Hasta La Creative!

The Ad Council teamed up with San Francisco-based agency Pereira & O’Dell for a series of new PSAs promoting the recycling of bathroom products for Keep America Beautiful, with funding by Unilever.

Based on research showing that, while recycling of kitchen items has become commonplace, 45 percent of Americans aren’t recycling their bathroom products, the new ads hope to change this behavior with a series of broadcast and digital spots functioning as an extension of the ongoing “I Want To Be Recycled” campaign. The ads are narrated by shampoo bottles who dream of being recycled into something more. In “Smile,” the shampoo bottle just wants to be noticed. After being tossed in the recycling bin, the bottle returns as a hair brush to “make people smile.” Things get a bit more over-the-top in “Superhero,” when another shampoo bottle dreams of becoming a superhero and decides, after being recycled as a comb, that this mission has been accomplished. Both spots end by directing viewers to IWantToBeRecycled.org for more info and an interactive recycling game.

“Washing your hair, putting on deodorant, applying skin cream — common bathroom activities — are all associated with packaging that can be recycled,” PJ Pereira, chief creative officer and co-founder of Pereira & O’Dell, said in a statement. “The new creative aims to change people’s mindsets about recycling in the bathroom. While we use all these personal care products to take care of ourselves, we can also help take care of the world by making sure the products we use in the bathroom make it to the recycling bin. The spots continue to demonstrate how you can give your garbage another life by recycling.”

Credits:

Client/Brand: Keep America Beautiful/Recycling
Client Brand Manager: Advertising Council
Agency: Pereira & O’Dell
Chief Creative Officer: PJ Pereira
Executive Creative Director: Jaime Robinson
Creative Director, Copywriter: Eduardo Marques
Creative Director, Art Director: Rafael Rizuto
Copywriter: Sara Uhelski
Art Director: Leila Moussaoui
Project Manager: Adam Russel
Account Director: Ashley Brown
Senior Account Executive: Jennifer Wantuch
Vice President, Director of Strategy: Nick Chapman
Strategist: Beth Windheuser
Executive Producer: Jeff Ferro
Broadcast Producer: Judy Kreiter
Production by Hello!
Director: Graeme Joyce
Executive Producer: Mike Brady
Head of Production: Dominick Ferro
Producer: Valerie Thomas
Editorial by Cut & Run
Editor: Sean Stender
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Producer: Remy Foxx
Music
Composer: Skylar Bishil
VFX/Online Finishing by SpyPost
Colorist: Chris Martin
Executive Producer: Lori Joseph
Sound Design & Mixing by One Union
Lead Mixer / Sound Designer: Matt Zipkin
Producer: Lauren Mask

BBH London has a new ad for Mentos NOWMints parodying breath mint advertising cliches.

The 40-second spot opens predictably enough, with a guy kissing a girl goodnight on the cheek to end a date and then sharing a NOWMint with her. As he walks away, they both turn around and she blows him a kiss that turns into a bunch of butterflies. He blows one back that turns into a bouquet, but then things go unexpectedly, and comically, wrong. It makes for one of the more memorable, and certainly one of the funnier, ads we’ve seen in the (usually pretty predictable) category.

The spot will, unfortunately, run in broadcast only in Italy, but will have a much more widespread online life on YouTube.

Credits:

Client: Mentos NOWMints
Agency: BBH London
BBH Creative Team: Shelley Smoler, Raphael Basckin
BBH Creative Directors: Gary McCreadie, Wesley Hawes, Shelley Smoler, Raphael Basckin
BBH Strategy Director: Ben Shaw
BBH Strategist: Jamie Watson
BBH Business Lead: Carly Herman
BBH Team Director: Tom Woodhead
BBH Team Manager: Francois d’Espagnac
BBH Producer: Natalie Parish
BBH Assistant Producer: Sarah Cooper
Production Company: Blink
Director: Benji Weinstein
Executive Producer: James Bland
Producer: Patrick Craig
Director of Photography: Simon Richards
Postproduction: The Mill
Editor, Editing House: Max, Stitch
Sound: Sam Ashwell, 750mph

More than a year after his contentious debut, Crispin Porter and (not) Bogusky decided to revived its “Captain Obvious” protagonist for the latest Hotels.com campaign.

