Hasta La Creative!

According to an anonymous agency CEO who spoke to Digiday this week, most shops ditch the tech stuff once they’re done showing it off and leave it to collect dust forever. That person said, “To be honest, I’m still struggling to figure out how to apply VR to advertising: Does it really make a good brand experience? Does it really make a good ad?”

We don’t really know as we haven’t seen any great VR ads yet. But it does make for good case studies!

Here’s the latest from Office of Baby, the New York shop founded by GS&P veteran Paul Caiozzo and his partners. It’s about using VR to make the waiting room experience less awful for their client ZocDoc.

As the release put it, “We all know the dread of long waiting room time before appointments, but what if you could be transported to a relaxing place before a nerve-racking appointment?”

Even tech dummies like ourselves can appreciate that this sort of experience looks much more pleasant than thumbing through month-old issues of People magazine while waiting to get our teeth destroyed.

Patients can request the VR experience on Twitter(!) and enter the various alternate environments via YouTube 360 while waiting for their appointments.

The kid at the end was really the best part.

CREDITS

Back in early February, W+K unveiled its full-length Super Bowl ad starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen, launching “The Bud Light Party” campaign with a spot that was a little disappointing given that it starred the writers of Superbad and Trainwreck.

A little under four months later, The Bud Light Party still feels a bit stale. This time around, Amy and Seth deliver a message in support of gay weddings for Pride Month, which they claim are “just like any wedding.”

It’s a nice sentiment, if not exactly a bold stance for a brand to take in 2016. But we wonder what it does for the brand beyond aligning it with an inclusive message and now very safe message. Rogen and Schumer spend the spot listing things all weddings share in common: “cringe-worthy speeches,” “girl who’s super ready to settle down” and, of course, cake.

Another thing all weddings share in common: affordable alcohol.

In addition to the spot, which will make its broadcast debut today, the campaign will also feature two rainbow-lit billboards, running in New York and Los Angeles for the month of June. There’s also a social media push (of course) and support from influencers, including GLAAD and Ellen DeGeneres.

“The Bud Light Party champions inclusivity among modern beer drinkers and bringing people together—for fun—over a beer,” Alex Lambrecht, vice president of Bud Light at Anheuser-Busch, in a statement. “By featuring Seth and Amy at a same-sex wedding, we’re showing how all weddings—regardless of who is getting married—share many similarities and moments to celebrate. We created this spot because equality for all Americans is a concept that unites many Bud Light drinkers.”

AMV BBDO launched a new “Red. Fit.” campaign for feminine hygiene brand Bodyform with the spot “Blood.”

“Blood” shows a series of female athletes, from rugby players and boxers to skateboarders and bikers, getting a series of scrapes and cuts causing them to bleed. Each time, the determined women get up and keep fighting. The spot makes the connection to the brand clear with the tagline, “No blood should hold us back,” implying that menstruation shouldn’t be an impediment for female athletes.

“Blood” manages to make its message clear through its stylized footage, shot by Stink’s Jones & Tino. While the footage of women bouncing back from blood-inducing injuries may have shocked certain audiences in times past, it’s par for the course for women athletes of all types these days and menstruation shouldn’t be any different. 

The larger campaign aims to educate consumers about the menstrual cycle’s effect on exercise for women, hopefully empowering women who may have avoided working out while menstruating. “Red. Fit.” will roll out globally, including in other markets for related brands Libresse, Nana, Nuvenia and Nosotras.

“Menstruation really is ‘the last taboo’ for women in sport, simply because we lack knowledge and understanding of this subject area,” Bodyform marketing director Nicola Coronado told Campaign. “Using our partnership with St. Mary’s University, Twickenham and UCL will help us to challenge these category stereotypes and transform the consumer mindset when it comes to the perceived barriers around periods and exercise.”

Iris launched an integrated campaign for Speedo, entitled “Don’t Just Get Fit, Get Speedo Fit,” which features the brand’s first broadcast ad in over a decade.

