Gale and MilkPEP Dive Into Branded Entertainment by Unleashing Vanessa Bayer on a Farm

Dairy farmers have made many efforts to get more people interested in milk products, from the genius “Got Milk?” campaign to the recent “Wood Milk” effort with Aubrey Plaza. Now, the Milk Processor Education Program (better known as MilkPEP) and agency Gale are continuing to educate and entertain, enlisting former Saturday Night Live star Vanessa…

Teleflora Drops a Mother’s Day Ad Celebrating the Whole Person, Not Just the Caregiver

Mom wasn’t always a mom, you know. She had a life before childbirth, and it might well have included singing in a band, jumping out of an airplane and traveling the world. What if Mother’s Day advertising highlighted those pre-maternal wild hairs and personality traits, which might be long buried but could still be very…

Xfinity and Filmmaking Legend Kathryn Bigelow Debut ‘Aviators’ Short Film

Crafting a larger-than-life narrative spurred by down-to-earth characters is one of director Kathryn Bigelow’s trademarks as a filmmaker. Teaming up with Xfinity, Bigelow and her team have brought that lens to a touching reunion story among Air Force veterans ahead of Military Appreciation Month. Showing the way technology can help people forge and maintain relationships…

Fanta’s Famous Jingle Is Back With New ‘Wanta Fanta’ Remix

The world has changed a lot since the early aughts, but Ogilvy and Mather’s “Wanta Fanta” earworm is still going strong. The fun-loving spirit of the original campaign, first introduced to us by the dance group the Fantanas in 2002, has now been remixed and reimagined for Gen Z. Embracing enjoyment and pleasure over necessity…

Zillow Offers Some Reassurances About Moving After Emotional Bluey Episode

The double-length episode of Emmy Award-winning Disney+ family show Bluey, “The Sign,” brought in more than 10.4 million views and made plenty of them cry as the characters stressed about the decision to sell their house. While the Heelers eventually decided to stay put, real estate marketplace Zillow and Ryan Reynolds’ agency, Maximum Effort, used…

Adam Scott Adds ‘Facial Hair Enthusiast’ to His CV in Philips Norelco Campaign

Adam Scott, in the crucial moments before filming a scene, is preoccupied with his grooming, not his lines, and that’s a problem even before he launches into a story about his dad’s full and fabulous beard. The actor–an affable scene-stealer known for Parks and Recreation, Party Down and Severance–is starring as himself in an ad…

Commerce Can No Longer Be Where Creative Goes to Die

Last year, global ecommerce sales totaled nearly $6 trillion and are expected to grow 10% this year. People expect nothing but the best shopping experience every time, and expectations increase every time they experience something better. This represents a sharp departure from how commerce has traditionally been approached–as a mere transaction after all the creative…

Owen Wilson Does His Best Steve Jobs Impression for a Beauty Startup Ad

Prolific actor Owen Wilson has a new gig, and at first glance, it may seem like he’s playing tech entrepreneur Steve Jobs, complete with the trademark black turtleneck and PowerPoint presentation in front of a cheering crowd. “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Wilson tells a rapt audience…

A Life in 3 Minutes: Swedish Lingerie Brand Debuts an Emotion-Packed Ad

There’s a wide range of messy and emotional territory covered in just shy of three minutes in a new campaign from a legacy Swedish brand called Lindex. It’s a multigenerational story, centered on a mother-daughter rite of passage, that flows from the combative teen years to the relative contentment of middle age, weaving in the…

Outback Steakhouse Will Replace Your Flakiest Friend With a Paid Actor for One Night Only

Flaky friends, gotta love ’em, are a menace to society. The missed reservations and leftover concert tickets alone can really build up over the years. If only there were some way to have a backup bestie available in the event of a last-minute cancellation. If only… Anticipating a flaky friend’s last-minute change of plans is…

Here’s My Beef With Ad Agencies

If you caught my LinkedIn post, you know I’ve got some serious beef with the current ad agency model. I mean, let’s call a spade a spade–it’s broken. Outdated. And in desperate need of a shake-up. Apparently, I struck a nerve because that post blew up. We’re talking over 800,000 impressions, 5,000 reactions and a…

These Rising Creatives Won U.S. Cannes Young Lions Competition

The U.S. Cannes Young Lions Competition has its newest set of winners hailing from TBWAChiatDay LA, Weber Shandwick, Initiative and FCB New York. The 2024 winners will represent the U.S. in the global competition during the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in June. The competition is growing in the U.S. with more 500 teams ultimately…

Heineken and Bodega Drop a Boring Phone to Help Gen Z Switch Off and Party

At Milan Design Week, where the world’s most innovative design is on display, one of the buzzworthy launches could be a throwback phone with basic features from the early 2000s. Heineken collaborated with streetwear retailer Bodega to create The Boring Phone, a device purposefully designed with reduced tech capabilities. Produced by Nokia manufacturer Human Mobile…

In Bridgerton and Flonase Collaboration, Both Love and Allergies Are in Bloom

Season 3 of Shonda Rhimes’ hit Netflix series Bridgerton focuses on the relationship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, a pairing fans have dubbed “Polin.” Inspired by the similarity to the word pollen, Shondaland’s agency Creative Artists Agency reached out to GSK’s Flonase to produce a campaign tied to both allergy season and the show’s…

The Questionable Hiring Practice Catching Marketers Unaware

You’ve aced the interview process and made the final shortlist. But there’s one more step: Write a comprehensive test assignment (entirely for free) and hope you get the role. It requires days of work with no guarantee–and often, the job isn’t even available. Employment scams vary, and there are times when companies seek your ideas…

Canal+ Ad Gives an Inspirational Action Movie a Shocking Ending

Time can seem to stand still in action movies when the star gives a big speech during a disaster or while a countdown ticks towards calamity. French broadcaster Canal+ pokes fun at this trope with an ad where the classic inspirational monologue doesn’t go as planned. The nearly four-minute film starts with a frantic call…

CeraVe’s Super Bowl Follow-Up Is a Romcom Trailer With a Bizarre Twist

After its viral Super Bowl campaign featuring actor Michael Cera, skin care brand CeraVe is again blurring the lines between advertising and entertainment with a movie trailer for a romantic comedy. The trailer previews a fake film, The One Under the Sun, that has all the makings of a Netflix romcom sensation, with a woman…

Hinge’s Mascot Goes to Heaven to Celebrate Dating Success Stories

Dating app Hinge has found plenty of creative ways to kill off its furry mascot in its “Designed to Be Deleted” campaign, which positions the brand as a way to find real love instead of temporary connections. The fifth iteration of the platform uses real dating success stories to show its mascot, Hingie, being rewarded…

The Social Playbook Is Dead. Long Live the Social Philosophy

It’s the summer of 2023 and our team is putting the final touches on a 100-page social playbook for a client. Boom, another social platform launches. It’s not the first (or last) time this has happened. But at the time, this thought occurred: Why are we spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on…

Why CeraVe, Velveeta and Bottega Veneta Are Putting the Paparazzi on Speed Dial

While some A-listers shirk the paparazzi, others accept the press pack are part and parcel of show business. Some celebrities even stage their own photoshoots, inviting photographers to capture seemingly candid moments and shop them around the tabloids. Now advertisers including Velveeta, CeraVe and Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta are taking a leaf out of…