Hasta La Creative!

Acclaimed director Christopher Guest returns with new ads for GSD&M’s “Partners in Pethood” campaign for PetSmart which, given the recent news that the company is taking its marketing in-house, may be the agency’s last for the brand.

Guest originally collaborated with GSD&M and PetSmart on two ads featuring humorously over-the-top dog owners which debuted during the Oscars. The new ads, which include the online spot “Nook and Crannies” (featured above) and “The Avant Guardians,” a 30-second broadcast spot cut from the same footage. This time around, Guest follows “fashion forward” dog owners, who talk about how the term applies to their dog as well. Guest’s trademark satire is evident as the couple makes ridiculous statements about how the dog’s fashion sense turns heads at the dog park and how there’s always an occasion to get dressed up, even when you’re going to sleep. “Nooks and Crannies” is also probably the only place you’ll hear a certain piece of dog anatomy referred to as “The Bat Cave.” If it is GSD&M’s last work for the brand, it makes for a fine swan song, and we can only hope PetSmart continues to partner with Guest after taking their advertising i-house (however unlikely that may be).

Credits:

Client: PetSmart
VP Marketing Communications: Shane McCall
Director, Traditional Creative: Valerie Lederer
Assoc. Creative Manager, Traditional Creative: Tara Niederhaus
Dir., Marketing Strategy and Nat’l Promotions: Debbie Beisswanger
Creative Manager- Store Environment: Chris Windsor
Project Manager, Salon Strategy: Megan Mouser
Titles: “The Avant Guardians” :15/:30; “Nooks and Crannies” 2:18
Agency: GSD&M
Group Creative Director/Art Director: Scott Brewer
Group Creative Director/Writer: Ryan Carroll
Assoc. Creative Director/Art Director: Ross Aboud
Assoc. Creative Director/Writer: Kevin Dunleavy
Art Director: Morgan McDonald
Writer: Scott Chalkley
Agency Producer: Abigail Hinojosa
Associate Agency Producer: Adriane Weist
Business Manager: Lindsay Wakabayashi
SVP/Managing Director: Scott Moore
Account Director: Sabia Sidiqi
Account Supervisor: Ben Creasey
Account Manager: Nadia Elias
Production Company: GO
Director: Christopher Guest
Managing Director: Gary Rose
Executive Producer: Adam Bloom
Executive Producer: Catherine Finkenstaedt
Line Producer: Mark Hyatt
DP: Kristian Kachikis
Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Gavin Cutler

Though his surfing career was cut short when he was 18 due to an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Nicolas Gallegos got to escape the confines of his wheelchair and experience the feeling of being on a board once again thanks to Argentinean surfing champ, Martin Passeri.

In a new four-minute film from McCann Buenos Aires and surfing apparel brand Reef, Passeri essentially sacrifices his shot at a sixth Argentina National Surf title by letting his pal Gallegos ride shotgun in a sense and feel something he hasn’t felt in the 20 years since his accident. It’s a somewhat touching human interest story that should surely stoke surfing aficionados and novices alike. Regarding his noble, kindhearted move, Reef Pro Team star Passeri says, “Surfing is sharing the experience of something that has no explanation to it. When you share it, when you can really carry the other person, and see the same smile that you get when you slide over the wave, that’s a new wave. The euphoria we both felt on the board was awesome.” In turn, the pair’s adventure echoes the campaign’s simple sentiment: “Life’s short. Go surfing.”

Credits:

AGENCY: McCann Buenos Aires
General Creative Director: Chavo D’Emilio
Creative Directors: Ezequiel Rocino, Pablo Miñarro
Editor: Ezequiel Rocino
Art Director: Pablo Miñarro
Head of Agency Production: Federico Salday
Account Director: Victoria Ortelli
Producer: Mundo Zero
Director: Axel Elizondo, Mateo Rojas
Executive Producer: Nicolas Nervi
Producer: Germán Bertasio
Head of Production:Pablo Suarez Buyo
Photography Director: Germán Vilche
Editor: Maximiliano Blanco
Post Production: Mundo Zero
Song: Indigo Musica Y Sonido – Gravedad Zero
Soundtrack: Mundo Zero
Responsible for Client: Alejandro Azpiazu

Atlanta agency Seed Factory takes a slightly different approach in a new spot for Navicent Health entitled “Kindness.”

