Hasta La Creative!

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

W+K Portland launched a new spot for P&G deodorant brand Secret entitled “The Question.”

Part of the agency’s “Stress Test” campaign for the brand, the question in question is, as you may have guessed, a proposal. But the spot flips the script on tradition, with a woman proposing to her initially perplexed boyfriend in a restaurant by giving him a fortune cookie whose fortune reads “Andy I want to ask you something.”

Telling him to “shut up” and stop worrying about some sort of horror movie scenario, she gets on one knee and present him with an engagement ring, before the ad ends with the text “Claire’s act of romance flips the script on a centuries-old tradition,” and the tagline “Stress tested for women.”

The implication, of course, is that Claire isn’t sweating bullets during the scene because she used Secret. (We can attest that proposing to someone is, indeed, the kind of situation that calls for a little extra deodorant.)

The spot made its debut in a thematically appropriate setting, running during The Bachelorette’s season premiere last night. “The Question” follows the agency’s previous “Stress Test” scenarios for the brand, which included asking for a raise and saying “I love you” for the first time via text and feels like an appropriate follow-up, with the scene unfolding in a relatively believable manner. Interestingly enough, the spot never shows Andy’s answer, keeping its focus squarely on the anxiety inherent in a marriage proposal.

It also marks the second ad in two weeks to feature a woman proposing to a man, following Ogilvy & Mather U.K.’s “Amazing Moments: Louisa & Rob” for Dove, which promoted that brand’s line of deodorant for women.

Credits:

Client: Procter & Gamble/Secret
Project: Secret Stress-Tested for Women

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Justine Armour / Caio Lazzuri
Art Director: Johan Arlig
Copywriter: Justine Armour
Producer: Jessica Staples
Strategic Planning: Angela Jones
Media/Comms Planning: Stephanie Ehui
Account Team: Dana Borenstein / Alexina Shaber

Production Company: Somesuch/Anonymous Content
Director: Aoife McArdle
Executive Producer: SueEllen Clair / Eric Stern
Executive Producer Somesuch: Sally Campbell / Tim Nash
Producer: Christopher Gallagher
Director of Photography: Alexis Zabe

Editorial Company: Final Cut
Editor: Paul Zucker
Assistant Editor: Betty Jo Moore [Editor on ‘Three Dots’]
Exec Post Producer: Eric McCasline
Head of Production: Suzy Ramirez
Producer: Sarita White

VFX Company: MPC Los Angeles
Exec Producer: Elexis Stern
Shoot Supervisor: Ben Persons
Colourist: Mark Gethin
VFX Lead: Susanne Scharping
VFX: Sandra Ross / Vincent Blin / Warren Paleos
Designer: Kathleen Kirkman

Music Company: Marmoset
Composers: ‘Proposal’ by Will Canzoneri / ‘Raise’ by Jeffrey Brodsky / ‘Three Dots’ by Kerry Smith
Producer: Tim Shrout
Sound Design Company: Barking Owl
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Exec Producer: Kelly Bayett

Mix Company: Lime Studios
Mixer: Sam Casas

BREAKING NEWS: People have sex all the time … with or without their smartphones.

On that note, Premier and TMW Unlimited teamed up to launch “#DoNotDisturb” for sexual wellbeing brand (and here we thought they made condoms!) Durex.

#DoNotDisturb is a “social experiment” exploring how turning off smartphones can help couples “Reconnect and enjoy great holiday sex.” The “experiment” took six couples on vacation and forced half of them to surrender their smart phones and laptops upon arrival at the hotel. 

Premier and TMW Unlimited then created a case study video to document the results, which you can view below.

Of course, the very obvious conclusion reached by the study was that the couples who were free of tech distractions connected more on their holiday, appreciated the sites more and, presumably had more and better sex. We’re guessing you didn’t need a social experiment from a condom sexual wellbeing brand to tell you that, though.

