Hasta La Creative!

Made Movement, the Boulder agency Alex Bogusky joined as an investor and advisor in 2012, launched a new digital spot for TGI Friday’s which seeks to capitalize on the tremendous success of Hamilton, that perpetually sold-out musical.

In “Check,” Made Movement plays off of Alexander Hamilton’s appearance on the ten dollar bill. After promising to set up his friends with his “wig guy” a waitress comes to their table with the check. Feeling generous, the nation’s first Secretary of Treasury tells them he’s got the check, falling backwards on the table, as the scene shifts to a ten dollar bill being set down in his place and the voiceover promoting the chain’s “One Hamilton, one full-rack of ribs “deal.

“When we were doing ad testing for another product promotion, the agency came back with the idea that everyone will talk about money in different denominations—what if we leverage Hamilton?”  TGI Friday vice president of marketing activation Cindy Syracuse explained to Adweek.

The approach makes sense for the brand, as TGI Friday’s continues to try to appeal to millenial audiences, in this case leveraging the Hamilton phenomenon. Unfortunately the humor falls flat, as the references feel sophomoric (a musket balls joke, really?) and only detract from the eventual connection to the brand with the “One Hamilton, one full-rack of ribs “deal.

“Check” will run in 30 and 8-second versions online and on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and a 15-second version will air on broadcast. Additionally, there’s a series of digital spots featuring Hamilton weighing in with “Meaty Thoughts” on topics including his wig and man buns.

Syracuse emphasized to Adweek that despite the heavy digital push, the brand was not cutting its broadcast spending, saying, “I don’t cut TV weight to have digital—we don’t want to reduce our footprint in television, but it’s important to understand and be efficient in how you use digital media.”

Gravity was a pretty good movie, in our humble opinions, despite George Clooney’s complete inability to play anyone but himself and the fact that Sandra Bullock will always be the actress from Speed.

It was all about the cinematography anyway, right?

The Paris offices of TBWA recently parodied Alfonso Cuaron’s movie two and a half years later in an elaborate promo for the French debut of McDonald’s Triple Cheeseburger. Again, it’s all about the cinematography and the “GRAVICHEESE.”

Ben Gregor of Moonwalk Productions directed the spot, which tells French consumers that they will finally get to experience the Triple Cheeseburger with its “three fat patties” and pickles and even … KETCHUP!! Hopefully the two friends can at least share some astronaut ice cream.

Pretty big budget for such a notoriously tightwad client.

On an unrelated side note, we attended this year’s Cannes talk with The Revenant director Alejandro González Iñárritu and Ogilvy’s Tham Khai Meng, and we lasted about three minutes. But it was far less infuriating than the Vice thing in which a smug, fat douche told all the media people in attendance how few shits he gives about the industry he disrupted so he could pay his ad salespeople $80K and his full-time writers $35K.

RK Venture launched a pair of 30-second spots as part of its “The Things I’ve Seen” driver safety PSA campaign for the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).

Each spot shows the aftermath of a driving accident from the perspective of a medical professional. In “Physical Therapist,” a woman explains that she’s had to harden herself emotionally to perform her job. Still, it bothers her to see her patients suffer from injuries that could have been prevented by wearing a seatbelt. The spot, directed Sean Broughton and edited by Dan Maloney, switches from footage of the accident, in which a woman doesn’t wear a seatbelt and crashes into the windshield, to the physcial therapist working with the patient. “If you could see what I see,” she says, “you’d never drive unbuckled again.”

The approach combines more well-worn shock tactics with an appeal to authority. Unfortunately, the former gets pushed to extremes in the “Surgeon” anti-drunk driving spot, making it a good deal less effective than “Physical Therapist.”

“The final results deliver our message with stunning impact,” claims RK Venture owner, executive creative director Richard Kuhn. “Drinking and driving and not wearing a seatbelt all to often result in shattering consequences that can be avoided. I couldn’t be more pleased with what Sean Broughton and Dan Maloney brought to the table, and the finished spots.”

“The main focus of this edit was to strike a balance with the pacing–while still giving the stellar VFX shots room to breathe,” added Maloney. “The process was integrated and pretty seamless–working with Nick and Sean is always a pleasure.”

