Hasta La Creative!

There are ads that poke fun at other brands. There are ads that poke fun at the ad industry. There are ads that poke fun at big brand advertising. There are ads that poke fun at advertising’s propensity to over-hype the simplest of things. This ad is all four of those things and more.

We’re not going to tell you what it’s for. Just watch. We will, however, say you may feel like eating a bit more healthy after viewing this ad.

Delightfully toying with the ridiculousness of multi-tasking that has devoured the lives of “mainlanders,” Kona Brewing is out with a new spot, Dear Mainland, featuring two Hawaiian brothers who think sitting in a meeting sending texts about another meeting where you’ll send emails about the first meeting is, well, not so great.

The brothers think it’s much better do do just one thing once in a while. And they have a wonderful name for it. Single Tasking. And, of course, it’s best exemplified by having a Kona beer.

The ad, created by Duncan/Channon, closes with one of the brothers saying, One life. Don’t blow it.” Good point.

Taking an out of context, you-had-to-be-there approach to promoting Colonial Williamsburg, The Martin Agency is out with two new commercials which aim to highlight the destination’s many attractions which, when explained out of context, can be a bit off putting.

If you were walking past your neighbor’s house and you asked them how their vacation was and they answered, “there were gunshots, explosions, angry mobs – it was fantastic,” you might scratch your head a bit. But that’s exactly what these ads are going for. Because Colonial Williamsburg is not your typical vacation destination.

Which is why these spots, interspersed with imagery of what you’d actually experience if you visited, work so well.

Working towards identifying with the few members of the male species who do actually grow up and appreciate the finer things in life, Goodby Silverstein & Partners is out with a new ad for Corona Light that takes a decidedly different approach to beer marketing.

In the ad, a man in a bar marvels at the fact he’s drinking a light beer he can actually taste, that her can hear himself think, that his shoes aren’t sticking to the floor and that’s he’s taking home that smoking hot brunette…because she’s his wife.

Yes, a grown up beer ad for grown up men. Maybe things can change.

On the innocence of childhood. And the power of that innocence as leverage marketers can use to get people to buy stuff. Phrased that way, it makes ads featuring kids seem crass. But thankfully, most ads featuring kids are simply beautiful. Like this one for Turkish Airlines.

In the ad, we see three kids looking up into the sky and watching plane pass over. In one translation, the kids wonder why the plane never lands where they are so they decide to build an airport to see if a plane will land. It does. But to the children’s surprise, it’s just over a mountain top at another airport.

It’s all about how the global airline also covers all its bases domestically as well.

No, this isn’t another item about Robert Scoble taking a showers while wearing Google Glass. But it’s most certainly the same idea taken to extremes. It’s bad enough we’re all glued to our phones when we could be interacting with those around us but check out what happens during dinner with this four-eyed family.

It’s all to tout mobile banking from First Bank. The ad, created by TDA_Boulder, illustrates the idiocy of dealing with Google Glass-like technology and signs off with, “The FirstBank Mobile App. Technology has never been so easy.”

Ignited is out with an ad for Sanuk Shoes that envisions why simply wearing the brand’s shoes will maintain your comfort even in life’s most uncomfortable situations, like sitting in front of a kid who won’t stop kicking your seat on a nine hour flight.

So why is this ad dumb? First of all, not even the most comfortable shoes will assuage the antics of a crazed kid on a plane. And second, if you’re going to imply that only the guy in the middle is bothered by the kid. and not those sitting next to the guy, you might want to detach the seats from each other before you shoot the commercial.

While Jim Beam is having a grand old time with Mila Kunis touting its bourbon and the brand’s heritage, the folks over at Woodstock Bourbon have eschewed anything and everything but straight on stereotype.

In a video entitled How We Roll, that’s exactly what we get. A bunch of Southern bourbon dudes barrel rolling their way through the day — including barrellel parking — because, well, the more the barrels are turned, the better the bourbon tastes.

The brand doesn’t appear to be as steeped in tradition as Jim Beam but in New Zealand, where apparently the brand’s Woodstock Bourbon and Cola is quite popular, they like to “crack a woody.”

The comments on AdWeek’s Ad of the Day review of Old Navy’s new Chandelier-created ad featuring MADtv comic Debra Wilson sum it up perfectly.

“Interesting. I didn’t laugh once. Nevertheless, I think this actually COULD be funny if they cut it to a :30 and simplify by focusing on the fake wand sounds gag. That’s the only comedic idea I see here. The rest of this spot is just trying way too hard.”

“Meh. You can tell the client added the ending.”

“Reno 911 stereotype transferred to TSA situation, and realized as a SNL sketch. Sure why not the jeans are only $19.”

“REEEEAAAAALLLLLYY could’ve done without the circus music at the end.”

Conversely, AdWeek’s Tim Nudd says, “Old Navy just made its best commercial in a long time.”

We beg to differ. It’s just not funny. In fact, it’s really, really creepy. Having your ass ogled by a TSA agent? Yea, it’s supposed to be a joke but, again, it’s not funny. And the ending is just plain stupid.

You do understand that the new Cadillac commercial with Neal McDonough extolling the virtues of good old-fashioned, America-style hard work is a bit of a parody, right? Granted, there are asshats like this in America who make you want to take a shit on the hood of their brand new Cadillac but consider this, those are the people who can afford to buy a Cadillac.

Like it or not, asshat or not, this ad perfectly targets the Cadillac buyer. Or, at least, the stereotypical version of the Cadillac buyer. And isn’t that what advertising’s all about? Slicing consumers into categories and then creating caricatures of of those categories to better identify with a particular slice?

Most people won’t/can’t buy this car. That’s why most people don’t like the ad.

And, besides, you have to admit, it’s pretty awesome for its non-formulaic approach to car advertising.