The campaign and “experiment” were inspired by a brand survey which found that 52 percent of people expected to have better sex while on vacation, but that 60 percent of those surveyed admitted their holiday failed to live up to expectations. A full 40 percent said they were less likely to attempt to instigate sex if their partner is on their phone in bed and 57 percent said they’d be more turned on if their partner turned the phone off, while 41 percent admitted that, even on holiday, nights in bed could be spent with both partners concentrating on their devices.

In other words, the “experiment” was meant as more of an illustration of these findings, but honestly the survey itself is a lot more interesting as just about anybody could have reached the more generic conclusion delivered in the case study video.

Will this experiment help sell more condoms? We have no idea. But it did remind us of another benefit one can achieve by hiding the phone: no sex tapes.

With late spring here, Memorial Day and the impending summer on the horizon, BBDO New York launched a spot promoting Snickers Ice Cream Bars entitled “Scream.”

As you probably could have guessed it’s a play on the “we all scream for ice cream” line. The spot opens with a lone scream, soon joined by a chorus that includes a man’s eagle tattoo, a boardwalk artists’ caricature drawing and a crab. At the conclusion of the spot, the reason for the shouting is revaled with the tagline, “We all scream for Snickers Ice Cream Bars.”

While the tagline and spot are easy to remember, “Scream” lacks the humor of BBDO New York’s best work for the main Snickers brand. The animals and inanimate objects are a little awkward, but then at least they’re not twerking.

Earlier this month (we were kind of busy), BBDO New York also released an ad for Snickers Bites, called “Unfamous,” which plays on the brand’s more typical advertising.

In fact, the ad shows a man upset that “These Snickers commercials make it seem like  hungry people turn into these huge celebrities,” while he just turns into “Rick from down the street.” His wife explains that it’s because he’s not that hungry and hands him the bag of Snickers Bites for a slight improvement.

It’s kind of a fun play on the main brand for Snickers Bites, but one could also opine that BBDO is treading water here.

CREDITS

Client: SNICKERS
Creative Agency: BBDO New York
Title: “Scream”

David Lubars: Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide
Greg Hahn: Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York
Gianfranco Arena: Executive Creative Director
Peter Kain: Executive Creative Director
Eli Terry: Creative Director
Jessica Coulter: Creative Director
Amy Wertheimer: Group Executive Producer
Tara Leinwohl: Executive Producer
Kirsten Flanik: Managing Director
Susannah Keller: Global Account Director
Joshua Steinman: Account Director
Tani Corbacho: Account Manager
Annemarie Norris: Group Planning Director
Alaina Crystal: Senior Planner

Production Company: Gifted Youth
Fatal Farm: Director
Charles Papert: Director of Photography
Dal Wolf: EP / Managing Director
Anthony Ficalora: EP of Production / HOP
Alistair Walford: Staff Producer
Alana Mitnick: Producer

Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Helena Lee: Executive Producer
Leah Carnahan: Post Producer
Christjan Jordan: Editor
Pieter Viljoen: Assistant Editor

Post-Production Effects: MPC
Camila De Biaggi: Executive Producer
Alan Bibby: Creative Director
Ed Chapman: VFX Supervisor
Seif Boutella; Technical Director
Dorian Douglass: Producer
Marcus Wood: Head of 2D
John Shafto: Flame Artist

Mix Studio: Lime Studios
Joel Waters: Engineer
Susie Boyajan: Producer

Periscope continues its oddball approach for candy brand Trolli in a series of three “Winning at Hoops” spots starring Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden.

The spots are a play on eighties sports instructional videos, with retro graphics to match.

Harden is joined by a coach who explains to viewers the shots he will demonstrate, including a “Lay-Up,” “Slam Dunk” and “Hook Shot.” After an introduction from the coach (who appears to be doing his best Chris Farley impression), Harden gives a simple demonstration of the shot in question. Upon closer inspection by way of slo-mo instant replay, however, Harden manages to feed himself Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers in the process.

He does this via a secret compartment in the ball, a tiny hand coming out of nowhere or, in “Dunk,” by rapidly growing his beard.

