Hasta La Creative!

When we first learned that Droga5 would be turning to the former Captain Picard as a spokesperson for (mildly) alcoholic cider brand Strongbow, we knew they would do things a little…differently.

The press release last October, for example, described the client’s debut ad as its “first and bestest TV spot.” Creative Directors John McKelvey and Hannes Ciatti even went so far as to say, respectively, “We went better than best,” and “That’s the bestest.”

Here’s the ad in question:

As with Droga’s Newcastle campaigns, the clear goal here was to play on the many, many cliches populating your average alcohol ad.

The next spot in the series, released this March, mocked two other mainstays of alcohol marketing: the meaningless award and the irrelevant celebrity spokesperson.

Our main takeaway was that Sir Patrick Stewart almost certainly does NOT drink hard apple cider (though he did claim to have waited until the age of 72 to enjoy his first-ever slice of pizza).

In Strongbow’s latest ad, released yesterday, the brand seems to have realized that–unlike the Starship Enterprise–it never really needed Captain Picard anyway. It didn’t even need Commander Riker:

Quick and to the point.

Since the newest ad in the campaign doesn’t have a press release, we’re not sure whether Picard has truly been given the old heave-ho or whether he will return for future Strongbow ads.

Even if he really did get fired, we know that he will find many productive things to do in his adopted neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. Working to ban strollers, however, is not one of those things.

Digital agency Modus Operandi celebrated World Martini Day for luxury vodka brand Belvedere with a series of 15-second online ads.

The ads, such as the above “World Martini Day: Because Global” appropriate the “Because…” meme for the brand’s purpose, in this case with a look at major cities around the world in anticipation of World Martini Day. which took place on June 19th. Other ads include “Because Dry,” “Because Twist” and “Because Stirred.” As is often the case with brands appropriating such memes, the results feel forced, doing more to detract from the meme than enhance the brand. Aside from the “Because…” issue, the spots feel generic and, in their celebration of World Martini Day, could have been used to promote any vodka brand. But if you’re bummed that you missed out on World Martini Day, the brand has documented some of the celebrations on its website.

In what is surely one of the most bizarre campaigns for a snack brand we’ve seen, BMB London launched the 90-second “Dark Secrets Revealed!” for KP Snacks’ crisp brand (that’s chips to us Americans) Space Raider.

The online spot, which will run for two weeks, was preceded by teasers posted on YouTube and Facebook promising leaked footage revealing “astonishing secrets,” with the spot retargeted to those who viewed the trailers. Shot in a style meant to mimic leaked government footage, it shows scientists discovering and dissecting an alien. After removing an unidentified organ, one of the scientists announces that he’s found something and pulls out a Space Raider, announcing, “Pickled…onion, if I’m not mistaken.” Viewers are then called upon to “Help us eat their babies before they take over the Earth.” BMB London and Space Raiders clearly are banking on the spot’s bizarreness and WTF factor making it shareable.

“We are very excited to have created an out of this world film for Space Raiders, an iconic snack brand, loved by many since childhood and now being rediscovered by a new audience online,” said George Johnston, marketing director of KP Snacks. “We always knew that Space Raiders would take over the earth and now we’ve found the footage to prove it!”

adam&eveDDB released a Pride Month spot for Google’s Android featuring Android-ified versions of celebrities entitled “And Proud.”

The ad opens on an animated version of diver Tom Daley, created to look similar to the Android mascot and decked out for Pride Month, diving into view with the message “Tom and Proud.” He’s soon joined by version of other celebrities, including actor Ian McKellan, musicians Jessie J, Sam Smith and Conchita Wurst, and YouTube stars Tyler Oakley and Hannah Hart. Other characters soon join the celebrities and fill the screen with festivities. “Let’s party for pride,” appears on screen, followed by the Android logo and “Be together. Not the same.” tagline. Viewers are then prompted to “join the party” by making their own Android character with a website that is part of the larger “Androidify” campaign. Those who submit to he site, or use the mobile app to the same effect, can see their characters in the global online Pride parade June 27-28 and select characters will also be chosen to appear on floats in Pride parades in New York, San Francisco and London.

W+K New York launched a Father’s Day spot for Delta in collaboration with Park Pictures and husband and wife director/producer team The Mercadantes, dedicated to all the “pilots on the ground” navigating their children through childhood.

The spot, which gains authenticity through the casting of real father-child pairings, shows dads playing a game of airplane with their kids, or using the familiar airplane method to get their finicky youngsters to eat their food. It’s a simple yet emotional approach, yet an emotional and easily-relatable one that ties to the brand well. “Airplane” launched yesterday on DeltaFathersDay.com, as well as the brand’s social media channels, days ahead of the holiday this weekend.

