Hasta La Creative!

Apple is back with another one of its “shot on iPhone” ads just in time for the device’s 10th anniversary and a whole bunch of fanboy takes about how This One Product Has Totally Changed the World.

This time, however, the theme is a bit more specific than usual. It’s about Canada, and how that country is suddenly an island of inclusiveness in an increasingly hostile world!

This is particularly topical given that the U.S. has witnessed a sharp decline in international opinion over the past six-plus months for some completely unknown reason. Who needs to collaborate with Germany anyway?

“My vision as a professional photographer, and as a Canadian, was to personally seek out and explore the stories of this vast country through the unique lens of iPhone,” said Caitlin Cronenberg, who played a dual role here as both the picture-taker and the daughter of David Cronenberg. “We saw the people, we met the people, we shot the people and places.”

Humble the Poet, who narrated the whole thing, added, “Canada now represents an unparalleled freedom. We’re not simply tolerant, we celebrate and live diversity on our own terms.”

The ad was created by Media Arts Lab in coordination with Apple’s in-house team and the music was by A Tribe Called Red, which mixes contemporary styles with those of indigenous Canadians.

In conclusion, Eastern Promises was a great movie and a cool glimpse into our future membership in the Russian mob.

FCB New York launched a digital campaign promoting LG’s new OLED TV by surprising “Serious Watchers” with TVs delivered by cast members of the shows they’re obsessed with.

Directed by Jeff Tremaine, the opening spot in the campaign features an Orange Is The New Black obsessive named Chris. He buys the LG OLED TV, expecting an ordinary delivery two days later. Instead, actress Yael Stone shows up, completely in character as inmate Lorna Morello , and things get a little awkward before the spot concludes with the tagline, “The TV for the Serious Watcher.”

Over the coming, months LG will release a whole series of social activations “challenging the #SeriousWatcher community to prove just how serious they are in unexpected and sometimes extreme ways,” according to a press release. It’s also easy to imagine the approach applied to the release of new seasons of other popular shows.

“Since the dawn of television, product marketers have focused mainly on specs, often overlooking the reason people buy TVs in the first place: the content they love to watch,” LG Electronics USA head of home entertainment marketing Michelle Fernandez said in a statement. “And while we’re leading today’s TV technological revolution with LG OLED TVs, we dreamed of a more emotional connection between our products and the passions of consumers.”

“Serious Watchers aren’t an exclusive bunch,” added FCB New York executive creative director Stu Mair. “We all have a show we’re obsessed with, like Orange is the New Black. LG wanted to connect the love we all have for these shows to the way we watch them, and remind people they owe it to themselves and the show creators to view these shows the best way possible – turning the TV itself into a badge of honor.”

Credits:
Agency: FCB New York
? Ari Halper, Chief Creative Officer
? Stu Mair, Executive Creative Director
? Laszlo Szloboda, Associate Creative Director, Copy
? Akos Papp, Associate Creative Director, Art
? Laura Dunn, Business Lead
? Lucie Kittel, Account Supervisor
? Kyle Burt, Operations Manager
? Deb Freeman, Chief Strategy Officer
? Raig Adolfo, SVP Planning Director
? Chris Gilbert, Senior Social Strategist
? Leelee Groome, Head of Production
? Sydney Richardson, Associate Digital Producer

Client: LG Electronics
? David VanderWaal, Vice President, Marketing, LGE-US Home Entertainment/Home Appliances
? Michelle Fernandez, Senior Director, HE Consumer Marketing
? Chris De Maria, Senior Manager, Public Relations
? Tricia Green, Senior Brand Manager
? Alfred Lee, Senior Digital Manager
? Courtney Callahan, Digital Content Manager
? Mark Lee, Head of US Content Business Development
? Matt Durgin, Director NA Smart TV Content Partnerships
? Rachel Olson, Senior Shopper Marketing Manager
? Martin Valdez, Product Training Manager
? Woochang Lee, Smart TV Ops. Manager, LGEUS Content Innovation

Partner Client (Netflix)
? Magno Herran, Senior Partner Marketing
? Torie Gleicher, Sr. Manager, Originals Marketing, OITNB

Production: Helo
? Jeff Tremaine, Director
? Brendan Kiernan, Executive Producer
? Justin Moore-Lewy, Executive Producer
? James Okumura, Director of Integrated Production

Production: Gorilla Flicks
? Shanna Newton, Executive Producer
? David Siev, Office Manager

Editorial Company: Cosmo Street
? Aaron Langley, Editor
? Maura Woodward, Executive Producer
? Anne Lai, Producer

Audio company: Sonic Union
? Rob Mclver, Audio engineer
? Justine Cortale, Producer

CAA Marketing launched a new spot promoting Budweiser in China, starring actress Fish Liew and singer/actor Eason Chan. Chan also worked with DJ Alok on a song for the campaign.