This is, of course, the kind of weirdness we’ve come to expect out of the independent Minneapolis agency’s work for the brand.

If anything, the strangeness is (slightly) toned down this time around, at least in comparison to the Periscope’s previous work such as last year’s campaign promoting Trolli’s Sour Brite Crawler Minis and Extreme Sour Bites. Instead, there’s a big focus on the retro feel of the spots, which were directed by SOCIETY’s David Viau. If we didn’t know what to expect from the agency, that faux-retro setup may have left us surprised by the strange twist of Harden pulling gummy worms seemingly out of nowhere … but then, we did know what to expect.

Credits:
Client: Trolli
Agency: Periscope
Production Company: SOCIETY
Director: David Viau
Executive Producer: Harry Calbom
Head of Production: Rebecca Parenteau
Director of Photography: Doug Hostetter
Producer: Jill McBride
Post Production: SOCIETY
VFX: David Viau
Editor: Victoria Mortati
Producer: David Guti Rosado
Music & Sound: PICO Music+Sound
Executive Producer: Ellis Hawes
Composers: Lucas Field, Emeen Zarookian, Lucas Field, Jeff Kite
Mix/SFX: Jamie Hunsdale

W+K Amsterdam recently launched its first campaign for Corona since winning the account last year, entitled “This is Living.”

A surf-friendly 60-second spot called “The Flow” showcases the agency’s direction. Free of dialogue, the spot shows Brazilian surfer Pedro Bahia in action catching a rather large wave, then walking back up to the beach and grabbing a Corona Extra. It ends with a lime fizzing in the skunk-prone (thanks to the clear bottles) lager and Bahia chilling with friends as the night creeps in and the “This is Living” tagline makes an appearance.

For the campaign, W+K Amsterdam and Corona also teamed up with “surf ambassadors” Matt Wilkinson, Julian Wilson, and Alejo Muniz.

“Lime Ritual” riffs on the common practice of dropping a lime into a bottle of Corona, a practice actually meant to mask skunky off-flavors caused by sun exposure (although few Corona drinkers are aware of this). They compare this to a plunge into the ocean, and the approach in both cases makes a lot of sense for a brand that has long been associated with the beach and differentiated from other light lagers by the very ritual in question. The campaign will run in the U.K., Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and North America, excluding the U.S.

“Corona’s new creative positioning is an evolution of the brand’s iconic style — it’s still visually guided by the beach as it has always been, only now we are bringing more meaning to the reasons to go there,” W+K Amsterdam executive creative director Mark Bernath explained in a statement.

Credits:

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
Client: Corona
VP Global Marketing: Marcel Marcondes
Global Marketing Director: Thiago Zanettini
Global Communications Director: Clarissa Pantoja
Global Brand Manager: Evan Ellman
Executive Creative Director: Mark Bernath
Executive Creative Director: Eric Quennoy
Creative Director: Alvaro Sotomayor
Creative Director: Thierry Albert
Art Director: Kia Heinnen
Art Director: Malia Killings
Copywriter: Bern Hunter
Head of Broadcast Production: Joe Togneri
Director of Interactive Production: Kelsie Van Deman
Broadcast Producer: Kimia Farshidzad
Broadcast Producer: Javier Perroud
Broadcast Producer: Maud Klarenbeek
Broadcast Producer: Stacey Prudden
Interactive Producer: Jennifer Bernard
Production Assistant: Hayley Vair
Planner: Nick Docherty
Planner: Alex Jordan
Senior Digital Strategist: Greg White
Communications Planner: Wes Young

UUUUUUUUGGGGH, millennials/teens, amirite??

People (allegedly) pay shameless hucksters $20,000 an hour to help #brands understand them, yet Droga5 somehow convinced the ultimate teenage client to admit that it has absolutely no fucking idea what’s going on in those pot-addled minds of theirs.

Thus the agency known for marketing parodies presents another elaborate marketing parody, allowing Clearasil to make light of its own cluelessness. The angle is pretty much like this: our past attempts to push our products to you by getting in your Teen Zone were very lame, but you can still totes trust us to CRUSH your zits. (Do the kids still say “totes?”)