In the main spot — directed by Ted Melfi of recent Bill Murray vehicle St. Vincent — Captain Obvious notes a classic comic trope: a hapless, helpless man locked outside of some room/building or another without the benefit of clothing to cover his naughty bits.

There’s a twist at the end or, rather, the bottom of this ad:

In addition to that :30, the campaign also includes a series of “Gym” shorts designed to air in conjunction during the same program. Here they are in one clip:

So Captain Obvious is a fan of the hard sell…and he’s realistic about his workout goals.

He also frequently shares his version of Deep Thoughts on the social media:

Perfume commercials are a good way to learn nothing about a product.

— Captain Obvious (@CaptainObvious) March 3, 2015

Hotel booking site commercials, on the other hand…

Can’t Hide

ORMAL CLIENT NAME: Hotels.com

CAMPAIGN TITLE: The Obvious Choice

EXECUTION TITLE: Can’t Hide

AGENCY: CP+B

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Ralph Watson

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR(s): Dan Donovan

DESIGNER: Ryan Dixon

INTEGRATED HEAD OF VIDEO: Kate Hildebrant

EXECUTIVE INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Deb Drumm

SENIOR INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Jessica Coccaro

PRODUCTION COMPANY & CITY: Brother, Los Angeles

DIRECTOR: Theodore Melfi

HEAD OF PRODUCTION (PRODUCTION CO): Monica Reimold

CEO, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (PRODUCTION CO): Rich Carter

PRODUCER (PRODUCTION CO): Sean Hobbs

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: John Lindley

POST PRODUCTION & CITY: Method Studios, New York

EDITORIAL COMPANY & CITY: Cut+Run, New York

EDITOR: TG Herrington

SOUND DESIGN COMPANY & CITY: Sonic Union, New York

EVP/MANAGING DIRECTOR: Danielle Whalen

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Adam Barger

CONTENT SUPERVISOR: Brice Tomlinson

CONTENT MANAGER: Alyssa Fitterer

BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Chris Herrington

COGNITIVE ANTHROPOLOGIST: Brian O’Connell

CLIENT TITLE & NAME(s): Neha Parikh, VP/General Manager, North America, Mike Wolfe, Sr. Director of Brand Marketing, Nick Hayes, Director of Advertising, Melissa Nguyen, Brand Manager

Gym: Spring Break Sale Serial

FORMAL CLIENT NAME:                Hotels.com

CAMPAIGN TITLE: The Obvious Choice

EXECUTION TITLE: Gym: Spring Break Sale Serial

AGENCY: CP+B

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Ralph Watson

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR(s): Dan Donovan

COPYWRITER: Chris McMahon

DESIGNER: Ryan Dixon

INTEGRATED HEAD OF VIDEO: Kate Hildebrant

EXECUTIVE INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Deb Drumm

SENIOR INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Jessica Coccaro

PRODUCTION COMPANY & CITY: Brother, Los Angeles

DIRECTOR: Theodore Melfi

HEAD OF PRODUCTION (PRODUCTION CO): Monica Reimold

CEO, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (PRODUCTION CO): Rich Carter

PRODUCER (PRODUCTION CO): Sean Hobbs

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: John Lindley

POST PRODUCTION & CITY: Method Studios, New York

EDITORIAL COMPANY & CITY: Cut+Run, New York

EDITOR: TG Herrington

MUSIC COMPANY & CITY: JSM, New York

COMPOSER: Joran Lieb, Joal Simon

SOUND DESIGN COMPANY & CITY: Sonic Union, New York

SOUND DESIGNER: Steve Rosen

EVP/MANAGING DIRECTOR: Danielle Whalen

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Adam Barger

CONTENT SUPERVISOR: Brice Tomlinson

CONTENT MANAGER: Alyssa Fitterer

BUSINESS AFFAIRS: Chris Herrington

COGNITIVE ANTHROPOLOGIST: Brian O’Connell

CLIENT TITLE & NAME(s): Neha Parikh, VP/General Manager, North America, Mike Wolfe, Sr. Director of Brand Marketing, Nick Hayes, Director of Advertising, Melissa Nguyen, Brand Manager

Dick’s Sporting Goods, which recently tugged at the heartstrings for the holidays and asked viewers to give “gifts that matter,” goes for a different emotional angle with its new campaign.