Rather than focusing on doctors and medical technology, the 60-second spot focuses on human kindness and the difference it makes. Filmed in Atlanta by director Daniel Brown, the ad opens on a series of individuals who could use some help: kids disappointed to find no hoops at the basketball court, a girl with nowhere to sit at school lunch, a woman stuck on the side of the road with car trouble. Then scenes unfold showing how the people in each situation benefit from human kindness, delivering the messages “With kindness we all feel better” and “Imagine a place where kindness happens every day” leading into the tagline, “Everything about us is all about you.” The ad ties Navicent’s brand to the feel-good message, relying on emotion for an approach Seed Factory and Navicent hope is different enough for the category to be memorable.

Credits:

AGENCY: Seed Factory, Atlanta

CREATIVE DIRECTOR/ART: Mark Sorensen
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/COPY: Rick Ender
AGENCY PRODUCER: Janet Mason

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Workhouse Creative, Seattle, WA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Keith Rivers
LINE PRODUCER: Matt Ackerman
DIRECTOR: Daniel Brown
DP: Randy Arnold
EDITOR: Sean Kusanagi

LICENSED MUSIC TRACK: “Nothing More” by Alternate Routes

CLIENT: Navicent Health
CEO: Dr. Ninfa Saunders
CMO: Cyndey Costello Busbee

The King is back.

Burger King’s plastic-faced creep of a monarch is making his return to broadcast today in a new 15-second spot created by Pitch. The spot, entitled “Smile” is a relatively simple affair, promoting the ten chicken nuggets for $1.49 deal that “will put a smile on anybody’s face.” With the delivery of that line, the camera pans up to show the King smiling while dipping his nuggets.

The ad makes Burger King the latest fast food player to resurrect a nostalgic character, following McDonald’s new Hamburglar and KFC rebooting Colonel Sanders, portrayed by Darrell Hammond in W+K’s first campaign for the brand. The King made a costly appearance last month in the ring with Floyd Mayweather, a questionable decision on the brand’s part (to say the least) given Mayweather’s history of domestic violence, but this is his first appearance on broadcast since the character stopped appearing in ads in February of 2011. Given the trend of fast food brands reviving old characters, we’ll be surprised if the King doesn’t pop up at least a few more times this year.

“The King has been breaking status quo for decades and has earned his space in pop culture,” Burger King chief marketing officer Eric Hirschhorn told AdFreak. “He conveys the confident and bold spirit of the Burger King brand, which you can see comes to life in everything we do.”

No word yet on a Sneak King sequel.

Credits:

Client: Burger King
Agency: Pitch, Inc.
Chief Creative Officer: Xanthe Wells
Exec Design Director/Creative Director: Helena Skonieczny
ACD/Copywriter: Heather Parke
ACD/Art Director:  Kimberly Linn
Account Director: Audrey Jersin
Account Executive: Christina Gocoglu
Director of Broadcast: Julie Salik
Production Coordinator:  Ivana Banh
CFO/COO: Pej Sabat
Chief Strategy Officer: Sara Bamossy
Jr. Strategist: Lexi Whalen
President: Rachel Spiegelman
Editorial Company: Bicep Productions
Editor: Nate Connella
Asst. Editor: Gary Burns
Editorial Producer: Esther Gonzalez
Animation & VFX:  Terry Politis
Color:  Bob Festa, Company 3
Audio Post Company: Bicep Productions
Engineer: Luis Rosario
Production Company: Woodshop
Director: Trevor Shepard
Executive Producer:  Sam Swisher
Producer: Ursula Camack
Director of Photography:  Tom Lazaravich
Music:  Motive Music Sound
Composer:  Jeremy Adelman
Producer:  Samanta Balassa

If you’re sick and tired of the bland, insipid and often annoying pre-roll ads that are commonplace throughout the web these days, the folks at BETC and D&AD have cooked up something worthwhile in the wake of the latter’s 2015 awards show. The parties involved have unveiled the aptly titled “Ad Filter,” which replaces tired pre-rolls with some of the most memorable ads that happen to be past D&AD winners and will likely make you less inclined to hit skip.