Here’s the anthem spot.

Droga’s first work for Clearasil debuted last summer with a mom perpetually walking in on her teenage son doing various things. There’s a bit more to this new campaign elaborating on the same “we basically give up” theme with each subsequent spot focusing on a different thing that kids may or may not like.

Oh see, they’re also making fun of the fact that every damn campaign has to include some #hashtag #activation because how else will clients know whether it’s working???

And yes, of course they made separate spots for “Paul Leave” and “Paul Stay.” It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure campaign!

There are quite a few variations here. Come on, you know this next one is like sooo many inspirational case study spots you see every week.

These guys just can’t help but make fun of every damn thing. From the pitch email:

Each piece is supported across a variety of media, with a host of interactivity for teens to troll or appreciate Clearasil’s earnest attempts at connecting with them. The brand is genuinely asking teens, “did this one work?” with each attempt, hoping to create an honest, entertaining dialogue that doesn’t try to engage teens in an inauthentic way.

Well…not really. But your point is taken. Next, how different is 3 AM from 2 AM? Not very.

Today Droga5 GCD Tim Gordon told AdFreak that this campaign isn’t just about making fun of marketing tropes…it’s more about getting the client to stop trying to be hip and approach things like a mom of teenage kids.

The brand is staying in character, too.

“Is this impressing you, or doing nothing to you?”

Some awkward fake stock images:

…and a close-up on some real zits:

Questions of effectiveness aside, here is an undeniably true statement, again from the email:

This year, when Clearasil wanted to build real trust with teens, we realized that the only thing that will feel genuine to teens is the truth. And the truth is: Clearasil is a company located in Parsippany, New Jersey full of highly skilled professionals.

We will never ever claim to be experts on the Millennials. But we do know of one thing they like: fashion.

We also know, as people who were once pimply teenagers, that there’s no single product that will make that shit go away in 12 hours and all claims to the contrary are just sales crap. But that’s kind of beside the point, no?

CREDITS

Client: RB/Clearasil
Campaign: “We know acne, we don’t know teens”

Agency: Droga5 New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Tim Gordon
Associate Creative Director: Jen Lu:
Copywriter: Sarah Lloyd
Art Director: Mary Dauterman
Junior Copywriter: Madeleine Trebenski
Junior Art Director: Brittain McNeel
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Group Integrated Production Manager: Topher Lorette
Broadcast Producer: Leah Donnenberg
Associate Broadcast Producer: Jackie Omanoff
Social Producer: Gabrielle Nicoletti
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Jonny Gadd
Strategy Director: Danielle Travers:
Group Communications Strategy Director: Samantha Deevy
Social Communications Strategist: Maureen O’Brien
Data Strategy Director: Lily Ng
Data Strategist: Christina Fieni
Senior Strategist: Nika Rastakhiz
Executive Group Directors: Brett Edgar, Angela Kosniewski
Account Directors: Amanda Chandler, Megan Gokey
Account Manager: Lucie Kittel
Project Manager: Rayna Lucier

Client: RB/Clearasil
General Manager, U.S.: Chris Tedesco
Marketing Director: Aurore Trepo
Brand Managers: Niccolo Francalanci, Elyse Goldweitz
Associate Brand Manager: Rochelle Samuels

Production Company: Ways & Means
Director: Sunbeam (Nick Paley and Dean Fleisher-Camp)
Director of Photography: James Wall
Executive Producers: Jett Steiger, Lana Kim
Producer: Cedric Troadec

Editors: Sean McGrath, Chuck Willis
Assistant Editors: Julie Walsh, Misha Kozlov
Executive Producer: Susan Willis
Producer: Melissa Nusbaum

Postproduction: Light of Day
Executive Producer: Susan Willis
Producer: Melissa Nusbaum:

Color Grade: RCO
Colorist: Seth Ricart
Executive Producer: Marcus Lansdell

Sound: Cutting Room
Mixer: Walter Bianco