Anomaly’s most recent work for the client, launched this week, is a bit more traditional. “The Question” is a somewhat standard inspirational sports ad consisting of a series of hard-working clips bookended by a young kid imagining himself in the literal spotlight:

This ad, which will debut on ESPN later this week, stars amateur athletes rather than actors and builds on Dick’s past inspirational messages.

The ensuing campaign will include the usual mix of print, digital, social, and OOH.

Fusing modern innovation with old-school cinematic effect, Venables Bell & Partners launched a new campaign for Audi which emphasizes the “advanced technology” of the automaker’s A6 model.

For movie buffs, VB&P’s national ad was directly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 suspense/horror classic The Birds — only now, the villainous creatures have been reconfigured for today’s world.

In a statement, Audi of America director of marketing Loren Angelo writes:

“Audi doesn’t use technology for the sake of technology. As a brand, we’ve committed to bringing to market technologies that truly serve a purpose for the driver. The new spots demonstrate how intuitive and intelligent Audi A6 is, but also how accessible the technology can be.”

Along with the national spot, we have a more low-key, regional part of the “Challenge All Givens” campaign (below) featuring a father and daughter trying to bond with the aid of social media in their Audi A6, (which touts advanced in-vehicle technology).

As part of the tech-centric campaign, Audi will also roll out free WiFi service in select airports across the country beginning March 30.

Audi “Drones”

Agency:  Venables Bell & Partners

Founder, Chairman:  Paul Venables

ECD:  Will McGinness

Creative Director:  Tyler Hampton, Lee Einhorn

Art Director:  Greg Wyatt, Byron Del Rosario

Copywriter:  Bryan Karr

Director of Integrated Production:  Craig Allen

Executive Producer:  Mandi Holdorf

Producer:  Hannah Murray

Acct Director:  Justin Pitcher

Acct Manager:  Oliver Glenn

Prod Company:  MJZ

Director:  Dante Ariola

DP:  Matthew Libatique

Executive Producer:  Scott Howard

Line Producer:  Natalie Hill

Editorial:  Rock Paper Scissors

Editor:  Adam Pertrofsky

Asst Editor:  Marjorie Sacks

Executive Producer:  Angela Dorian

Producer:  Shada Shariatzadeh

VFX:  The Mill

VFX Supervisor, 2D Lead:  Gareth Parr

VFX Supervisor, 3D Lead:  Simon Brown

Creative Director:  John Leonti

Executive Producer:  Enca Kaul

Producer:  Chris Harlowe

Production Coordinator:  Karina Ford

Music: Elias Arts

ECD: Vinnie LoRusso

CD: Mike Goldstein

EP: Vicki Ordeshook

Head of Production: Katie Overcash

Sound Design:  Brian Emrich, Trinitite

Mix:  Loren Silber, Lime Studios

Audi “Teenager” TV Credits

Spot title: “Teenager”

Client: Audi

Air Date: 3.4.15

Agency:  Venables Bell & Partners

Founder, Chairman: Paul Venables

ECD:  Will McGinness

Creative Director:  Tyler Hampton, Lee Einhorn

Art Director: Byron Del Rosario

Copywriter:  Meredith Karr

Director of Integrated Production:  Craig Allen

Executive Producer: Mandi Holdorf

Producer:  Hannah Murray

Acct Director:  Justin Pitcher

Acct Manager: Oliver Glenn

Prod Company:  MJZ

Director:  Dante Ariola

DP:  Matthew Libatique

Executive Producer:  Scott Howard

Line Producer:  Natalie Hill

Editorial:  Rock Paper Scissors

Editor:  Adam Pertrofsky

Asst Editor:  Marjorie Sacks

Executive Producer:  Angela Dorian

Producer: Shada Shariatzadeh

VFX:  The Mill

VFX Supervisor, 2D Lead: Gareth Parr

VFX Supervisor, 3D Lead: Simon Brown

Creative Director: John Leonti

Executive Producer:  Enca Kaul

Producer:  Chris Harlowe

Production Coordinator: Karina Ford

Music: Elias Arts

ECD: Vinnie LoRusso

CD: Mike Goldstein

EP: Vicki Ordeshook

Head of Production: Katie Overcash

Mix:  Sam Casas, Lime Studios

R/GA and The Ad Council teamedup for “Love Has No Labels,” a three-minute PSA about bias and diversity.

