Hasta La Creative!

One really can’t write an item about Brooke Shields doing La-Z-Boy ads without referencing her spectacular advertising debut 32 years ago (yes, 32) for Calvin Klein when, at 15, she coyly uttered the famous line, “You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”

Now, at 47 and still looking quite the hottie, Brooke can be seen in a pair of new La-Z-Boy commercials. In one she is tormented by a neighbor who just can’t get over the fact she got her furniture at La-Z-Boy. In another, Brooke makes note of the fact it’s La-Z-Boy’s 85 anniversary and that the brand knows it doesn’t need an ad that screams, Sale!”

Or does it?

If we didn’t know this wasn’t a Japanese commercial, we’d certainly think it was, in fact, a Japanese commercial. It’s got all the telltale signs. Cutesy cheesiness. Dancing. A silly song.

OK so it’s only a little like a Japanese commercial and it is kinda fun. After all, how can you fault a bunch of well choreographed kids dancing on a rooftop to pimp a fashion brand?

Paris-based Fred & Farid created the ad for Domyos My GYM’Y brand tracksuits. Benjamin Millepied choreographed.

TBWA\Chiat\Day is out with new work for Gatorade that features Olympian Usain Bolt. After his stellar performance in London, we see a hooded Bolt passing through London’s dark, damp streets and parks as he heads to the Olympic Stadium. A voiceover, which touts the fact Gatorade didn’t need to have a presence at the Olympics, intones, “We weren’t there on stadium billboards. We weren’t there on double decker buses. We weren’t on buttons, souvenirs or commemorative snowglobes. We weren’t there officially sponsoring anything. We were there for real. Inside the bodies of some of the greatest athletes on earth.”

In typical athlete-related advertising, the spot ends with Bolt swilling some Gatorade, taking position at the starting line and giving us a mean “I am the best, don’t mess with me” look which is all quickly followed by the Gatorade logo.

Wait, what? What’s that voice intoning this new Downy Infusions commercial? Yes. It’s the man your man could smell like, Isaiah Mustafa. It seems Grey New York wanted in on the Isaiah Mustafa action when it sought talent for the ad. And in a nod to Wieden + Kennedy’s Old Spice work, Mustafa ends the commercial, yes, on a horse.

AgencySpy reports Wieden + Kennedy “demanded” to be on set despite having no life-long ownership over Mustafa. Both Downy and Old Spice are P&G products so it would seem the powers that be over at the client aren’t overly concerned. In fact, it may have been their idea.

The spot’s purpose is to rebrand Downy Simple Pleasures as Downy Infusions.

Also of note is the whistling in the spot, a historical hallmark of the Old Spice brand. Is this ingenious cross-branding or lazy creative?

Crispin Porter + Bogusky is out with another 90’s flashback for Old Navy. Having capitalized on Mayim Balik and Joey Lawrence, the agency has turned to the original 90210 alums Jason Priestly and Gabrielle Carteris for its latest outing. The spot is as quirky as ever with Priestly and Carteris posing as teachers in a color-fueled, robotically-enhanced school whre a “new girl” makes her debut.

Hey we like the spot but all these “retro” commercial do is make us feel old.

In a new GoDaddy…uh…Nationwide Insurance ad, GoDaddy…uh…Nationwide Insurance spokesperson Danica Patrick touts the brand’s current mantra; that it doesn’t have shareholders so it’s puts its members first. She also touts the brand’s long-running Vanishing Deductible which, according to this commercial, results in something much better than a $0 deductible: Danica Patrick’s phone number.

Courtesy of rabble rouser Dale Earnhardt, Patrick’s number is revealed so those who have lusted after her for years in GoDaddy commercials can harass her. Of course, if the lustful actually call her, they will be disappointed. The number is not Danica’s cell number but it does lead to a message from her asking for suggestions on how she can return the prank to Earnhardt in a future ad. ANd if Danica likes your suggestions, she just might call you back. Fan boys can only hope.

Close-Up toothpaste is sort of a dead brand in America. But not overseas. Oh no. At least not according to this new work from Lowe and production company Hungry Man.

Gasoline brand advertising has always struck us as pointless.

McCann New York is out with its first work for IKEA. A two minute film focuses on what life would be like without textiles

So Old Spice makes your man the man your man could smell like. Axe and Lynx turns men into drool-worthy lady magnets. So what’s left for Brut?