Hasta La Creative!

Belgium’s Flemish government recently commissioned DDB Brussels to come up with a way to get people to stop googling their medical symptoms, leading to myriad, and potentially harmful, (self) misdiagnoses.

The agency came up with a pretty intriguing solution, buying Google Adwords for the top 100 searched symptoms and directing searchers to the Gezondheid en Wetenschap (Health and Science) website through a message stating, “Don’t Google it, check a reliable source.” They also made a promotional clip (featured above) for the campaign, introducing the issue of the perils of self-diagnosing via Google search. “I have a deadly disease, and I’m going to die in six weeks,” says a man with a solemn expression on his face. Suddenly, though, his expression relaxes and he adds, “Or at least that’s what I thought when I used Google to diagnose my twitching eyelid.” It’s a good way to get your attention, using the most dire of scenarios to draw attention to the ineffectiveness of using a tool like Google for self diagnosis, as 75 percent of the population does. Since, on the Internet, “anyone can be a doctor,” the video states, you’re likely to find the wrong solution, which can potentially make things worse (as it illustrates through comic exaggeration). It’s a clever campaign, and by placing the information in the right place at the right time, DDB Brussels just may help change people’s behavior. (more…)

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R/GA enlisted Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in its latest ad for fashion headphones brand Beats, entitled “Straight to the Gym.”

Newton, of course, is no stranger to advertising, having recently appeared in spots for Gatorade and Under Armour (which he can be seen wearing here).

The basic approach of the “Straight to the Gym” is nothing new. “Give up, that’s what they want you to do. Stop, that’s what they want you to do,” says Newton in a voiceover that plays as he puts on a pair of wireless Beats and begins an intense workout. The 60-second spot leans heavily on its soundtrack: Kendrick Lamar‘s guest verse on Jay Rock‘s “Pay For It.” In the ad’s most interesting moment, Newton lets out an agonized scream mid-pullup, driving home the message of the song, and the spot. The ad very much follows in the footsteps of R/GA’s recent ads for the brand showing athletes working out, such as the recent spot celebrating LeBron James’ homecoming, and this ad starring Serena Williams. Maybe it’s time to change up the formula?

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Wieden+Kennedy’s latest spot for Sony, titled “Script to Screen,” has already earned more than a million YouTube views since its debut this weekend. But it’s new to us, and it’s the opening of the Fall edition of the brand’s ongoing “Be Moved” campaign, which started during the Golden Globes in January and continued in February with a profile of the New Jersey man behind “the world’s largest model railroad.”

“Script to Screen” is a bit less…quirky than that offering:

In case you missed it, the point is that Sony doesn’t just make movies, music and games — they also make the tools.

Since this work is all about the products, we have two product-specific spots after the jump.

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180 Amsterdam has launched a new campaign for Sony’s PS4 holiday push entitled “Welcome to the Future of Play.”

In what has long been the standard for gaming advertising, players are thrust into the action of a game. “I don’t want to die…again,” says one of the players, as he and a friend hide during a fierce battle. The friend decides they have three options: check YouTube and hope someone shared how to get past the stage via the PS4?s “Share” button; ask their friend Dave how to survive the Viking attack; or invite Nick to join them in the game, even though he doesn’t own the game. The last option illustrates one of the PS4?s big selling points, that you can join a friend’s game remotely, even if you haven’t purchased the title. The way the ad arrives at this point, however, may seem a little forced to some viewers.

The campaign is launching simultaneously in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Middle East, as the holiday season approaches. In addition to the broadcast spot, the campaign also includes print and OOH elements, each focusing on one of the key new features for the PS4 promoted in the spot. (more…)

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MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER has launched a campaign for Zoosk entitled “First Comes Like.”

Instead of hard-selling the percentage of matches who end up married or implying that Zoosk can be used as a hookup site, the agency takes a middle ground, showing a couple’s misadventures on their first date and beyond. It’s an interesting approach that positions the brand as an alternative to both dating sites that push marriage (such as Match) and more hookup-centric sites like Tinder. Instead, Zoosk appeals to young people looking for a relationship, but not ready to think of marriage.

The way the spot portrays the excitement and awkwardness of a budding relationship is charming and feels more honest than the typical portrayals of couples in the category. There’s also a 60-second online version (featured after the jump), offering a more complete glimpse of the relationship.  (more…)

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Following a string of viral digital ads, Dollar Shave Club is making the leap to broadcast television.