To create the PSA, they set up a large X-ray screen in Santa Monica on Valentine’s Day and had people of all genders, races and ages embrace behind the screen and then step out to reveal their identities, catching the crowd’s reaction in the process. The spot opens on two skeletons of unspecified origin kissing behind the screen. As they each emerge on separate sides, it’s revealed that they are both women and the crowd’s surprised reaction tells you something about why R/GA and The Ad Council are working on this campaign in the first place.

“We decided to take this on because we felt it was very important to encourage people, all Americans, to examine their unconscious biases,” Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of Ad Council, told Adweek. “As much progress as we’ve made as a country, we absolutely still have more work to do.”

The spot launches a year-long campaign that includes partnerships with Human Rights Campaign and the Anti-Defamation League.

Credits:

Client: Ad Council
Campaign: “Love Has No Labels”
Agency: R/GA
Production Company: Persuade Content

Last year, Leo Burnett released one of the most celebrated (and certainly one of the most watched, with over 56 million views on YouTube) spots of the year for Always with “Like A Girl.” That ad explored the drop in confidence girls face at puberty, along with the negative effects of the phrase “like a girl” when used as an insult, before redefining the phrase in a more positive light.

Now, in time for International Women’s Day this Sunday, the agency has revealed a follow-up that exclusively deals with the phrase’s new positive definition, entitled “Stronger Together.” The spot shows young girls around the world demonstrating some amazing skills in basketball, hockey horseback riding, martial arts, tennis, ice skating and more. Picking up where its predecessor left off, the spot is inspiring, continuing to turn the phrase into an expression of girl power. The spot ends by inviting viewers to “Share what you do #LikeAGirl,” making for a nice social extension which will make viewers feel included and may even lead to future content. Even if the new spot doesn’t reach the same viral success as the first (it won’t), it carries the same important message and expands on it with specific instances of the term’s redefinition that, especially coupled with the social initiative, can help make a positive impact for pubescent girls.

“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Make It Happen,’ and that’s exactly what girls are doing by rewriting the meaning of #LikeAGirl,” Fama Francisco, global vice president of Always, told Adweek. “The new video celebrates amazing young girls around the globe and encourages everyone to continue the movement every day and everywhere, because together, we’re making #LikeAGirl mean amazing things.”

W+K wasn’t the only agency that got involved with Coca-Cola’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of its iconic bottle. The brand also tapped Ogilvy & Mather Paris to create a series of ads celebrating the milestone.

The longest of Ogilvy & Mather Paris’ efforts is the 60-second, animated “Tale of Countour” (featured above), which tells the origin story of the Coca-Cola bottle, as imagined by one boy to his brother. It’s an imaginative series of events, including the bottle being chiseled away by birds, struck by fireworks and more, while attached to a kite. The brother doesn’t buy it, dismissively saying, “Yeah, okay,” at the recounting of events. Both the content and animation style fit well with the brand’s larger “Open Happiness” campaign, and the recounted origin story is likely a lot more interesting than the bottle’s actual origins in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Smaller scale efforts from Ogilvy include “3/37 Degrees,” which informs viewers that Coca-Cola “tastes happiest” at 3 degrees celsius/37 degrees fahrenheit, the carbonation-celebrating “Bubbles,” the simple salutations of “In The Dark — Happy Birthday” and “Heart.”

RPA launched a new (reportedly $100 million) campaign for Apartments.com Sunday with the “Launch” spot (60-second online version featured above) starring Jeff Goldblum as “Silicon Valley maverick” Brad Bellflower.

