Miller Lite is an iconic beer brand. I appreciate that the two spots shown below honor and feature this basic brand fact. “Miller Lite, we invented light beer, and you.” An audacious claim, for sure, but will it drive members of Gen Y to belly up to their local dive bar and order one 96-calorie […]
The post Child, If Your Dad Didn’t Drink Miller Lite, You’d Be Stardust appeared first on AdPulp.
Fans of Jack Link’s meaty treats are not done “Messin’ with Sasquatch.” For this, we can be thankful. However, there are new beasts to contend with.
This eagle, for instance:
“Hangry Moments,” developed by Carmichael Lynch, will run alongside the existing “Messin’ with Sasquatch” campaign, also developed by Carmichael Lynch.
“We’re really proud of the work that we’ve done for Jack Link’s over the last decade,” said Mike Lescarbeau, CEO of Carmichael Lynch. “The ‘Hangry Moments’ campaign continues the funny, disruptive, and over-the-top storytelling that has become a hallmark of Jack Link’s advertising.”
Jack Link’s is a family owned and run business headquartered in the tiny North Woods town of Minong, Wisconsin. The company is also the fastest-growing meat snack manufacturer in the world.
They have wolves in northern Wisconsin!
The post Jack Link’s Jerky Returns To The Wild With New Campaign from Carmichael Lynch appeared first on AdPulp.
David Lubars is Chief Creative Officer of BBDO in New York.
Therefore, it is safe to conclude BBDO/NY will consistently make beautiful work.
Shot documentary-style by Greenpoint Pictures’ directorial duo The Hudson Dusters, the films capture real, inspirational stories from places around the globe where GE technology is truly making a difference.
The films are running online in GE markets all around the world, and further stories will be rolled out throughout the year.
Previously on AdPulp: Brands Use Instagram to Paint 1000 Words
The post BBDO/NY Rolls Film, Presents GE’s Technology As A Service To Humanity appeared first on AdPulp.
Colle+McVoy’s new work for USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming, is meant to inspire more kids to take up the sport and make it easier for parents to find clubs, pools and lessons.
To do that, the agency needed to make swimming cool. I’d say they won that race on the strength of high-def camera work, the music bed and copy that connects.
“Basketball. Softball. Cannonball. Which sounds the most fun to you?”
Adpulp asked Mike Caguin, chief creative officer of Colle+McVoy about the campaign.
Q. Slow motion is popular right now. Is there a reason you chose this camera technique? Does it increase tension or interest?
A. Being in the water is so different than anything else. We used slow motion to capture that unique feeling. With its fluid forms, waves and bubbles, water is stunningly beautiful to the eye. Slow motion helped us romanticize that even more.
Q. I like the music. Who is the artist?
A. A Minneapolis hip-hop producer named Benzilla partnered with us on the music track for “The Walk”. The Skeptics supplied the music for “Cannonball” and “Alligator”.
Q. Swimming is an individual and a team sport. How did this play, or did it play, in the development of the work?
A. It’s true. The beauty of competitive swimming is that it is both an individual and team sport, which is why we struck a balance with our work. Some messages are clearly speaking to the individual aspect of the sport, while other messages are meant to highlight the social and team aspects of swimming.
Q. I like that this campaign didn’t go to the “be a future Olympian” de facto place and instead focuses on the everyday experience of summer time at the pool.
A. Exactly. The research shows what any parent who’s stayed in a hotel knows that swimming and swimming pools create fun, lasting moments for kids. There’s something magical and transformative about being in the water. Why not give your kids even more of those moments by signing them up for a swim team?
The post New Campaign for USA Swimming Is Advertising Gold appeared first on AdPulp.
Cadillac chose to feature an arrogant white man with questionable values to promote its new electric vehicle. Thankfully, Ford made a much wiser decision. It’s 2014 Ford C-MAX is introduced in the following video by Pashon Murray, founder of Detroit Dirt, a sustainability consultancy and advocacy group in Detroit.
“We’re crazy entrepreneurs trying to make the world better,” Murray establishes.
According to Detroit Free Press, Ford spokeswoman Sara Tatchio described the video as “lighthearted.” She’s correct about the tone of the ad, but the message is pretty serious.
“The C-MAX is sending a message about where we’re going in the future and caring about conserving resources. This is a movement about changing Detroit and practicing sustainability. That’s why they came at me,” Murray said, explaining how Ford’s agency Team Detroit chose her for the spot.
There is much to like here. I especially appreciate Ford saying that there’s nothing wrong with walking to the market to buy locally produced goods. This is the correct position on sustainability—buy a car from us, because you’re going to need it, but walk when you can.
