteer.

Once there, visitors can select a cause they care about, from adult education to veterans and military families and enter their zip code to volunteer to make a difference in their community. It’s a clear connection to the “Here to Help Life Go Right” tagline DDB Chicago introduced for the brand last year.

But wait … does that mean he didn’t adopt the dog after all that!? Now we’re upset.

FCB Chicago launched a new campaign for A-B InBev’s flavored malt beverage/crime against humanity Bud Light Lime-A-Rita, entitled “Make it a Margarita Moment.”

Apparently a “Margarita Moment” is when you decide to stay in and get drunk to save money. The campaign highlights several such moments; each begins with VO narration delivering the line, “So this happened.”

Unsurprisingly, the campaign targets women, who account for around 65 percent of the struggling brand’s drinkers—as Lime-A-Rita senior brand director Selena Kalvaria told AdAge. (We can’t confirm this, but we hear that many of the brand’s customers are near-sighted and really meant to grab something else.)

To its credit, A-B InBev and FCB Chicago turned to female-led marketing and creative teams for the efforts, which were directed by Hey Wonderful’s Tricia Brock.

“We thought if we are going to speak to women and to feel authentic, that women needed to be working on this brand in order to put that stake in the ground,” Kalvaria told the publication.

The campaign is based on consumer research efforts that involved spending time in the home of young female drinkers. At one point, Kalvaria told AdAge, “The brand zeroed in on a 30-year-old woman named Robyn from Chicago, spending two days with her to study her rituals and relationships.”

At any rate, she claims the research let to “a lot of inspiration for our creative.”

Something tells us our readers have some opinions on the resulting creative, but we’ll all just have to wait and see how it performs in the market, won’t we?

Have you been watching the BBC’s Planet Earth II?

HD camera technology has made a truly ridiculous amount of progress in the 11 years since that series debuted. The footage of Brazilian lemurs and insect-hunting bats is crisper than ever.

On that note, McKinney’s latest for Sherwin-Williams launched today, and it’s a pretty unique entry among the North Carolina shop’s eight-plus years of work for the paint brand.

Sherwin-Williams was the first such company to debut color chips, and since then it has moved on to create a ColorSnap^® Visualizer app so you’ll never mismatch paints again.

In order to better showcase all those varied shades, the agency took a trip to the jungle.

This work came about with the help of New York/L.A. production company BUCK, and it doesn’t even really need the pleasantly British voice of David Attenborough to get the point across.

In related news, Sherwin-Williams is doing far better than many other businesses after suffering from recession-era shopping trends during much of McKinney’s tenure. More people are buying, renovating and decorating homes, which means good things for companies like Lowe’s, Home Depot and Sherwin-Williams despite the general collapse of brick and mortar retailers everywhere.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the company will almost certainly complete its proposed (and approved) $11.3 billion merger with chief competitor Valspar in May, pending “final regulatory approval.”

But you should really check out Planet Earth II. The climate change sections aren’t depressing enough to ruin the whole thing.

CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer: Jonathan Cude
Group Creative Directors: Jenny Nicholson, Owen Tingle
Art Director: Kathryn Moffitt
Copywriter: Jade Stoner
Agency Producer: Josh Eggleston
Group Account Director: Lisa Hughes
Account Director: Lindsley Laham
Account Supervisor: Mandy Gatton
Production Company: BUCK
Executive Creative Director / Principal: Orion Tait
Creative Director: Ben Langsfeld
Executive Producer: Anne Skopas
Producer: Kevin Hall
Music Company: Beacon Street Studios
Composer: Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau

With March Madness here, travel buddies Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Barkley and Spike Lee return for the latest additions to DDB Chicago’s “Road Trip” campaign for Capital One.

If you’re familiar with earlier “Road Trip” efforts, you already know what to expect and “Steaks” dispels any doubt that the agency is trading in the same goofy humor as in the past.

Barkley can’t contain his excitement to finally make a joke referencing a certain movie starring Jackson, when the three companions find themselves eating steaks on a flight. Other spots see the trio watching March Madness basketball as Barkley introduces them to his snacking innovation and unusual TV setup and in various travel scenarios.

As with earlier iterations, there’s a slew of different 30-seconds spots to mix things up, which will run throughout March Madness coverage. The latest efforts may take Barkley’s ridiculous antics a little too far at times, moving the campaign towards a caricature of itself. Perhaps after so many “Road Trip” spots that was somewhat inevitable.

