Hasta La Creative!

In celebration of the Sochi Paralympic Games, BBDO Toronto has crafted a dramatic ad that steers viewers towards the celebration of the athlete’s skills and to look past their disabilities.

Using a letterbox effect, the ad focuses on only a select portion of each athlete at first. It only reveals their full identities at the very end of each scene, urging the viewer to realize a Paralympian can be every bit as impactful in performance as an able-bodied athlete.

Of the approach, BBDO Associate Creative Director Simon Craig said,”When we look at Paralympic athletes, we can make the mistake of focusing on their disabilities, instead of their extraordinary abilities. This campaign forces the viewer to see all the amazing things that make these Paralympic athletes great. To catch them in the midst of competition is an awe-inspiring experience by any definition.”

The Paralympic games will be held March 7-16.

OK, 45 seconds into this minute-long, Mullen-created ad for Acura that has us viewing a race between four mechanical horses and one real horse and I’m like, “How the hell is this going to become a car ad?”

Well, much like the transition between a paved highway and a backwoods dirt road at 100MPH, it — miraculously — does and with a voiceover that says, “Acura. Performance that changes the game. Of power that goes beyond the machine.”

Oh, OK, I get it. A real flesh and blood horse is better than a mechanical one. Wait, what? Aren’t cars mechanical? Or am I missing something? Is Acura out with some sort of new-fangled bio-mechanical vehicle we don’t know about?

To tout its association with the Sochi Olympics, Carnival is out with an amusing and fun, Arnold-created ad which has a band of boys slowmo-ing their way to a Carnival water slide to bobsled their way down as a star-struck girl looks on.

And that’s really al there is to sat about that. Enjoy.

To quickly answer the question posed in the headline, perhaps not if you knew exactly what it was made of. But let’s not get burdened by a few trivial nutrition details. No. Let’s just wallow in the craziness these people go to in this CP+B-created commercial for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

To the tune of What I Did For Love, a guy blows off a busty babe in the grocery store for a box of KMC, grandpa skips the blessing for a bite, a hipster dude hides a box inside a box of prunes, a mom scarfs up leftovers off a plate, a dad eats his kids art project and a lady steal an entire 18 wheeler-load full of KMC.

We have to admit, no matter what it’s made of, it does taste great!

We love Barton F. Graf 9000’s current for for Little Caesars. Why? Because it’s so off the wall and the scenarios are so random. It’s most recent commercial, a couple of guys get swallowed up by giant bean bag chairs when all they want to do is go get a $5 pizza.

It’s not as awesome as the High 85 but we still love its randomness.

Hmm. The Paleo people would likely disagree but, hey, the milk lobby isn’t an easy one to knock down. The chocolate milk lobby…now that’s another thing. In a new black and white spot for chocolate milk, Greenpoint Pictures‘ directors, The Hudson Dusters, along with Deutsch New York, work with the NHL’s Zach Parise. The spot aims to illustrate how “chocolate milk is the fuel that powers Parise’s drive to be the best of the best.”

Of the creative approach, The Hudson Dusters said, “We wanted to shoot Zach in a much more intimate and personal way than we are used to seeing hockey players. We wanted to put viewers in the mind of Zach Parise and make them feel the speed and power of professional hockey. Zach helped take the spot to another level with his natural performance and his incredible skill on the ice.”

I’m not sure this Business Insider headline, “All Of Britain Has Waited An Entire Year So It Can Burst Into Tears In Front Of This One TV Commercial,” accurately captures the story but it will certainly get you to read the story.

While the commercial in question, British retailer John Lewis’ annual Christmas commercial, The Hare & The Bear, is certainly sweet, we think it’s more likely to bring a smile than a tear. But to each his own. We aren’t judging. We do like the commercial. Which, to be fair, is, in fact, judging when’s all said and done.

Anyway…the Bear & The Hare is a heartwarming story of a friendship between, yes, a hare and a bear, who part ways when snow falls and it’s time for the bear to hibernate. But, after the hare leaves the bear a present, the bear reappears Christmas day to experience it all for the first time. Right there along with every other creature in the forest who always get along in commercials but, who, in real life, would likely tear each other apart in a blood bath of epic proportion.

But let’s not let that tiny little reality sway us from enjoying this $1.6 million animated epic of another kind. The holiday kind. The cheerful kind. The heartwarming kind. The kind that makes you go, “Oh wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all got along like these animals do?”

Guys, answer me this. I mean really. If Taco Bell said you would be three times the man if you ate its Triple Steak Stack would you waste that increase in manhood on a pick up basketball game or would you immediately make a booty call to your favorite lady and share with her your triple-sized manhood?

I mean, really. The answer is simple, isn’t it? Be honest.

Props to Deutsch LA.

As jewelry store wedding proposal commercials go, this one from Zales is sweet and low key steering clear of cheesiness and metaphor. Created by GSD&M, the campaign is called Let Love Shine and features the track, Ends of the Earth, by Lord Huron.

The jeweler has, for the past two years, partnered with up and coming bands including The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes and Various Cruelties.

The simplicity of this ad is what makes it work so well.

Everyone seems to love the AT&T Not Complicated campaign. We’re indifferent. But that’s not going to stop us from sharing with you (like you haven’t seen it already), BBDO’s latest entry to the campaign. It, of course, is Halloween-themed and is all about candy. Sadly, there is no Crest/Oral B-style puking.