Goldblum’s character lampoons Silicon Valley tech stereotypes, as he throws out buzzwords like “connected,” “synergisitic,” and “thought-leading.” He also finds time to describe how Apartments.com (or, as he calls it, the “apartminternet”) can help you find the right apartment. Goldblum’s involvement will no doubt gain the brand some attention, and he brings as much as he can to the role, though the dry humor fails to convincingly land any satisfactory punchlines.

The ad debuted during The Walking Dead and launches an “expansive, year-long national, regional, local and hyper-local media buy…designed to reach 95 percent of target audience 18 to 49 years old.” More ads will roll out over the course of the campaign, with placements during “high-profile premieres and season finales,” including The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Empire, Survivor, and MLB and NBA games (including the NBA playoffs). The campaign will also be supported by widespread OOH, digital and social components.

“Apartments.com is determined to communicate with every renter in the country,” said Joe Baratelli, CCO at RPA, in a statement. “Jeff Goldblum perfectly portrays Brad, an over-exaggerated tech powerhouse, to capture attention for Apartments.com—the best apartment site on the market—while establishing the website as a trusted resource that will ensure people find the place they’ll love.”

Credits:

Agency: RPA
EVP/Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
SVP/GCD: Pat Mendelson
CD/AD: Hobart Birmingham
CD/CW: Perrin Anderson
ACD/AD: Kirk Williams
ACD/CW: Eric Haugen
SVP/Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff
VP/Executive Producer: Selena Pizarro
Producer: Joshua Herbstman
Agency Assistant Producer: Grace Wang

Production: Anonymous Content
Director: Tim Godsall
Director of Photography: Bryan Newman
Executive Producers: Eric Stern & Rick Jarjoura
Executive Producer/Production: SueEllen Clair
Line Producer: Brady Vant Hull
Production Supervisor: Timothy Kreis

Editorial: Cut+Run
Managing Director: Michelle Eskin
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Head of Production: Amburr Farls
Editor: Steve Gandolfi
Assistant Editor: Sean Fazende

Finishing: Jogger Studios
Creative Director: David Parker

VFX: Framestore
Sr. Executive Producer: James Razzall
Producer: Andrew McLintock
Design Director: Sharon Lock
CG Artist: Mike Bain
2D Supervisor / 2D lead – Michael Ralla

Audio Post Company: Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Jessica Locke
Sound Engineer: Dave Wagg

Transfer: Company 3
Executive Producer: Rhubie Jovanov
Producer: Alexis Guajardo
Colorist: Sean Coleman

Music Company: Barking Owl
Head of Production: Whitney Fromholtz
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett

Talent: Jeff Goldblum

NASCAR wants very badly to expand its viewership.

That’s what we took from this ad by Ogilvy New York, which debuted during the Daytona 500 race just over a week ago.

In the campaign, driver Carl Edwards (what do you mean, you’ve never heard of him?!) uses the science of sports cars to stimulate students’ academic curiosity in what looks like his second job as a substitute teacher.

It all ends well: Edwards supplements his meager NASCAR salary by working as a public educator and the kids get ice cream for…well, nothing, really.

As the press release describes it, the NASCAR Acceleration Nation initiative (created in partnership with Scholastic) will “make learning [math and science] fun for kids” while coincidentally turning them into lifetime racing fans.

Of course, if the young lady in question had only known that this year’s Daytona 500 (which effectively serves as opening day for NASCAR) included a four-song set by Kid Rock, she would have aced her physics exam for a chance to go.

Credits

Creative:

Chief Creative Officer: Chris Garbutt: CCO, Ogilvy & Mather New York

Group Creative Director: Terry Finley, Senior Partner

Executive Creative Director: Tommy Henvey

Creative Director: Rich Wallace, Senior Partner

Production: 

Executive Producer: Patti McConnell, Senior Partner,

Producer: Dave Lambert

Music Production Coordinator: Chris Mazur

Senior Producer: Michael Freeman

Account Management/Planning:

Managing Director: Martin Murphy

Management Supervisor: Aditi Reddy

Account Executive: Emily Zale

Group Planning Director: Jennifer Peterson

Planner: Jake Stanley

Business Manager: Meg McGinley