Credits:
Client: Capital One
Agency: DDB Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: John Maxham
Group Creative Director: Travis Parr
Group Creative Director: Mike Ackerman
Associate Creative Director/CW: Carlos Rangel
Associate Creative Director/CW: Zack Carlstrom
Associate Creative Director/AD: Michael Rosenthal
Copywriter: Dan Donahue
Art Director: Sandra Jurado
Copywriter: Sean Collander
Art Director: Brittany Druker
SVP, Group Account Director: Chris Pultorak
Account Director: Suzanne Stovall
Account Executive: Rachel Dawson
Chief Production Officer: Diane Jackson
Executive Producer: Kent Smith
Producer: Allison Magill
Business Manager: Polly Poulos
Art Producer: Suzanne Koller

Production
Production Company: Pony Show Entertainment
Director: Spike Lee
Partners: Susan Kirson & Jeffrey Frankel
Executive Producer: Helga Gruber
Supervising Producer: Fern Martin
Head of Production: Gareth Wood
Line Prodution: Kevin Baird

Editorial: White House Post
Editor: Meg Kubicka
Editor: Brian Gannon
Exective Producer: Dawn Guzowski

Finishing / VFX Company: Filmworkers / Churchill Studios
Executive Producer: Robert Churchill

Across the pond, mcgarrybowen London introduced a new spot for Western Union entitled “#TheRaceIsOn” in time for International Women’s Day.

The anthem ad opens with the line, “Okay girls, the race is on,” as girls around the world break into a sprint. But this is no ordinary race. Rather, the spot calls on girls to be “the first female to run the United Nations,” “the first female to run the United States” and other pioneering roles.

The spot concludes by calling on girls to “study hard and dream bigger,” tying the message to Western Union’s role in supporting education. Viewers are told to visit a campaign landing page to learn more. Among Western Union’s “Chain of Betters” initiatives is a WU Scholars program which provides students around the world with help funding their education. It’s also Western Union’s second consecutive International Women’s Day effort.

“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to shine a light on the accomplishments of women, especially the hundreds of millions that cross borders and are economic change agents for their families, their home countries, and their host nations across the globe,” Western Union president and CEO Hikmet Ersek said in a statement.

The Martin Agency launched a new “Bumper Stickers” spot for Geico, the latest in its “Take A Closer Look” series.

In this case, the spot, directed by Tool’s Benjamin Weinstein, takes a closer look at an RV covered in apparently sentient bumper stickers. After a man remarks, upon learning how much his friend saved on car insurance, that he should take a closer look at Geico, the stickers discuss all the types of vehicles the company insures. A moose sticker then asks, “What’s an RV?” — unaware he’s been stuck to one for years.

“For this particular spot, we wanted to reinforce that Geico insures RVs. And nothing says a well-travelled RV like road-stop gift-store stickers,” The Martin Agency senior copywriter Ken Marcus told Adweek. “There’s a lot more to Geico than just car insurance. We really wanted folks to investigate further on their own, as well as carry on the quirky humor of the brand.”

Unsurprisingly, filming bumper stickers on the back of an RV is not the most exciting shoot in the world. Luckily, Marcus told Adweek, the account team brought cards and poker chips.

“Oh, and we saw an injured bear on the side of the road on the way to set,” he added. “So we called the park ranger. Who says advertising doesn’t make a difference?”

Previous spots in the series examine a “Cuckoo Clock” and “Decorative Plates.” The absurd and self-referential approach is, of course, very much in the vein of The Martin Agency’s other work for the client.

Anomaly’s launched the “Forever Chuck” campaign for Converse a few weeks ago with a fairly simple premise: why Chuck Taylors are the coolest shoes ever, no contest.

In the first spot, Millie Bobby Brown (aka Eleven of Stranger Things) went through a list of film characters who wore the sneakers and why we care. Chapter two starred a series of musicians and athletes explaining why Chucks are not only the coolest shoes but also the perfect expression of Los Angeles culture in footwear form.

Chapter three launched today, and it’s a bit more ambiguous. The campaign finale, helmed by Karim Huu Do of Caviar Paris, is less about a city or trend than “youth culture” in general—specifically, young creatives born in the mid-90s.

So that was impressionistic, and it reminds us of Johannes Leonardo’s recent work for another shoe brand. Surely you caught Arya Stark, because she’s hard to miss.

The press release calls it “a visual collage of the dreams and desires that drive a diverse cast of creative collaborators,” all of whom happen to love Chucks.

“The Chuck Taylor has been a cultural icon with a rich history and even more incredible future,” said client CMO Julien Cahn’s statement. “Through the debut of our Forever Chuck film, we will have officially introduced our collective of exciting people, who share our brand values and are driving the spirit of youth culture forward.”

Appreciate the “YOUTH, now and forever” theme, though we do feel like old buzzkills for reminding Pool Dude that he’s going to have to work for somebody eventually. It’s hard to get rich otherwise, and even PewDiePie had a Disney contract until he lost it for acting like a kid without a care in the world.

Here are the first two spots in the series for context.