Credits:

W+K NEW YORK

Executive Creative  Directors: David Kolbusz and Jaime Robinson
Creative Directors: Sean McLaughlin and John Parker
Copywriter: Ian Hart
Art Director: Jessica Shriftman
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Producer: Luiza Naritomi
Assistant Content Producer: Christine Young
Brand Strategist: Sam Matthews
Account Team: Liz Taylor, Meghan Mullen, Jasmina Almeda
Business Affairs: Sara Jagielski, Keri Rommel, Sonia Bisono
Project Manager: Ava Rant

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: The Mercadantes
Executive Producer: Justin Pollock
Executive Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Line Producer: Jed Hubbard
Director of Photography: Daniel Mercadante

EDITORIAL

Editorial Company: Joint
Editor: John Resner
Post Producer: Michelle Carman/Alex Thiesen
Editorial Assistant: Stephen Nelson

VFX
VFX Company: Joint
VFX Artists: Katrina Salicrup / David Jahns

TELECINE
Telecine Company: Joint
Colorist: David Jahns

MIX
Mix Company: Joint
Mixer: Noah Woodburn
Producer: Sarah Fink

MUSIC
Song: Abandon Window
Artist: Jon Hopkins

FCB Garfinkel launched a new business to business campaign for Vonage, promoting the brand’s ability to help businesses reach their potential, with the 60-second “The Business of Better.” The campaign marks  the agency’s first work for Vonage since being named agency of record back in April.

The spot opens on a man interrupted by an unexpected guest while working in his small home office. His guest describes how Vonage revolutionized home phone service while ripping off the man’s shirt to reveal a better one underneath. As they walk into the next room, the small business owner is surprised to find that he has employees. Over the course of the ad his business keeps expanding, while the Vonage spokesman describes how Vonage services helps businesses big and small get better, ending with the tagline “The Business of Better.” While the tagline works well for the campaign and the approach visualizes how Vonage can help businesses fairly well, it can’t help but come across as a bit dry and repetitive with its 60 second runtime. In addition to the broadcast spot, the campaign includes online ads, radio spots, print ads running in business publications and a social media activation calling on companies to share their stories with the hashtag #BizBetter.

“The goal of the campaign is to demonstrate how Vonage, known for revolutionizing home phone service, is now also a leading provider of cloud communications for business,” Vonage chief marketing officer Ted Gilvar explained to AdAge. “This is a brand campaign designed to help us scale the business side of our portfolio,” he added. “What’s important is that our solutions can grow with a growing business. So if you are a business owner with a home office, or maybe you need one, two or five lines today, as your business grows, our service scales with you.”

In the three months since SeaWorld went on damage control with a PR campaign in the wake of the scathing 2013 whale documentary Blackfish, the theme park’s spin has been met with backlash, derision and social media failure. Still, it’s apparently never too late to twist the knife– as this latest entry from dedicated opponent PETA proves.

The video was created by PETA’s in-house team.

This clip and the campaign site “SeaWorld of Hurt” aim to tear down everything the beleaguered brand wants to convey as it struggles to regain market share.

Who better then to be blunt about the matter than an “orca masturbator” and a “fish doctor and stuff,” who add an Onion-like touch to PETA’s cause? Regarding this effort, the advocacy org’s executive vice president Tracy Reiman says:

“Strip away the sheen, and SeaWorld’s newest attempt to prop up its failing brand crumbles to dust. PETA’s ad makes it clear that the best thing caring people can do is steer clear of SeaWorld’s cruel parks until the animals it holds captive are no longer forced to spend their lives in tiny tanks.”

If you need more info, you can go to PETA’s dedicated “SeaWorld of Hurt” site here.

Also: while FCB does work for SeaWorld and will reportedly be involved in the client’s coming TV campaign, we could not get any agency to take credit for the water park’s own “just the facts” efforts, which launched online in March.

Keegan-Michael Key–Detroit native and star of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele–stars in a campaign created by Leo Burnett Detroit for the local chapter of the United Way that launched yesterday.

“Street Mentor,” which involves on a series of spots to be distributed via social media, attempts to explain the organization’s services with a bit of the humor that made Key famous.

In the first spot “Food for Thought,” Key tells us that he’s just trying to do some good work for his hometown–though he may not be the best resource when it comes to produce:

The second ad “Little Al” is a bit longer. In this one, Key promotes the org’s 2-1-1 information service and, in the process, reveals that he’s not too hot on financial or ethical advice either:

Finally, in “Story Time with Key,” our maladjusted star talks tough to some kids who just want him to read the damn book already:

In the release, Leo Burnett CCO Steve Chavez writes:

“We knew we had to break through in a memorable, irreverent way. The unorthodox ads leverage a unique brand of humor that aims to grab your attention and raise awareness of United Way’s services.”