The ad of the same title is a somewhat familiar looking sports anthem ad, but with more of a focus on swimming as the agency tries to draw attention to the sport and position it as a way to take one’s fitness routine to the next level.

“Whatever fitness means to you,” says the voiceover, as the spot shows a group of runners, a woman doing yoga and a man biking. As a man’s running shoe changes into a bare foot about to dive into a pool, the voiceover continues, “The most powerful thing you can do to your routine is to change it.”

From there, the other amateur athletes are shown morphing into swimmer mode and the voiceover adds that swimming is the way “To push your body further, to go deeper,” at which point someone decides to cue some questionable EDM.

Cheesy as the approach may be, it’s certainly brand-appropriate. So while those of us who have seen way too many similarly-minded sports anthem ads by virtue of writing about advertising for a living may yawn, the average fitness obsessive may see the ad and decide to add swimming to their workout routine. The timing, of course, in the lead-up to beach season, is well-planned. That tagline may strike some casual viewers as a bit too close to the “Are You Beach Body Ready?” ad that didn’t go over so well for Protein World last year, except aimed at making the already in shape question if that’s good enough. But the approach works with the current brand perception around the skin-tight swimsuits as for the truly toned, while also addressing the benefits of swimming as an athletic endeavor that can push the already fit to the next level.

The campaign launched in over 50 markets globally, aimed squarely at fitness enthusiasts. In addition to the 80-second version above, the spot also runs in 60 and 30-second versions. Supporting the broadcast effort in the integrated campaign are digital, social and print initiatives.

“Elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts are constantly seeking out marginal gains to improve their performance,” Iris executive creative director Andy Taylor explained to The Drum. “This film highlights one of the most significant, yet often overlooked, gains you can add to any fitness routine.”

Ahead of UEFA Euro 2016, Forsman & Bodenfors launched a campaign for Volvo stoking Swedish pride around striker and Sweden national team captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The first lengthy spot, entitled “Prologue,” focuses on the national star’s humble beginnings as the child of Croatian and Bosnian immigrants growing up in a small Swedish suburb. Ibrahimovic relates his story via voiceover as he broodingly watches his own highlight reel and attacks a punching bag until his hands are inflamed. “I didn’t have much,” he says, “just my restless mind and my big dreams.”

“I wanted to go further than anyone else,” he continues as a Volvo V90 speeds down the road, establishing a connection between Sweden’s star soccer player and auto manufacturer,” so I did, my way. I didn’t think like them. I worked harder than anyone, anywhere.”

The big payoff for the connection comes at the end of the spot, with the tagline “Made by Sweden” referencing both the brand and the celebrity endorser. Forsman & Bodenfors’ cinematic anthem ad is set to a soundtrack provided by Hans Zimmer, who has composed or produced for such films as Interstellar, Inception and The Prestige. Clearly Volvo and Forsman & Bodenfors spared no expense in making their effort for the impending European tournament as epic as possible.

“Prologue” made its debut on U.K. social media, digital and video on demand platforms on May 30. Broadcast spots are scheduled for June 17 and 22, when Sweden will play its final group stage matches.

“The campaign is a celebration of the independent mind, of the power that lies in the ability to think differently. There are many similarities between Zlatan’s and Volvo’s journeys,” Anders Gustafsson, senior vice president of Volvo for Europe, Middle East and Africa told The Drum. “We haven’t got to where we are now by doing the same as everyone else.”

This work follows the carmaker decision to pick F&B as its global strategic/creative agency over incumbent Grey London last December. A February campaign then laid out the brand’s future “vision”: no deaths or serious injuries in a Volvo by 2020.

DM9DDB takes an odd approach in its new campaign for puppy chow brand Special Dog, displaying in various situations that we should treat man’s best friend well because they know too much.