Credits:
Client: NMDOT

Agency: RK Venture
Broadcast Creative Director and Copywriter: Nick Tauro
Agency Principal and Executive Creative Director: Richard Kuhn

Production Company: HalfLife* Digital
Director: Sean Broughton
Producer: David Garcia
Director of Photography: Dean Mitchell

Editorial Company: Cut + Run
Editor: Dan Maloney
Assistant Editor: Nicole Berg
Executive Producer: Rana Martin
Head of Production: Julia Williams

Visual Effects: Jogger
Lead Artist & Online Editor: Sean Broughton
CG artist: Boaz Livny

Color Correct: MPC
Colorist: Adrian Seery

Audio Post: Sonic Union
Mixer: Brian Goodheart

Music Production & Sound Design: Finger Music
Composer/Arranger: Brian Englishman
Executive Producer: Ewa Miller
Sound Designer: Cameron Thompkins

San Diego-based agency Vitro launched a new campaign for Toyo Tires with a 90-second spot featuring a Toyo-outfitted Ferret romping through forest and desert terrain.

No, we don’t mean the domesticated Mustelas who are relatives of weasels — although we would like to see one with wheels. Rather, the agency created a vehicle using a 1959 British Ferret 4X4 military scout as a platform.

With some monster Open Country M/T Toyo tires and off-road racer BJ Baldwin behind the wheel, the vehicle powers over logs, speeds down sandy desert paths, passes over a stream and even gets itself out of a ditch. Set to some Mad Max-esque grinding guitar, the spot demonstrates the brand’s “Any vehicle. Every terrain.” tagline with its extreme off-roading.

“In an industry where consumers see you as just ’round and black’ it’s critical that we stand out and communicate our messages of quality and durability,” explained Amy Coleman, senior director of marketing, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “VITRO helped us bring those brand points to life in a bold and original way with The Ferret.”

In addition to the online spot, the campaign will also include display, display, print, radio and paid social advertising, all handled by Vitro. The paid social component will target “both performance driving enthusiasts and everyday truck and SUV drivers,” according to a release. 

Credits:
Client: Toyo Tires
Agency: VITRO

ACD / Director – Doug Hyland
ACD / Director – Ryan Smith
Account Director – Beth Mygind
Account Supervisor – Claire Valentine
Agency Producer – Amy Krause
Production Company – Tempt Media
Producer – Tempt Media Vlad Shkolnyk
Director of Photography – Tempt Media Chris Adams
Builder – Action Vehicle Engineering

Havas London launched the first ever broadcast campaign for Heathrow Airport with the 90-second spot “The First Flight.”

“The First Flight” tells the undeniably story of a 5-year-old girl named Harriett’s first trip to Heathrow Airport. Set to the David Bowie song “When I Live My Dream” (from his 1967 debut), the spot follows Harriett through the airport, owl-shaped bag in tow, aviator hat and swimming goggles on her head. Unlike W+K New York’s “No Bag Left Behind,” for Delta in 2014, which similarly features a young girl’s animal shaped bag, the focus isn’t entirely on the luggage bag, although it’s certainly a scene stealer. 

The spot does an admirable job of communicating the childlike wonder of flight that adults take for granted, with more than a little help from the inspired music choice. Outsider’s Dom and Nic directed the spot, giving the mood and pace the right touch to capture Harriett’s excitement and wonder at her first trip to the airport — even if you could argue that it could have been accomplished in 60, rather than 90, seconds.

The spot rolled out on social media today and will make its U.K. broadcast on Thursday. Supporting the effort is a contest with Qantas asking participants to share Heathrow Airport memories for the chance to win one of 70 trips to Australia.

Credits:

Client: Heathrow Airport
Agency: Havas London
Executive Creative Director: Ben Mooge
Creatives: Barnaby Packham, Daniel Bolton
Group Business Director: Caroline Saunders
Senior Account Director: Julia Mahoney
Agency Producer: Kiri Carch
Assistant Producer: Femi Ladi
Production Company: Outsider
Directors: Dom and Nic
Producer: John Madsen
Director of Photography: Alex Barber
Editing: Ed Cheesman, Final Cut
Post: The Mill
Sound: Antony Moore, Factory

Havas Chicago launched a new campaign for Hefty with a series of spots starring John Cena, two of which, in a misguided casting decision, two of which also feature former SNL cast member/anti-vac nutcase Rob Schneider.

The spots also revive the “Hefty! Hefty! Hefty!” chant the brand used in its advertising back in the 80s, as well as the Hefty vs. Wimpy dynamic. In “Hefty/Wimpy,” Cena is excited to find Hefty Ultra Strong with Odor Control at such a low price. When he picks up a box, he hears the “Hefty! Hefty! Hefty!” chant. When Schneider chooses a competitor named Wimpy, he hears something quite different.