They’re definitely irreverent. They’re also slightly…off-putting for a campaign promoting such a valuable public service.

Assets include the KeeganLivesUnited.com URL, which goes straight to the videos. Related hashtags stem from some of Key’s favorite verbal slips like #scabbages, etc.:

We’re @EasternMarket learning about “food and nutrition and whatnot.” #scabbages http://t.co/sOIsELLyW7 pic.twitter.com/ZFMzillGqq

— United Way SEM (@UnitedWaySEM) June 16, 2015

The campaign was directed by Jordan Brady of Superlounge, who says:

“Leo Burnett Detroit creatives Matt Perry, Stephen Kerry and Marty Muthuswami really tapped into one of Keegan’s signature characters. I’d shot with Steve Chavez before, and having him on set was great. Everyone kept tossing what I call ‘joke logs’ onto this blazing comedy fire. And Keegan would turn it into gold.”

Unfortunately, it’s too late to nominate this one for the Dannes Lions. But there’s always next year.

Project Credits

Client: United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Campaign: Street Mentor

Agency:  Leo Burnett Detroit

Chief Creative Officer:  Steve Chavez

Art Director: Stephen Kerry

Copywriter: Matt Perry, Marty Muthuswami

Executive Producer:  Brian Dooley

Production Company: Superlounge

Director: Jordan Brady

Producer: TK Krasofsky

EP: Dave Farrell

DP: Bryan Papierski

Editorial: Beast

Editor: Chris Chynoweth

Assistant Editors: Jason Stratton, Andrea Ramsay

Colorist: Company 3 – Robert Curreri

Finish Editorial (“Food for thought”): Method

VFX (“Food for thought”): Finish Editorial (“Little Al”, “Put your money in assets”, Storytime with Key”): Ringside Creative

Audio Mixing: Ringside Creative

Media: Zenith Media

Y&R New York launched a campaign aimed at raising water sustainability awareness for Colgate as part of the brand’s long-term sustainability strategy and 2020 goals. Launching in Mexico and Argentina before rolling out in other global markets, the campaign reminds viewers to turn off the tap while brushing.

The 30-second broadcast spot, “Sink Child,” which will make its debut in Mexico, shows a young woman brushing her teeth while leaving the faucet running in the top half of the screen. Meanwhile, in the bottom half, a girl wanders in vain with a bucket in search of water. The simple message is driven home with the line, “What you waste in two minutes is what she lives on for two days.” With the ongoing drought in California bringing more attention to water conservation issues, the ad is especially timely and focusing on running the tap while brushing keeps the message brand-relevant while also giving people one small behavior they can change to help with the issue. A print campaign, featuring ads with similar text, will appear in Argentina before rolling out in other global markets and the campaign will also feature OOH elements. One of the print ads is included below.

Credits:

Retouch: Gabriel Chouy
Print Production: F:16 Producciones/ Youruguay
Production Company: Whiskey Films
Producer: Paola Forero, Luis Alberto Silva
Director: Pipe Ybarra
Director of Photography: Junior González
Editing: Julian Santarriaga
Post Production: Norman Perez, Harold González

In its 110-year history, AA has seen just about everything. That’s the gist of adam&eveDDB’s new 60-second spot, entitled “We’ve Seen It All,” featuring some of the stranger real-life call-outs AA drivers have dealt with.

The spot opens on of these such events, a German armored carrier breaking down during a World War II reenactment, before steamrolling through a host of others. Among the other events are lost keys at a nudist colony, a car with two fronts and a rising tide encroaching on an ice cream truck. Beyond the entertainment value of the strange events, which viewers are informed are “Based on true stories,” they also illustrate the brand’s long history and in each case, AA shows up to make things right. The spot broke online today and will make its broadcast debut tomorrow, including during a showing of Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport.

“This campaign is the largest marketing investment by the AA in over a decade and so is an incredibly exciting time to have joined the team,” Chris Harris, group marketing director, AA, told LBB. “The AA has not had any mainstream television advertising since 2007 but still has a heritage of great advertising. This campaign is a significant investment in our iconic brand. Working with adam&eveDDB will rejuvenate our brand and put a shine back on the AA badge.”

Credits:

Creative Agency: adam&eveDDB
Art Director: Steph Ellis
Chief Creative Officer: Ben Priest
Chief Strategy Officer: David Golding
Copywriter: Rory Hall
Creative Director: Aidan McClure, Laurent Simon
Executive Creative Director: Ben Tollett, Richard Brim
Planner: Nick Hirst

Media Agency: Starcom MediaVest Group
Planner: Elspeth Spelzini

Music and Sound
Song: Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss
Audio Post Production: Factory Studios

Offline
Editor: Art Jones

Post Production House: The Mill

Production Company: Outsider
Director: Scott Lyon