In “Bondage,” for example, a rather large man wearing chains and a ball gag waddles into a room to get an umbrella (we don’t want to know…) when his dog stares him down.

Tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, drooling, the canine keeps his knowing stare on the man as the spot ends with the tagline, “He knows too much. Treat him well” and a shot of the man pouring Special Dog into his bowl.

The spot is certainly memorable in a WTF kind of way.

We’re not sure that’s going to get people to watch until the end for the brand connection or tune out, confused and/or grossed out. It also would probably help if the spot explained exactly why feeding your pet Special Dog is treating them well in comparison to other brands, although we suppose the name itself provides at least a tenuous connection.

Still, these have got to be some of the more memorable dog food spots we can remember and the pacing is pretty spot-on. Two other spots apply the same concept to the case of a woman who drinks her late husband’s ashes in her tea and a pug who catches his owner sticking his hand down his pants and then sniffing his fingers.

It’s all quite gross, which is the whole point.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: DM9DDB, Brazil
Chief Creative Officer: Aricio Fortes
Executive Creative Officer: Paulo Coelho
Creative Directors: Adriano Alarcon, Carlos Schleder, Gonzalo Ricca
Art Director: Rafael Segri
Copywriter: Filipe Medice
Production Company: Bossa Nova Filmes

Bluegrass is a greatly under-appreciated musical genre.

No, really. It may seem a little dated and stylistically limited, but lots of people are into it…even the Kia hamsters.

David&Goliath’s latest for its first and biggest client doesn’t involve Blake Griffin or Christopher Walken. Instead it calls upon those animated pets/pests to remind us that music–not love, and definitely not data–is the universal language. As chief creative officer Colin Jeffery puts it, “It transcends borders and boundaries, connecting people on an emotional level because it’s something we can all understand, feel and appreciate.”

The hamsters use that magic to bring people from Birmingham to Bangalore together in celebrating the majestic beauty of our public park system.

Even the traffic cops are like, screw it.

The release calls this Kia’s most ambitious hamster-related project to date, and the spot required nearly 3,000 hours of CGI work to get the rodents dancing. We also like this part:

“…to ensure authenticity, ethnomusicologists, including Dr. Steven Loza, chair of the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music’s Department of Ethnomusicology, helped curate the globally inspired jam session…”

Finally, consultants doing something valuable! All that work kind of demands a making-of video.

The spot will air primarily in theaters–34,000 of them around the country, starting tomorrow. It’s part of National CineMedia’s FirstLook pre-show program.

In case you were curious, the main banjo man is Nathaniel Rateliff of Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, with “DJ/Producers Bunt” dropping the beats.

It all makes us remember this song and the fact that the early ’90s were really weird.

CREDITS

Agency: David&Goliath
Founder & Chairman: David Angelo
Chief Creative Officer: Colin Jeffery
Chief Digital Officer: Mike Geiger
President: Brian Dunbar
Chief Strategy Officer: Seema Miller

Director of Creative Services: Frannie Rhodes Creative Director: Basil Cowieson Creative Director: Greg Buri Creative Director: Yo Umeda ACD/Art Director: Robert Casillas
ACD/Copywriter: Courtney Pulver
Art Director: Eron Broughton
Copywriter: Gary du Toit
ACD/Copywriter: Devin Heatley
Senior Interactive Art Director: Bernice Chao Senior Project Manager: Kemit Ray

Director of Broadcast Production: Paul Albanese Executive Broadcast Producer: Curt O’Brien Junior Producer: Natalia Celis Director of Art Production: Andrea Mariash Senior Print Production Manager: Elisa Atwood Director of Digital Production: Peter Bassett Digital Producer: Justine Kleeman

Managing Director: Jeff Moohr
Group Account Director: Mike O’Malley
Management Supervisor: Aleks Rzeznik
Account Supervisor: Tara Poosti
Account Executive: Jenavieve Cazares
Digital Account Director: Jeanann Grubbs Digital Account Supervisor: Sarah Kirsch