Another spot, “Pec Flex” finds Cena’s flexing pecs accompanying the chant. “My pecs do that when people save money on Hefty,” he explains to the cashier who just rang up the product,” which sends the woman behind him scurrying back for an armful of Hefty boxes. A third spot pictures a man transforming into Cena after picking up a box of Hefty, while another woman opines about her husband turning into Schneider instead, upon picking up a box of Wimpy.

While Cena, who recently appeared in R/GA’s “We Are America” PSA, puts in a fine performance, the attempts at humor fall flat. That’s mostly thanks to a mix of premises which are too obvious and unconvincingly go for cheap laughs. It’s too bad, as Cena has proven he can put in a good comedic performance with his role in Trainwreck. The approach could have potential going forward, though, if Havas can improve its comedic chops (and maybe get rid of Schneider).

“Hefty is an iconic American brand and Cena is very all-American. He’s got this great strength so that’s the perfect fit because Hefty has always been known for its superior strength,” Havas Chicago creative director Ecole Weinstein told Adweek. 

Credits:
AGENCY:
Chief Creative Officer, N.A: Jason Peterson
Group Creative Director: École Weinstein
Copywriter(s) Matt Bush, Alexis Carr
Art director(s): Nat Loehr
Co-Head of Production, N.A: Dave Evans
Executive Producer: Brigette Whisnant
Sr. Business Affairs Manager: Bonnie Hamilton
Managing Director: Lisa Evia
Account Supervisor: Kristy Hughes
Assistant Account Executive: Matt McManus
Project Manager: Katelin Randall
Strategy: Michelle Gerstin, Martin Vogts
Media VP Account Director: Shawn Mulroney, Bethany Whipple
Media Supervisor: Amanda Smidt
Media Planner: Kamila Kowalczuk, Denise Alvarez

PRODUCTION COMPANY:
Production Company: Smuggler – Los Angeles
Director: Renny Maslow
Executive Producer: Drew Santarsiero
Line Producer: Rhonda Vernet
Director of Photography: Bob Yeoman

POST PRODUCTION:
Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post, Studio 6- Chicago
Sr. Editor: Dan Zabinski – Whitehouse Post Chicago
Asst. Editor Kelsey Moher – Studio 6 Chicago, Ben Cline & Luke Sloma – Whitehouse Post Chicago
Sr. Audio Engineer: Todd Beee – Studio 6 Chicago
Executive Producer: Lauren Shawe – Studio 6 Chicago
Post Producer: Kara Weinert – Studio 6 Chicago, Natalie Ksiazek – The Mill, Lauren Connolly – Whitehouse Post Chicago
Colorist, company: Luke Morrison – The Mill
Conform Artist, Company: Randy McEntee – The Mil
Graphic Artist, Company: Colin Hess – The Mill
Music Composer, Company: Marmoset

Last month, MullenLowe launched a spot for JetBlue which pictured David Ortiz imagining life after baseball and a career obliterating pinatas. Now 72andSunny has a pair of new ads for ESPN which similarly featured Big Papi mulling over plans for after his retirement, as part of the campaign promoting SportsCenter at Night which it launched last September.

In a 3o-second spot, Ortiz watches a late night edition of SportsCenter, jotting down ideas for Papi-branded food products inspired by the program, presumably for his Big Papi’s Kitchen line. When he hears “Holy potato, what a day,” he thinks up “Papi’s Fritas” (a play on “papas fritas,” Spanish for french fries) and “icing out the competition” leads him to “Papicicles.” His teammates, namely pitchers David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez, meanwhile, are a little concerned. The 15-second spot riffs on the same idea, with the Red Sox slugger expressing his love for pizza.

The spots fit the campaign’s humorous tone, and that of the larger “This is SportsCenter” campaign from W+K well, managing to find a way to make athletes watching sports highlights entertaining while leading into the “End Your Day on a Highlight” tagline. While the premise is getting a bit familiar, it makes sense for Ortiz to address his post-career plans, as it’s hard to imagine the slugger doing anything other than swinging a bat, and the charm of the goofy-pun fueled ads make them pretty hard to hate, even for an Orioles fan.