Speaking honestly about transportation and natural resources takes balls when you’re a car company. It also makes mocking the French for their short work weeks and long vacations seem like some serious douchebaggery.
N’est-ce pas?
Previously on AdPulp: Howard Roark Drives a Cadillac ELR—So Can You
The post The New Detroit Rolls Up In A Ford C-Max appeared first on AdPulp.
Taco Bell encouraged real men with a famous name to testify! “I am Ronald McDonald and I love Taco Bell’s new breakfasts,” several real Ronalds repeat into the camera.
This new campaign from Deutsch LA is not exactly brilliant, but it may breakthrough. And breakthrough is what it is going take to loosen McDonald’s grip on the morning hours—McD’s currently dominates with 31 percent of sales. Egg McMuffin ain’t no joke.
Ad Age’s reading of NPD data indicates that breakfast in 2013 logged its fourth consecutive year of growth for restaurants, while lunch and dinner continue to decline. Fast food, which accounts for 80% of total restaurant morning meals, showed the strongest growth, with a 4% increase over the prior year. And the forecast looks good: NPD estimates that fast-food breakfast will grow a cumulative 9% over the next nine years.
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the hot item on Taco bell’s breakfast menu is expected to be the waffle taco—a waffle that cradles scrambled eggs and a sausage patty and is served with a packet of syrup for $1.79.
An Instagram post by a customer who stumbled across the waffle taco went viral, sparking about 4 million impressions.
UPDATE: The Ronald has responded on Facebook in a visually stimulating way.
Previously on AdPulp: A Smothering Jewish Mother Smothers Son With Taco Bell, Son Eats It Up
The post Real Ronald McDonalds Agree: Taco Bell’s New Breakfasts Taste Good appeared first on AdPulp.
American exceptionalism is a strange concept to build a car commercial on. Even for Detroit.
It makes me think the Koch brothers are financing this new Cadillac ELR campaign, covertly of course. How else to account for the brazenness of the socio-political speech?
Cadillac and its agency, Rogue (a group culled from three IPG agencies—Hill Holliday, Lowe and Campbell Ewald) want to stand out and this work does stand out. The ad is effective and disturbing, at the same time.
I feel like the brief made it clear: “Let’s NOT be Prius.” The creative team at Rogue took that thinking and delivered the ultimate anti-Prius spot.
Cadillac is clearly not interested in courting white, well-educated liberals from the suburbs. They want the hard-driving set to get behind the wheel of its electric vehicles. The ELR is the anti-Prius and at $75,000, a slightly more affordable alternate to a Tesla.
Craig Bierley, Cadillac’s advertising director, spoke to Ad Age in hopes that he might clear up some questions that people have raised about the spot.
For instance, some people believe the spot is aimed at the richest 1%.
Not so, says Bierley. Rather than millionaires, the spot’s targeted at customers who make around $200,000 a year. They’re consumers with a “little bit of grit under their fingernails” who “pop in and out of luxury” when and how they see fit, he said. “These are people who haven’t been given anything. Every part of success they’ve achieved has been earned through hard work and hustle. . . . One of the ways they reward themselves for their hard work is through the purchase of a luxury car,” he said.
I appreciate this extra bit of clarification. If you inherited money, or got to where you are today through luck, connections, or a state-sponsored education, buy a Tesla.
The post Howard Roark Drives a Cadillac ELR—So Can You appeared first on AdPulp.
I like Barkley. The Kansas City agency is one of the best in the nation.
Sadly, I can’t support the agency’s current work for DQ. “At Dairy Queen, we don’t make fast food. This is fan food,” the commercials announce. Boom! Wink!
Fan food? What is that? Is that the stuff commonly called food that is readily available at concerts and baseball games?
No. According to this faux testimonial, fan food is the good stuff — particularly DQ’s crispy chicken strips basket.
“They call it whole tenderloin. I call it hashtag delicious.” Language of this sort can make grown men cry or cringe.
In related news, Burger King in Norway shed 30,000 fair-weather fans in an interesting social media promotion.
BK Norway recognized that many of its 38,000 Facebook fans weren’t real fans at all. So, the brand offered free Big Macs to identify the fast food drifters and get rid of them.
Burger King lost 30,000 followers as a result, but says its new fan base of 8,000 are more engaged and interact with the brand in a more positive way.
The post Combo Number Two: Deep Fried Fan Fiction from DQ appeared first on AdPulp.
Lottery ads typically employ humor, when they’re well made that is.