A somewhat ambiguous dystopian sci-fi narrative with an impressive set, the spot finds Liew going through the monotonous motions of her daily routine when she imagines an EDM-fueled party and leaves her place in line (for work?). She stumbles upon a bar where Chan serves her a Budweiser and by the end of the spot she’s found her way to the real party.

It’s an ambitious approach, far more so than Budweiser’s attempts domestically, which lately seem to hinge on stoking patriotism (despite parent company A-B InBev being headquartered in Belgium).

In China, Budweiser isn’t quite the market leader it is stateside. CR Snow’s Snow Beer, which controlled over 23 percent market share last year, is the top beer brand in the country, according to Euromonitor International, while Budweiser accounts for around 3.6 percent, good for fifth place. Snow Beer overtook Tsingtao Brewery’s Tsingtao Beer as the number one beer brand in China several years ago.

Clearly Budweiser hopes CAA Marketing’s futuristic spot, complete with star power and EDM soundtrack, can help the brand continue to grow in the country.

“It’s a metaphor for people living in modern society in Shanghai, New York or Paris – people are doing their routine, living up to other people’s standards or expectations,” Matt Che, Budweiser’s North Asia-Pacific market vice president, explained to AdAge.

Interestingly the brand has been experimenting with utilizing EDM since before it became popular in the country.

“A brand shouldn’t always just see what consumers like,” Che said. “We should be taking them with us, beyond expectations.”

Credits:

Agency: CAA Marketing
Cast: Fish Liew, Eason Chan, Alok Petrillo
Kara:
Fish Liew
Co-worker: Olha Petrykkyiv
Co-worker: Talia Malovana
Co-worker: Wasuthond Chirawimuthrath

Production: Dapper TV
Executive Producer: David Lyons
Unit Production Manager: Kathy Tisler
1st Assistant Director: Pattra Kanjanamek
2nd Assistant Director: Panicha Pannasirichard
3rd Assistant Director: Phasakorn Mahakanok
Script Supervisor: Samavee Pummuang
Producer: Wicha Khokapun
Production Manager: Piyaporn Indageha
Coordinator: Pisanu Takasiyanan
Production Secretary: Nattaya Anuruk
Art Director: Sarayut Nimnate
Art Director Assistant: Saree Sicharoen
Art Team: Teerawat Singhadechachai
Art Team: Pongnarin Labkim
Art Team: Warawut Ruangkanokmas

So you’re an international business traveler based in New York who’s attending an overseas event in, say, southern France.

Since LaGuardia is probably not an option, you’re going to have to shell out 50 bucks for a cab to JFK … or are you?? United Airlines and mcgarrybowen New York have taken the opportunity to let the business class know that there is another way.

Agency and client teamed up with Verifone Media, Kinetic and some handy GPS software to show skeptical city folk that Newark Airport or EWR is considerably closer.

In place of your standard taxi-top ad, the agency fitted 125 yellow cabs with trackers to show exactly how much faster your commute would be if you were flying out of Jersey.

To get all technical, the displays are working on real-time data from the Curb app, which updates the time estimates based on the car’s geolocation and surrounding traffic patterns.

One reason for this campaign: A recent $120 million renovation to United’s Terminal C at Newark, which is the 15th largest hub in the country.

“The ‘New York Minute’ is all important to Manhattanites, yet many subjugate this tenet to the irrational view that JFK is their most convenient airport,” said mcgarrybowen ECD and managing director Haydn Morris. “How better to convince them than to utilize their favorite, iconic transport- plus everyone knows that taxi-drivers have the answer to everything, right?”

United director of global advertising Daniel Cuellar added, “We’re proud to work with mcgarrybowen and our media partners to launch this new and innovative technology on taxi tops that not only grabs the attention of New Yorkers, but helps deliver the message that Newark Liberty International is much closer and easy to get to than you think.”