Planning Director: Andrew Lynch
Senior Planner: Ed Gibson
Senior Digital Strategist: Rachel Fletcher Senior Social Strategist: Natalie Gomez

Director, Business Affairs: Rodney Pizarro Business Affairs Associate Manager: Daniella Vargas

Product Information Manager: Russell Wortman Product Information Manager: Mark McNaul

Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Colin Jeffery
Director of Photography: Toby Irwin
President: Frank Scherma
Head of Production: Cathy Dunn
Producer: Kathy Rhodes

Editorial Company: Union Editorial
Editor: Jim Haygood
Assistant Editor: Jed Stuber
Managing Partner/President: Michael Raimondi Executive Producer: Joe Ross

VFX: JAMM VFX
VFX Supervisor/CG Lead: Andy Boyd
VFX Supervisor/Lead Compositor: Jake Montgomery Flame Artist: Patrick Munoz Flame Artist: David Hernandez Nuke Artist: Brinton Jaecks Previs Lead: Javier Lopez-Duprey CG Artist: Zachary DiMaria CG Artist: Nha Ca Chau CG Modeling: Joel Durham CG Animator: Ellie Mason CG Animator: Joshua Merck CG Animator: Evan Mayfield CG Tracking: Peregrine McCafferty CG Tracking: Amélie Guyot CG Tracking: Philippe Medina CG Tracking: Damien Bouvier Matte Painting: Roger Kupelian Final Mastering: Rob Ufer
Producer: Ashley Greyson
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

Photographer: Vincent Dixon
Assistant Photographer: Michael Henika
Agency: Brite Productions
Production: David Safian; SaF Productions
Retouching: FEELgood
Composite: TheLab

Licensed Music: Dueling Banjos
By: Arthur Smith
Publishing: EMI Blackwood Music Inc. obo Combine Music Corp. (BMI)

Music & Sound Design: Squeak E. Clean Productions Arranged by: Charles Rojas Creative Director: Rob Barbato Executive Producer: Carol Dunn
Producer: Chris Shaw

Record Label: Bunt. Records
Producers: Bunt.

Mix: Lime
Sound Engineer: Mark Meyuhas
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Ethnomusicology: UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Department of Ethnomusicology
Consultant: Steven Loza, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA
Consultant: Ganavya Doraiswamy, M. Mus., Ph.D., Researcher, Department of Ethnomusicology, UCLA
Consultant: Rajna Swaminathan, Ph.D., Researcher, Department of Music, Harvard University

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne recently launched a campaign for Snickers called “Hungerithm” that gauges internet anger and adjusts Snickers prices at 7-Eleven accordingly (angrier = cheaper) for a twist on the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” brand positioning.

Here’s how the “Hungerithm” works: the algorithm, which is built on a 3,000-word lexicon, analyzes around 14,000 social media posts a day, then determines mood and adjusts the price of Snickers accordingly, dropping to as low as 82% off the normal shelf price (if the internet is really, really angry). To claim their Snickers, consumers simply visit Snickers.com.au and click “Get a Snickers” to generate a unique barcode for the reduced price at their local 7-Eleven. The campaign will run in Australia through June 27, featuring video, digital, outdoor, PR and social elements.

“Considering how quickly the Internet can swing from a place of sharing and enlightenment to one of incredible vitriol, we felt this was the perfect way to bring the ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ platform to life,” said Clemenger BBDO Melbourne executive creative director Ant Keogh. “A data-led idea that changes the price of a global FMCG brand is an amazing opportunity. To launch it at scale through 7-Eleven is something else again.”

“We’re hoping this shows consumers that Snickers is on their side during trying times, and we plan to satisfy even more hungry consumers by rolling the Hungerithm out globally in 2017,” added Snickers marketing manager Renee Lewington.