David&Goliath chose to go another way with this new holiday themed ad for the California Lottery.
There’s no lady jumping out of a cake with an oversized check here. Instead, the work strives to remind people that small gestures, like giving scratch tickets can make someone else’s holiday a bit more joyous.
When a spot makes you wait for the storyline to develop and play out, it has to pay off handsomely and thankfully this one does. Due to the powerful close, I think the spot delivers even for those not interested in playing the lottery. The point is, you can consider it for others, especially at this time of year.
In addition to TV and print, the agency developed a special golden envelope to encourage gifting. When California Lottery customers buy any lottery tickets now through December 22nd, the tickets come with a special golden envelope, making it easy for everyone to get in on the Secret Santa action.
The post When You Give The Gift of Lottery Tickets, You’ve Already Won appeared first on AdPulp.
According to Cossette/Toronto, you don’t need to be a Scotsman to experience the delicious, long lasting crunch of Oatmeal Crisp. Nevertheless, Oatsy McTavish is keen on the brand.
As he likes to say, “Oatmeal Crisp wins. It’s the ultimate crunch.”
There’s more for your mouth at CompetitionCrunch.com.
The post General Mills Put Crunch In Its Cereal And A Kilt-Clad Man In Its Ads appeared first on AdPulp.
Hey man, don’t let your routine get you down.
Sure the pressures of work threaten to destroy your good mood and there’s not enough money to send the kids to college, plus your football team is an embarrassment. But seriously none of that matters when you drive a new Jeep Cherokee into the mountains where you can toast your rediscovered freedom around the campfire with big swig of Wild Turkey.
Are Vitro (Wild Turkey’s agency) and Wieden+Kennedy (Jeep’s agency) in cahoots here? Of course not. This is simply more of the “same think” that I spoke of following W+K’s loss of Levi’s.
Interestingly, there’s nothing in the Jeep spot that appeals to truck guys—not one fact about the truck itself. At least the Wild Turkey spot has the necessary appetite appeal.
Has W+K taken their brand-advertising-is-the-only-good-advertising motif too far?
Customers will be the judge. Here’s one unhappy response to the Jeep spot on YouTube:
JEEP I HOPE YOU READ THIS MESSAGE. THIS COMES FROM A DIE HARD FAN OF BOTH YOUR WRANGLER AND MOST ESPECIALLY THE CHEROKEE LINE. I AM AN OWNER OF THREE JEEP CHEROKEES — a ’97, ’99 AND ’00. With that being said I believe I have a voice here, since I spend my hard earn money on your trucks. Please bring back the old XJ style and beef up the axles, tranny and maybe a body on frame. Why not build upon the culture and legend of the Cherokee rather than to destroy it in order to go after soccer moms and hipsters??
Snap.
I can hear the Masters of the Pearl now…”Who cares what some guy on YouTube or some ad blogger has to say about our work? How dare these commoners not recognize the sheer brilliance of our patented approach.”
Yes, how dare we.
The post Jeep Cherokee and Wild Turkey Will Set You Free appeared first on AdPulp.
“Allison” breaks expectations. She’s the reason Pizza Hut made their new three-cheese stuffed crust pizza.
“Allison” is also a made up persona with which pizza lovers are likely to identify. Not only does she wear funky-librarian glasses, she has a pretty substantial back tattoo of a Pegasus. Hello 20-something hipsters with a beer buzz.
That she also loves hot cheese and bread pie from Pizza Hut goes without saying. No doubt, she will work off the calories at Pilates.
According to an Ad Age report from last month, the Chicago office of mcgarrybowen is the new agency of record for this YUM Brands account.
The post Hipsters “Go for Greatness” at Pizza Hut appeared first on AdPulp.
The next big thing is here, according to Samsung.
This spot for the Galaxy Note 10.1 aired during college and pro football this weekend, and each time I saw it I thought, wow, this is nothing like an iPad. Of course, I’ve never fully appreciated my iPad. It’s like a big iPhone that doesn’t make or take calls. But I digress.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 helps you multi-task to stay ahead of the game. And it let’s you be in the moment, then relive it on TV. How can anyone resist such temptation?
Copy can be insidious when it purposefully deceives. Multi-tasking is counter-productive, and being in the moment means you’re playing guitar, or hitting a golf ball, walking the beach or making love.
Okay, let’s move on. Samsung is also encouraging us to design our lives, and the brand is using digital shorts to inspire and motivate purchase.
When you’re properly equipped with Samsung’s amazing tools, you can save your grandpa’s toy store. Provided that you are also a genius with a heart of gold.
Isn’t advertising fun? You can make believe with other people’s money.