The move follows the company’s recent success, as, according to founder and CEO Michael Dubin, the brand “finished October with 1.1 million active subscribers, $7.2 million in monthly sales and what the company estimates as a 10% volume share of U.S. cartridges.” Dollar Shave Club also recently raised $50 million in venture capital funding.

“It’s no secret that advertising on television is a great tool in building your brand,” Dubin told AdAge. “Some of the messages we wanted to communicate felt really right for television.”

Dubin declined to specify if the budget for the broadcast campaign came from revenue or the recent round of venture capital funding. A former improv comic, Dubin co-wrote the ad, entitled “Security” with Alec Brownstein, Dollar Shave Club’s creative director. Radical Media’s Steve Miller, who has worked on the “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign, directed the spot. “Security” pokes fun at the extreme lengths many stores go through to keep their razors from being stolen, often placing them under lock and key. “It’s almost like they don’t want you to buy their razors,” the ad jokes. A second spot, “Free Gift” takes a similar approach, employing mocking humor. (more…)

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Agency Zeus Jones worked with comedic duo Tim & Eric (Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim) to create a truly bizarre ad for Totino’s.

At the heart of the long ad is a really catchy jingle, which Tim & Eric sing along to and dance around. But add in some strange characters, such as Hard Rock Joe, the song’s supposed writer, some trippy, intentionally bad production and the duo’s typical brand of zaniness and you have “Pizza Freaks Unite” — which is to say one of the stranger ads for a pizza product you’ll ever see. Of course, the spot’s WTF factor is what makes it so memorable (along with the catchy song) and should lead to it being shared across social channels. Of course, Tim & Eric are no strangers to advertising, having most recently made waves with this ad for GE Lighting starring Jeff Goldblum. While “Pizza Freaks Unite” doesn’t quite live up to that recent success, it’s still worth a view if you have a couple minutes. It may be the strangest thing you watch all day. Unless, of course, you watch this.

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Multi-disciplinary agency Mistress worked with Ubisoft to create a cinematic trailer for the upcoming release of Assasin’s Creed Unity, the latest in Ubisoft’s long-running franchise which is set for a November 11th release.

Mistress teamed up with production company Mothership Media and VFX studio Digital Domain to bring the trailer to life. The spot opens on in-game action, which text informs the viewer takes place in 1789, during the French Revolution. Then the action cuts to a group of friends sitting in a row, each with controller and headset in place, demonstrating the game’s new cooperative multiplayer feature. From here action switches between the friends and their in-game counterparts in the all too common “thrust into the action” trope. Still, Mistress and company pull it off better than most, pacing the transitions well and giving a good glimpse of the action gamers can expect while presenting a persuasive representation of being thrown into the world of the game. The ad ends with a new tagline for the franchise, “Make History,” which seems like a great fit.

“We loved working with Mistress because they had a distinct vision of what the spot should be, they stuck to it and Ubisoft trusted that instinct,” Director Neil Huxley said. “Using everything from the performances of the gamers which were edgy and fun to every weapon at our disposal from our VFX pipeline, helped us arrive at a very stylized cinematic spot we’re all very proud of.” (more…)

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W+K Amsterdam have launched a campaign for Audi’s new TTS Coupe.

The campaign is built around a broadcast spot entitled “Leap of Faith.” Rather than build a case for the car in the usual format touting various features, W+K Amsterdam lets the vehicle speak for itself (sort of). The ad begins with what looks like a meteor in the sky. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that it is in fact an Audi TTS Coupe rapidly approaching the ground. Luckily, rather than crashing into the land below, the car lands on an elaborately staged landing track and speeds off to the road ahead. A bit over the top, maybe, but it’s at least does something a little different for its category, ending wih the tagline, “The New Audi TTS Coupe. You Dare or You Don’t. (more…)

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To repeat the popular Mark Twain misquote, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

We’re not sure why San Francisco’s DOJO didn’t respond to any of our requests for information on last month’s rumor that it would soon be closing its doors or why its listed phone number stopped working, but the agency certainly appears to be operating normally: today we received two new campaigns for client Sound United’s audio brands Definitive Technology and Polk Audio.

First we have John Legend sounding “so real” in two…no three…no four…places at once:

After the jump, three spots for Polk.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.