Credits:

Client: Mars Chocolate Australia
Marketing Director: Matthew Graham
Brand Manager: Renee Lewington
Assistant Brand Manager: Heidi Keller
National Sales Manager – Retail: Shaun Thomas

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Executive Creative Director: Ant Keogh
Creative Directors: Evan Roberts and Stephen de Wolf
Digital Creative Director: Ben Keenan
Art Director: Jackson Harper
Copywriters: Shannon Crowe and Jim Robbins
Regional Director: Jennifer Chin
Group Account Director: Bryce Coombe
Senior Account Manager: Sam Ayre
PR Director: Nichola Patterson
Planning Director: Michael Derepas
Senior Planner: Matt Pearce
Executive Producer: Sonia von Bibra
Head of Interactive Production: Christian Russell
Community Manager: Will Barber
Senior Digital Producers: Nathan VanderByl and Ben Crowe
Digital Producer: Allan Ngo
Senior Digital Designer: Adam Hengstberger

Senior Developer: Andrew McLagan
Senior Full Stack Developer: Sylvain Simao
Frontend & Backend Development: Omar Mashaal (CHE Proximity)
Backend Development: Andrey Sidorov and Alex Best (CHE Proximity)
Technical Director: Bob Watts (CHE Proximity)
Project Delivery Lead: Adam Burnell (CHE Proximity)

Droga5 New York’s new campaign for Johnsonville, “Made the Johnsonville Way” has the kind of twist our readers tend to hate: the agency claims to have let the client’s employees come up with the ideas for the ads.

An introductory spot, “Responsibilities,” introduces the premise with the concept that employees of the family owned company are responsible for everything that goes into “making sure every sausage tastes great,” with one employee  adding, “And now, we’re also responsible for coming up with the commercials.”

The 30-second spot ends with Johnsonville employees sitting around the table coming up with ideas when one of them, appropriately named Brett, pitches “How about sausage meets car chase?”(Groan).

Unsurprisingly, the next ad is just that, with Droga5 fleshing out the idea and teaming up with Arts & Sciences to give it the professional production treatment.

The concept, as narrated by Brett, is delivered in a stream-of-consciousness, rough draft sort of way in a slightly new take on Droga’s by now predictable style.

Brett decides partway through the ad, for example, that it isn’t a high speed chase but rather a “Regular Speed Chase.” He’s unsure how to end the ad, deciding “maybe everybody just ends up eating sausage” and then, channeling his inner Michael Bay, decides to throw a gratuitous explosion in there for good measure. Goofy as it is, it’s far from the weirdest spot the agency has made for the brand.

Another spot, conceived by Johnsonville bro Jeff, sees “Jeff and His Forest Friends” interacting over breakfast after Jeff wakes up to dine on some sausage. He talks all about Johnsonville’s products to a group of curious critters, also explaining how he’s able to talk to them.

We were amazingly not surprised.

An “Official Trailer” running over four minutes long is actually a look at the creative process, with employees pitching their ideas which are then given an animated treatment.

Some of these don’t appear as full-fledged spots, which could mean we’ll see them in the near future. If that’s still not enough “Made the Johnsonville Way” for you, there’s also a “Behind-The-Scenes” feature.