The plug-in works for both Chrome and Firefox and once you hit the on switch, the usual bad pre-rolls get blocked in favor of some of the most classic ads in recent times, including Fallon’s Phil Collins-loving gorilla drummer for Cadbury and the Jean-Claude Van Damme split spot for Volvo. Olivier Apers, executive creative director at BETC Paris, simply states, “We wanted to demonstrate that people don’t hate advertising, they just hate bad advertising.” By trying to inspire a little creativity before people watch their video of choice, we say the ads–all D&AD affiliation aside–were wisely chosen.

Credits:

Advertising Agency: BETC / BETC Digital, France
Chief Creative Officer: Stephane Xiberras
Executive Creative Director: Olivier Apers
Art Director: Alphons Conzen, Jonathan Baudet-Botella
Copywriter: Adrian Skenderovic
Development: Cogit
Motion Design: Raphaël Benhamou

If playing dress-up–albeit in off-kilter, animalistic fashion–in the name of charity sounds enticing, then mark June 5 on your calendar because that’s when the World Wildlife Fund will kick off its “Wear it Wild” fundraising campaign. To help hype the event, Naked Communications and Pulse Films have launched a digital effort called “The A-Z of Wear it Wild” that not only encourages people to “dress as wild as they dare for the day” but provides alphabetical suggestions on quirky animal wear.

Of course, this isn’t just any fancy schmancy costume party if the film’s soundtrack is any indication as it’s set to the tune of “Hunter” by a band called The Slaves, who sound like a Prodigy/Sex Pistols hybrid. Regarding the punk rock spirit of the visuals and sound, “A-Z” director Alex Haines says,

“On paper, a family-friendly, animal-themed fancy dress party sounds so expected and twee – the fun bit was trying to move away from that expectation; adding a layer of attitude! Music was always going to play a big part in that, and we were really excited when we got sign off on the Slaves track! They embody everything we wanted from this film attitude wise.”

Still, with all the frivolity and fun comes some serious undertones in this campaign from Naked, which signed on as WWF UK’s digital content partner earlier this month. The agency’s creative director Cyrus Vantoch-Wood, who led the project, explains:

“Having a fundraising idea is one thing, but our mission for the film was to drive action and inspire behaviour; like a video flyer to get people involved. We also couldn’t forget that this is a serious issue. Wildlife populations worldwide have declined by 52% since 1970. We needed something that can appeal to school kids, mums and hipsters alike, whilst maintaining some break through. We needed an execution with teeth. The end product is a piece of content that taps into people’s imaginations and shows them that this is an opportunity to have some fun and do some good.”

The hopes of all parties involved are that “Wear it Wild” becomes a major annual event and that UK businesses, schools and organizations will get involved with the cause. To find out more about it, go here.

Agency: Naked Communications
Agency Producer: Lee Charlton
Executive / Creative Director: Cyrus Vantoch-Wood
Creative Team: Catherine Hope, Jonny Palmer and Andy Russel
Production Company: Pulse Films
Director: Alex Haines
Producer: John Bannister
Grade: Ben Rogers @ Gramercy Park Studios
Sound Mix: Michael Powell @ Prodigious
Music Supervision: Pitch and Sync

Remember the days when the act of being “social” actually took place in a physical space? Well, Nashville-based agency The Buntin Group wants to get back to that time of getting together in the traditional sense in a new campaign for Chinet, a Kansas-based brand that’s specialized in disposable tableware for weddings, parties and/or holidays since the 1930’s.

The foundation of this Chinet campaign–which, of course, still comes with the hashtag #besocial–rests in a fairly standard TV spot (above) called “Terms” that does have a loud and clear message to share, feed and interact amongst friends and family like you used to. Buntin Group SVP/group creative director Tom Cocke reiterates the campaign message, saying, “Social media can be a great thing, but it’s also resulted in some strange new behaviors that you’d never use in the real world. Like being a jerk to a complete stranger or showing off your plate of food. Nobody does that off the internet.”

Along with the TV ad, the Chinet effort is supported by a half-dozen digital shorts (available online only) that offer tips on how to deter awkward social media behavior in a real-world social environment. See a couple of examples below and yes, we second the comment that pants are not an option but a requirement in a public space.

You can watch the rest of the digital shorts here.