Credits:
Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Creative Officer/Founding Partner: Glenn Cole
Executive Creative Director/ Partner: Jason Norcross
Creative Director: Jed Cohen
Sr. Designer: Dave Estrada
Sr. Writer: Nick Ciffone
Jr. Writer: Carlyle Garrick
Jr. Designer: David Jung
Group Brand Director: James Stephens
Brand Director: Jessica Francis
Brand Manager: Rochelle Farnum
Brand Coordinator: Hector Romero
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Sr. Film Producer: Eric Rasco
Group Strategy Director: Matt Johnson
Strategy Director: Heather Lewis
Business Affairs Director: Christina Rust
Jr. Business Affairs Manager: Noah Winter

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Managing Partner/EP: Kevin Byrne
EP: Mino Jarjoura
EP/Director of Sales: Dan Duffy
EP: Nancy Hacohen
Producer: Dave Bernstein

Editorial: HutchCo Technologies
Editor: Jim Hutchins
Executive Producer: Jane Hutchins
Finishing: Method Studios
EP: Robert Owens
Lead Flame Artist: Aidan Thomas
Flame Support: Louis Schachte
Senior Producer: Cara Lehr

Mix: Lime Studios
Audio Mixer: Rohan Young
Audio Assistant: Ben Tomastik
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Hillary Clinton released a new attack ad against prospective GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump today after receiving an endorsement from her progressive primary challenger Bernie Sanders earlier this week. The spot was presumably created by Droga5, the agency the neoliberal Democratic candidate’s campaign hired back in November. While Droga5 would not confirm to Adweek that it created the ad, David Droga tweeted about it–and come on, it was definitely them.* 

The ad, entitled “Role Models,” focuses on how Trump–and the outlandishly sexist/racist/xenophobic/ablist/etc. shit that comes out of his mouth–makes him a bad role model for children. Well, duh.

The spot employs a similar tactic to its predecessor, an attack ad released in May that relied on members of Trump’s own party describing him as a “bully,” “con artist,” “phony,” “utterly amoral” and “The most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency.”

This time around, the spot uses Trump’s own words against him. Children bask in their TV’s warm glowing warming glow and take in some of Trump’s more outlandish statements, including attributing Megyn Kelly‘s questions to her menstral cycle, longing for the days when protesters were beaten and carried out on a stretcher, mocking a disabled reporter and, of course, making as many racist statements about Mexican immigrants as he could in less than a minute.

The spot ends with the message “Our children are watching. What example will we set for them?” before presenting a clip of Clinton talking about the need to make sure our children and grandchildren are proud of the choices we make.

The attack ad will run in key battleground states like Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina as part of a $10.5 million ad deal announced in June.

We’re not sure where all the politically minded children glued to the presidential race are — We imagine a concerned parent saying, “Honey, turn off the Republican debate, you know I don’t like you watching that garbage.” Such a strained conceit does hamper the ad’s impact.

This effort will almost certainly not convince any of Trump’s followers to second guess their preferred candidate, as they’re already familiar and seemingly okay with his most controversial statements, but that’s clearly not the point. Instead, it seems to target those voters who are less than enthusiastic about Clinton but have a very unfavorable view of Trump, particularly young parents. It’s all about highlighting the importance of voting to keep Trump out of office (a key component, if not the key component, of Clinton’s campaign lately) It’s all for the sake of their children, and their children’s children, and some future generations as well.

*Good luck trying to get ahold of Clinton’s PR team or that of any other presidential candidate. We get why they don’t answer phones: can you imagine how many crazy people leave voicemails on Hillary’s official media line??

With the Rio 2016 Olympics just over three weeks away, Ogilvy & Mather Brazil launched a new campaign for Coca-Cola entitled “#ThatsGold,” as part of the brand’s larger “Taste the Feeling” effort.

“#ThatsGold” is centered around two 60-second broadcast spots, “Gold Actions” and “Gold Feelings.” The more effective of the two, “Gold Feelings” pairs footage of Olympic athletes winning gold with quotes about how it feels to receive top honors at the Olympics and this year’s Olympic hopefuls. The jubilant athletes and the quotes, such as “It’s a feeling you can’t contain”are interspersed with shots of drinkers enjoying a cold Coca-Cola, tying the feeling of winning gold to the brand and the larger “Taste the Feeling” positioning, ableit with a somewhat tenuous connection that some viewers might find hard to swallow.

That said, “Gold Actions” is even more of a stretch. “Gold is for the fastest,” text reads near the opening of the spot, adding “Who jump the highest,” those who “take it seriously” and “the brave.” But, the spot adds, “Anyone can be gold.” It’s a somewhat jumbled, ultimately meaningless message positioning the brand as a way to cap off “gold moments,” but there’s also a certain simple sweetness to the approach and footage of jubilant athletes and Coke drinkers. In addition to the broadcast spots, the campaign also includes print ads featuring 79 Olympic athletes from 23 countries (swimmer Nathan Adrian and soccer star Alex Morgan represent the U.S.), an onsite brand activation center in Rio, Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the 2016 Olympic Torch Relay and commemorative Olympic packaging. 