Of course, by the time one flags the cab in question, the tickets have been bought. But maybe next time you have to fly 3,000 miles across the ocean to accept the Lion of St. Mark, you’ll consider a trip to Jersey. It’s not like you have to pay the property taxes or anything.

In addition to the taxi top placements, this campaign also includes OOH billboards, phone kiosks, bus shelters and in-airport units.

CREDITS

mcgarrybowen
Managing Director, ECD: Haydn Morris
Group Creative Director, Copy: David DiRienz
Associate Art Director: Steven Graziano
Sr. Art Director: Erik Jansen
Copywriter: Anthony Pagaza
Account Managing Director: Joey Ziarko
Account Executive: Amy Laughlin
Account Superviser: Kayla Friedman
Executive Director, Strategy: Diane Epstein

Taxi Media Network: Verifone Media
Verifone, Vice President Taxi Media: Chris Polos
Verifone, National Account Manager: Lonnie Passy
Verifone, Sr. Product Manager: Daniel Fish

Media Agency: Kinetic & MEC
Kinetic, Director: Robin Yablonski
Kinetic, Manager: Stephanie Chiu
Kinetic, Account Executive: Kelsey Moran
Kinetic, Assitant Account Executive: Micaela Moffa

MEC, Partner/Director: Megan Warfield

RPA launched a new “Keep The Peace” spot promoting the 2018 Honda Odyssey minivan.

It opens on a pair of giant monsters terrorizing a city while fighting over a bus. A pair of soldiers soon hatches a plan, as one distracts the monstrous duo while the other pulls a lever cracking the street in half and tearing apart the duo.

That’s when the scene shifts to reveal it’s just the little monsters in the backseat fighting over a toy. Mom utilizes the Odyssey’s “Magic Slide” seats to separate fighting siblings and offers up another toy to keep peace. It’s not exactly a surprising reveal, but the initial action sequence should appeal to the backseat crowd while mom and dad see the appeal in such peacekeeping smart features.

The campaign also includes a 30-second “Now Boarding” spot running on Telemundo, Univision, and ESPN Deportes, a print component and a sweepstakes in partnership with Disney offering participants a chance to win a 2018 Honda Odyssey and a family trip to Disneyland.

“When kids are happy, parents are happy, so the goal of this new campaign is to communicate that the all-new Honda Odyssey has the connectivity, functionality, flexibility and fun-to-drive handling to keep everyone in the family happy,” Honda Marketing assistant vice president Susie Rossick told The Drum, in a statement.

Credits:

Agency: RPA
Client: Honda
EVP, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
SVP, Chief Creative Development: Jason Sperling
SVP, Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff
VP, Executive Producer: Isadora Chesler
VP, Creative Director: Chuck Blackwell
VP, Creative Director: Ken Pappanduros
Sr. Art Director: Hide Konishi
Copywriter: Anthony Cardenas
Sr. Producer: Fran Wall
Production Coordinator: Elijah Jones
VP, Director of Business Affairs: Maria Del Homme
EVP, Chief Client Officer: Brett Bender
SVP, Group Account Director: Fern McCaffrey
VP, Group Account Director: Adam Blankenship
Management Supervisor: Jacob Gentry
Account Director: Jane LoSasso
Account Executive: Chris Varela
Account Executive: Cathlyn Gonzales
SVP, Group Strategic Planning Director: Christian Cocker
Associate Director Strategic Planning: Nargis Pirani
Associate Director Strategic Planning: Rich Bina
Strategic Planner: Cody Levin
Product Information Manager: Marco Fantone

Michael Bay is the Cindy Gallop of directing: he blows shit up. Americans and Chinese teenagers love the resulting CGI spectacles more than he likes sports cars and high heels.

He also sometimes directs old fashioned advertisements!

The latest such example is a new spot for auto paint and repair company Maaco, whose 45th anniversary just happens to coincide with the release of Bay’s newest Autobot opus, “Transformers: The Last Knight.”

The company has launched a partnership with the movie in an attempt to reach younger viewers, and here’s the first spot from The Tombras Group of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Megan Fox lookalike? Check. Bro-tastic car? Check. Implications of bad behavior that some will read as general badassery on behalf of “Brad?” Oh hell yes.