Terms

SVP/Group Creative Director: Tom Cocke
SVP/Director of Content Production: Tom Gibney
Sr. Art Director: Andrew Brooks
Associate Content Producer: Allison Duke
Director: Charlie Cole
Production: Charcoal Films
Editing: Filmworkers

Tips

Group Creative Partner: Jason Wright
Art Director: Brittany Chapman
Director: Wes Edwards
Production: Ruckus Film
Editing: Filmworkers

A month after launching its new global campaign called “Feed the Good,” Pedigree returns with the second installment of the effort, which is again created by BBDO–though now, Melbourne-based Clemenger BBDO takes over on ad duties. In this spot, dubbed “The Good Fight, which began airing Down Under earlier this month, what starts as a potential street battle culminates in a quick crusade to save a loose dog who’s stuck in the middle of a busy street and whose helpless owner can only look on. Our potential street fighters, though, quickly turn into heroes and save the day all the while forgetting about their tiff. As for the dog, it gets a very well-deserved treat from its owner in the spot’s concluding moments, which serves as a relieving comedown from a somewhat tense ad.

In a recent comment to Campaign Brief about the overall Australian Pedigree work, Mars Petcare general manager Sylvia Burbery says, “Pedigree believes that dogs make the world a better place and bring out the good in us all. ‘Feed the Good’ sets out to connect with Australians emotionally and encourage a donation of just $2 to help raise vital funds for our established charity partner, PetRescue, and support the fantastic work they do to care for and re-home unclaimed animals.” The ultimate goal of “Feed the Good” is to feed 100 million dogs globally. Hopefully, they’re well on their way.

Client: Pedigree
Creative: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Activations: The Marketing Shop
Media: Starcom
PR: One Green Bean

FCB New Zealand launched a new spot for Vodafone entitled “Piggy Sue.”

The 90-second ad aims for the heartstrings, telling the story of a man who finds a pig on the road. He attempts to track down the pig’s owner, using the Vodafone network to communicate via phone, text and email until he eventually tracks the owner down. When the man finds out of the pig’s fate as free range pork, however, he can’t bring himself to part with her. The tagline, “Stay connected on NZ’s leading mobile network” ends the spot on a bit of a conundrum: Couldn’t Piggy’s owner track down the pig thief thanks to said connection? And isn’t it staying connected that led to him nearly relegating Piggy Sue to a fate as a pork chop in the first place? It would appear that FCB New Zealand and Vodafone hope viewers don’t bother with these questions, as the spot’s branding seems to fall apart the closer you look at it.

Credits:

Client: Vodafone
Creative Agency: FCB New Zealand
Executive Creative Director: Regan Grafton
Group Account Director: Karla Fisher
Head of Content Production: Pip Mayne
Planning Director: Simon Bird
Account Director: Dave Munn
PR: Angela Spain
PR Director: Joanna James
Producer: Amanda Langkilde
Regional Creative Director: James Mok
Senior Art Director: Freddie Coltart
Senior Copywriter: Matt Williams
Senior Planner: Hilary Dobson
Recording: Hammond Peak
Producer: Pen Cooper & Sarah Yetton
Music Production: Liquid Studios
Composer: Peter van der Fluit
Sound Production: The Coopers
Sound Engineer: Jon Cooper
Online Editor: Nigel Mortimer
Editor: Bernard Garry
Post Production House: Blockhead
Colourist: Ben Eagleton
Production Company
Production Designer: Margot Wilson
Production Company: Revolver
Managing Director: Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer: Michael Ritchie & Pip Smart
DOP: Nicolas Karakatsanis
Director: Steve Rogers

With a minimalist motif based on a Kraft Singles orange square coupled with a purposely hypnotic voiceover, Toronto-based agency Union makes us hungry for a grilled cheese sandwich as lunchtime approaches. As the simplistic spot amplifies cravings in a matter of 30 seconds, one quickly realizes the “ooey gooey” potential of a single piece of Kraft cheese or three. Basic yet effective, Union and Kraft make it hard to look away as soon as the ad starts rolling.

Regarding the Canadian-focused campaign, Union partner/ECD Lance Martin tells Marketing, “We were thinking about how iconic Kraft Singles are to Canadians…and then we actually just put an orange square on a blue background and held it up, and people were like ‘that’s a Kraft Single.’” Well, they’re in our heads now and we’re just fine with that.

Advertising Agency: UNION, Toronto, Canada
Executive Creative Director: Lance Martin
Associate Creative Director / Art Director: Glen D’Souza
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Mike Takasaki
Producer: Grace Lee
Account Director: Tyler Brown
Sound Design: Keen Audio
Post Production: The Juggernaut