“There are so many gold moments that happen off the podium. It’s about day-to-day, simple pleasures that are all about joy and uplift, whatever is a special moment that you’ll share with friends and family, and celebrating our relationships with the Olympians, too,” Coca-Cola global vice president, creative and connections Rodolfo Echeverria explained to Adweek. “We’re trying to position Coca-Cola as a simple pleasure that makes moments more special.” 

“There’s something that’s so powerful about the Olympics. It brings together experiences of mutual understandings, friendships, solidarity, togetherness, inclusion and equality,” added Coca-Cola senior vice president, strategic marketing Ivan Pollard. “This year’s campaign is special because it’s not about watching someone win a gold medal, it’s about watching their face when they do. It’s exactly the same feeling you have when you teach your children to ride a bicycle, or when your son graduates from college.”

Credits:
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Brazil
CCO: Anselmo Ramos
Creative Director: Rafael Donato
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Director: Omri Cohen
Music Company: Avicii Music AB
Performers: Avicii feat Conrad

Grey New York launched a new spot for Gillette ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics with plenty of star power. There are the athletes, of course: Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr., American decathlete Ashton Eaton, Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao and English cyclist Andy Tennant. But there’s also a song from Sia written and produced for the spot, which features a guest appearance by rapper Pusha T.

Directed by Caviar Content’s Karim Huu Do, the spot delivers the “Perfect Isn’t Pretty” message that a lot of hard work and sacrifice goes into becoming the best at any sport with style, if not originality.

The spot opens on a shot of Neymar screaming (for some reason), followed by quick introductions to the rest of the athletes. The text “Perfect is Pretty” appears onscreen right after Neymar runs toward a burning goal (a dream?), followed by him hitting an alarm clock reading 4:08 (ouch). Each of the athletes must face challenges like balancing their personal lives with training and living up to high expectations.

The tone changes with the arrival of Pusha T’s guest verse, focusing on the athletes rising to the occasion.

The triumph over adversity sports anthem formula is a familiar one and even the lyrics of the song deal in cliches (such as “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”).

The ad probably could have benefited from a little brevity as well, even while featuring four different athletes. If not for the shots of its stars shaving as part of their daily routine, it could easily be mistaken as an ad for Under Armour or Nike. But then Grey ties the message back to the brand’s familiar tagline with “The Best A Man Can Get Isn’t Always Pretty,” adding, “But Always Worth The Chase” as Eaton outruns an angry-sounding dog.

Good boy!

Credits:
Advertiser: Gillette
Spot Title: Perfect Isn’t Pretty
First Air Date: 07/13/16

Agency: Grey New York
Chief Creative Officer: Andreas Dahlqvist, Chief Creative Officer, Grey NY
Creative Director: Jeff Stamp, Executive Creative Director, Grey NY
Senior Creative Director:
Leonard Savage, Executive Creative Director, Grey NY
Asan Aslam, Senior Creative Director, Grey NY
Noah Will, Senior Creative Director, Grey NY
Project Management:
Hank Romero, Project Director, Grey NY
Kelsey Longo, Project Manager, Grey NY
Agency Producer:
Bennett McCarroll, EVP, Director of Broadcast, Grey NY
James McPherson, SVP, Head of Integrated Production, Grey NY
Katy Hill, VP Producer, Grey NY
Agency Music Producer: Zachary Pollakoff, Music Supervisor, Grey NY

Production Company: Caviar Content, Los Angeles, CA
Director: Karim Huu Do, Director, Caviar Content
Director of Photography: Daniel Bouquet, Director of Photography, Caviar Content
Editor: Cut & Run
Gary Knight, Editor, Cut & Run
Stacy Peterson, Editor, Cut & Run

Post Production: The Mill NY

Music/Sound Design:
Phil Loeb, Sound Engineer, Heard City
Josh Kessler, Executive Producer, Heavy Duty Projects

Principal Talent:
Athletes:
Neymar Jr.
Ashton Eaton
Ning Zetao
Andy Tennant

Musicians:
Sia, Singer, Composer
Pusha T, Rapper
Ariel Rechtshaid, Producer
Olodum, Percussion Accompaniment

Account:
Brian Weston, EVP, Account Director, Grey NY
Elizabeth Gilchrist, SVP, Account Director, Grey NY
Irina Gilbertson, VP, Account Director, Grey NY
Katie Stirn, Account Supervisor, Grey NY
Suzi Jump, Account Supervisor, Grey NY
John Nelson, Senior Account Executive, Grey NY
Wesley Roman, Assistant Account Executive, Grey NY