Anomaly Launches First Work for New York Life

After winning creative duties for New York Life late late year, following a review launched in April, Anomaly has launched its first work for the client.

The campaign, “Be Good At Life,” will launch with a 30-second spot starring comedian and onetime Daily Show regular Demetri Martin entitled “Welcome to the World.”

In the spot, Martin advises, “Better start saving for college tuition” as the scene shifts back and forth between Martin calmly gardening and a man nervously looking on as his wife gives birth. “But you don’t have to think about that right now,” Martin adds, “because New York Life can help you manage your family’s financial future.”

The spot will make its broadcast debut this Saturday and run in 60, 30 and 15-second versions. It’s a bit of a strange approach, to say the least. The juxtaposition of Martin’s gardening and the chaotic birthing scene seems designed to grab attention, while Martin’s involvement in the first place seems obviously designed to attract a certain demographic.

“We have made a choice to focus more specifically on the maturing millennials market because we believe it’s so important to break through and win their attention to encourage our ability to grow and their ability to have access to financial security,” New York Life senior vice president, chief communications and marketing officer Kelli Parsons told AdAge, adding that Martin only signed on for the launch spot but may appear in future ads. 

In addition to being Anomaly’s first effort for the brand, “Be Good At Life” marks New York Life’s first campaign since “Keep Good Going” in 2012. Code and Theory, which was named the brand’s digital agency last December, has redesigned the brand’s website as part of the campaign’s digital push. The campaign also includes OOH elements in cities including New York.

What Were Chester Cheetah and Burger King's King Hinting at During Those NFL Ads?

Anyone who watched an NFL game on Sunday saw a short teaser commercial about 100 times where Cheetos spokescat Chester Cheetah and Burger King mascot the King were seen sitting together at a BK restaurant, all exciting about … something.

That something wasn’t made clear, although the King did put a handful of Chicken Fries on the table, hinting at the possibility of a forthcoming Cheetos Chicken Fries menu item, to go along with the Burger King Mac n’ Cheetos introduced over the summer.

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UX Director Peter Gallo Goes from Tribal to Code and Theory

Peter-UX-600x200-2To follow up on last week’s post about changes at Tribal Worldwide, we’ve confirmed that Peter Gallo left the position he held there for less than a year to become a UX Director at Code and Theory.

Some quick background: prior to the Tribal gig, Gallo served as UX strategist at Grey New York after five years at @radical.media.

The agency had no comment beyond confirming the hire.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Cubes: VIP Tour of Code and Theory

Code and Theory is a creative agency behind publishing websites like “The Verge,” and “Interview” magazine. They also have an odd fondness for the Dewey Decimal System.

Managing partners Steve Baer and Mike Treff took the mediabistroTV crew on an Olde Timey New York meets modern design tour of their fifth floor offices. The guys showed how they added wide open spaces, planned randomness and hip wood floors to the windows, the wood and the brick that originally came with the building built by the Astor family in 1886. Then there were the books, the many, many, many books.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.