See, the people interested in seeing this movie are the same people who might need to get a new paint job. And one can see why Bay (who has to personally approve every ad tied to his movie) liked it enough to take the helm.

“We’ve been transformation specialists for 45 years, so the partnership with “Transformers: The Last Knight” is ideal for us,” said Jason Ryan, President of Maaco. “Consumers of all ages love the heroic action of the Transformers movies, and this provides a way to build new awareness of the Maaco brand. It also provides an excellent new vehicle to reach the millennials as an entirely new generation of customers.”

Here’s the landing page explaining that this promo involves 500 auto body shops, etc.

Dooley Tombras, EVP of The Tombras Group, called this “a unique creative opportunity to work with two iconic brands and explore their shared equity around cars.” And of course it also involved the guy who directed “The Rock.”

Here is an artist’s rendering of what “Brad” might look like.

(And yes, we know this is a McLaren, not a Camaro. Every one of our high school classmates’ older brothers either had a red Camaro or said he was getting one as a graduation present.)

CREDITS

Creative Director: Charlie Andrews
Writer: Jason Brown
Art Director: Brian Feeney
Producer: Charlie Andrews
Production Co.: Industry Creative in cooperation with Paramount Pictures
Editing Co.: Wiser Post (LA), Elastic Pictures (Knoxville)
Director: Michael Bay
Music: Auralation Audio, Knoxville
Sound design/mix: NPall Audio, Nashville

This is your father’s root beer.

The Richards Group launched a new “Caught on Snap” spot for A&W Root Beer featuring a dad who appears to be a big fan of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group brand. After taking a sip from a foamy mug of A&W Root Beer, he breaks out the goofy dance moves and, of course, his kids are there to capture the whole thing and share it on social media.

We’re not convinced the friend’s reaction of “I wish my dad was that cool” is exactly realistic, but to be fair we don’t really have any idea what the kids think is cool nowadays. We expect it will be an easier sell to cool-aspiring dads than their kids. The spot manages to fit into a brief 15-seconds, making the transition a bit jumpy at times but preventing it from dragging on.

Credits:
Client: A&W

Agency: The Richards Group
Producer: JR Dixon
Art Director: Andrew Harper
Writer: Lynn Bossange

Production Co: Honor Society
Directors: Cary Murnion & Jonathan Milott

Post: Lucky Post
Editor: Logan Hefflefinger
Assistant Editor: Juan Vargas
EP: Jessica Berry
Color: Neil Anderson
Finish: Tim Nagel
Audio Mix: Scottie Richardson

Apparently our nation’s highly talented football players occasionally feel the need to relive their middle school years, chillin’ at the roller rink circa 1980.

In a feel-good spot we missed from last week from the good people at Wieden+Kennedy Portland, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and some unnamed members of the 49ers demonstrate why that could be a problem for certain ballers.
See, because the grip on the Nike Alpha Menace Elite is so intense that the other players might as well be on roller skates. We get it!

But why would the 49ers want to have their logo on a bunch of players getting schooled so completely?

That was pretty fun, but the product itself looks less like an athletic shoe than that web-like stuff the alien uses to prop its victims up against the wall.

“In terms of cleats we’ve made before, this is our antagonist,” said designer Jeff Rasmussen, adding, “It has a dangerous, gritty vibe.” (As if you didn’t get that already.)

CREDITS

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Portland
Client: Nike
Creative Director: Ryan O’Rourke
Creative Director: Alberto Ponte
Creative Director: Dan Viens
Copywriter: Kevin Steele
Art Director: Brandon Viney
Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Producer: Deb Drumm
Associate Producer: Amy Berriochoa
Account Team: Alyssa Ramsey
Account Team: Erik Wade
Account Team: Tobin Kittoe
Strategic Planning: Nathan Goldberg
Strategic Planning: Reid Schilperoort
Media/Comms Planning: Reme DeBisschop
Media/Comms Planning: Ryan Craven
Media/Comms Planning: Justin Bradley
Business Affairs: Anna Beth Nagel
Creative Management: Shannon Hutchinson
Creative Management: Leticia Barajas
Studio Design: Denny Robles
Studio Design: Michael Rosenau
Studio Design: Seth Shelman
Production company: Doomsday Entertainment

Competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi stars in Fitzgerald and Co.’s new spot for Checkers/Rally’s, promoting the chain’s new $1 fries offering by doing what he does best.