Credits:
Client: Johnsonville Sausage, LLC
Campaign: “Made the Johnsonville Way”
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Scott Bell
Senior Copywriter: Chris Colliton
Senior Art Director: Kevin Weir
Junior Copywriter: Gabe Sherman
Junior Art Director: Gage Young
Executive Design Director: Rob Trostle
Design Director: Rich Greco
Designer: April Pascua
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Executive Broadcast Producer: Scott Chinn
Executive Broadcast Producer: Adam Perloff
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Aaron Wiggan
Senior Strategist: Marc Iserlis
Data Strategy Director: Lily Ng
Group Communications Strategy Director: Brian Nguyen
Communications Strategist: Kevin Wilkerson
Group Account Director: Julia Albu
Account Director: Dave Murphy
Account Supervisor: Kate Tyler Monroe
Associate Account Manager: Rebecca Warren
Project Manager: Rayna Lucier
Client: Johnsonville Sausage, LLC
Vice President, Marketing: Ryan Pociask
Group Marketing Director, General Manager: Jim Mueller
Integrated Marketing Director: Jamie Schmelzer
Senior Brand Manager: Ron Schroder
Senior Brand Manager: Kimberly Keller
Associate Brand Manager: Steve Bembinista
Marketing Associate: Catherine Swick
Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Director: Adam & Dave
DOP: Toby Irwin
Executive Producer: Marc Marrie
Producer: Pat Harris
Editorial: MackCut
Editor: Ryan Steele
Assistant Editor: Maria Lee
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Post Production: MPC
Executive Producer: Elexis Stearn
Producer: Nicole Saccardi
Lead Artist (Flame): Andy Bate
2D Artists: Steven Miller, Mahendra Natha Reddy
3D Artists: Masahito Yoshioka, Ted Abeyta
Colorist: Mark Gethin
Color Assistant: Kris Smale
Executive Producer/Color: Meghan Lang
Producer/Color: Rebecca Boorsma
Production Coordinator: Valentina Cokonis
Assistant Line Producer: Neela Kumuda Parankusham
Sound: MackCut
Mixer: Sam Shaffer

Following last November’s “You’d Make A Way Better Rich Person,” McCann New York launched a new campaign for the New York Lottery entitled “Get Drawn Together,” emphasizing how state-sanctioned gambling “draws New Yorkers together, in a fun way.”

Three spots then differentiate the New York Lottery from some less fun ways New Yorkers can be drawn together.

The approach works best in “Airport Motel,” which provides the most reasonable premise. Three guys are forced to share the last motel room when their flight get canceled, and we see them shooting for who gets the middle spot in the room’s only bed (what, no cot?).

The other two spots, “Dog Wedding” and “Corporate Retreat” are, to put it mildly, less effective due to premises that stretch the logic of the campaign well past the breaking point in execution, if not in concept.

“Dog Wedding” tries to play to laughs with two friends clearly not enjoying a dog wedding by making the guy remark on how “at least the cake is good” only to learn that it is, in fact, dog food.

This might just make viewers forget all about the lottery connection. Why would you let human guests mistakenly take cake shaped like dog food? And, even worse, how could you possibly not know that it’s dog food after taking a bite, let alone enjoying two slices?

Still, as ridiculously over-the-top as it is, two dogs dressed in wedding garb is pretty damn adorable.

“Corporate Retreat” presents a ridiculous lost-in-the-woods scenario. Many do indeed fail to enjoy corporate retreats, but the over-the-top nature of the spot detracts from the campaign’s message.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: McCann, New York, USA
North American Chief Creative Officer: Eric Silver
Co-Chief Creative Officers: Sean Bryan, Tom Murphy
Executive Creative Directors: Mat Bisher, Dan Donovan
Creative Directors: Nic Howell, Geoff Bentz
Copywriter: Lex Singer
Chief Production Officer: Nathy Aviram
Senior Integrated Producer: Alexis Mead
Group Account Director: Lauren LaValle
Account Supervisor: Geordie Larratt-Smith
Account Executive: Alesy Iturrey
Assistant Account Executive: Denis Mahon
Executive Strategy Director: Mike Medeiros
Strategy Director: Laura Frank
Strategist: Cristina Pansolini
Senior Project Manager: Steve Marchione
Director: Randy Krallman / Smuggler
Partners: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody
Executive Producers: Shannon Jones, Jacqui Wilkinson
Head of Production: Andrew Colón
Producer: Ian Blain
Editor: Merritt Duff / Cutting Room
Managing Partner: Susan Willis
Producer: Lisa Starace
VFX: Light of Day
Color Correct: Lez Rutledge / Nice Shoes