If you’re unfamiliar, Kobayashi is the Japanese competitive eater who won the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Competition sixth consecutive years before a contractual dispute prevented him from competing. He showed up to the event in 2010 and was arrested after appearing on stage. Kobayashi also holds the world record for eating 110 bunless hot dogs in 10 minutes at the New York State Fair.

The spot opens with a warning not to attempt what you’re about to witness. From there, it’s pretty much just Kobayashi stuffing his face with fries for 60 seconds.

While certainly impressive in its way, we’re not sure it’s the best way to advertise the fast food chain. On the one hand, yeah, all those fries would have only cost Kobayashi five bucks. On the other hand, many people will probably find it pretty gross (although not nearly as gross as eating 57 cow brains in 15 minutes, another Kobayashi record), as competitive eating doesn’t exactly have the most broad appeal. Those viewers may stay away from such indulgences as a result. But hey, what do we know? Maybe there’s a correlation between Checkers customers and competitive eating fans.

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Fitzgerald & Co., Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Noel Cottrell
Executive Creative Directors: Mitch Bennett, Wes Whitener
Associate Creative Director: Jean Tanis
Creative Director: Dave Gordon
Copywriter: Max Schein
Art Director: Joe Abruzzo
Director, Editor: Tom Rittenhouse
Head of Integrated Production: Christine Sigety
Producer: David Berngartt
Chief Media Officer: Liz Daney
Group Media Director: Anna Sherrill
Assistant Media Director, Digital: Jessica Fergen
Senior Connections Strategist, Social: Tyler Baugh
Connections Strategist, Social: Lauren Gourley
Managing Director: Evan Levy
Group Account Director: Jeff Quick
Management Supervisor: Madison Gargan
Assistant Account Executive: Lauren Edwards
Project Manager: Allison Ponce

BBH New York launched a new campaign for Sony PlayStation, the brand’s promotion featuring discounted games and systems, running from June 9-17.

Set to the Steve McCarthy-penned “It’s A Sunshine Day” song from The Brady Bunch, the spot opens an idyllic suburban neighborhood on a perfect summer day. Except the pool is empty, there’s no one on the tennis courts, even the ice cream truck is abandoned. You probably know where this is headed.

A man walks into one of the houses to find seemingly the whole neighborhood gathered around watching two opponents square off in MLB: The Show 17, one of the games featured in the promotion, ending by highlighting that the limited-edition gold PS4 shown is $249.99 as part of the offering.

The 30-second spot made its debut yesterday and comes on the heels of the brand selecting AKQA D.C. as its new digital agency, following a review. It’s unclear if the assignment will impact the scope of BBH’s relationship relationship with PlayStation.

Credits:
CLIENT:
Eric Lempel, Senior Vice President Marketing & Head of PlayStation Network, SIEA
John Koller, Vice President, Marketing, SIEA
Eric Lachter, Director Brand Marketing, SIEA
Alex Gomez, Brand Manager, SIEA
Dianne Segovia, Brand: Associate Marketing Manager, SIEA
Alex Hackford, Senior Artists & Repertoire / Music Affairs, SIEA

AGENCY:
John Patroulis – Creative Chairman
Gerard Caputo – Executive Creative Director
Dave Brown – Creative Director
Daniel Bonder- Creative Director
Alex Thompson – Art Director
Alanna Watson – Copywriter
Bruno Borges – Head of Design
Breck Henson – Director of Business Affairs
Finnian O’Neill – Business Director
Kendra Schaaf – Account Director
Enrique Espinetti – Account Manager
Brian Groff – Account Executive
Kate Morrison – Head of Production
Adam Perloff – Executive Producer
Kendra Salvatore – Strategy Director
Dylan Fauss – Strategist
Zack Green – Communications Planner
Kelly Bignell Asedo – UX Director

PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Furlined
DIRECTORS: Speck & Gordon
DOP: Jeff Cutter
LINE PRODUCER Greg Schultz
EDITOR: Andy McGraw
EDIT COMPANY: Cartel
VFX: Blacksmith
SOUND DESIGN: Q Department
MIXER: Tom Jucarone, Sound Lounge

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION COMPANY CREDITS:
Furlined President: Diane McArter
Furlined Senior Executive Producer: David Thorne
Furlined EP/Director of Development: Ben Davies