The post Careful Apple, Samsung Is Manufacturing Digital Kryptonite appeared first on AdPulp.
Levi’s and Wieden + Kennedy parted ways this week.
Ad Age reports that people familiar with the business said that differences over creative direction were at the core. Uh, okay.
James Curleigh, who left Keen Footwear (in Portland) to become president of Levi’s in July 2012, said in a statement, “We would like to thank Wieden+Kennedy for their creative energy and engagement over the past five years. The team supported us through a significant period in the Levi’s brand evolution.”
Blah, blah, blah. No one wants to air their dirty laundry. It’s not professional to say W+K is hard to work with, they don’t listen well and that TV is only “so important” to brands these days.
Speaking of TV’s importance, let’s take a look at the following Wieden-made spot for Levi’s.
It’s a nice piece of stand alone creative, but it doesn’t stand alone, does it? No, it feels a lot like Nike’s “Just Do It.”
What’s wrong with looking and feeling like Nike? Simply put, you do not want your agency’s work to follow or emit a certain style. You do want the work to be consistently intelligent and flawlessly rendered. But style belongs to the client.
Maybe W+K is paying the price this time for putting their stamp on Levi’s. Luckily, for the masters of The Pearl, the price isn’t too high, as Levi’s is not a big spender on advertising.
It occurs to me to ask why an agency develops a style in the first place, and how to best guard against it.
We can start by understanding that the people who make award-winning TV commercials are part of a very small circle. In reality, it’s a cozy little club that meets once a year in Cannes. Win a Lion, work in Portland. The catch to this creative elite-only routine is obvious enough; insular recruiting leads to “same think” and “same think” begets an agency style.
Maybe this is the takeaway for all of us: Disrupt thyself to save thyself. Even if you already rule.
The post Levi’s Walks On, Wieden Staffers Dump Their Pants appeared first on AdPulp.
My favorite NFL team plays home games at Century Link Field.
The communications technology company also has a large presence in Omaha, my hometown. Therefore, I want to like Century Link, but a print ad like this subtracts several points from the “brand love” scorecard.
Worse than the say-nothing-to-no-one use of stock photography here, are phrases like “visionary cloud infrastructure” and “hosted IT solutions.” This copy is dead on arrival.
Sure, somebody somewhere does care about such things. Send these very fine buyers direct mail. When you opt to run a magazine ad or a TV spot, you’re speaking to a mass consumer audience who has little knowledge of, or concern for, your visionary cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions.
In this case, the problem is even worse given that Century Link is also a consumer brand, providing broadband, entertainment and voice services to millions of consumers across the U.S.
Say you are watching NFL football and you see this B2B spot:
Now compare and contrast the above with the following consumer offering?
The consumer spot appeals to me. What will I do with my gig?
The post One Brand, Multiple Markets: Century Link Turns In Rough Mix appeared first on AdPulp.
People like to take photos of their food while dining out and upload the images to Instagram, Facebook, Flickr or Twitpic. Depending on your point of view, this is either a pointless bad habit, or a legitimate means of word of mouth and influencer or peer marketing.
It is easy to make fun of the activity. I mean whatever happened to going out to eat to eat, and talk, not to document the experience for one’s social graph?
Subway makes fun of a hapless over-sharer’s #hashtag use in the above spot. But why? To sell subs, you need appetite appeal and there’s no appeal here, just a trying-too-hard stab at currency and social relevance.
Of course, Subway is not the only guilty party. Wendy’s also wants us to believe its food is content worthy fodder for the social web.
I enjoy the repartee of the new red-headed Wendy. Her “taste buds” line is witty and charming. But please tell me you don’t take photos of your Wendy’s flatbreads? I ask this as someone who does take pictures of certain dishes — dishes that blow me away like this Shwarma Plate, from Gonzo food cart in SE Portland.
The post Over Sharing On Tweetbook Is Not Appetizing appeared first on AdPulp.
I grew up watching Grizzly Adams on TV. I was also influenced by Robert Redford’s film, Jeremiah Johnson and the music of John Denver.
Unapologetically, I’m a child of the 70s. I explain this here, so you will understand why I think Dr Pepper TEN’s campaign from Deutsch LA is noteworthy.
Dr Pepper TEN is comprised of 10 bold tasting calories with the same authentic 23 flavors of Dr Pepper. Personally, I have never tasted a diet soda that I enjoyed. I know I am not alone in this, so any marketer of diet soda must convince us–the legions of doubters–to sample the drink before any conversions can occur.
Adweek called the campaign “a parody of macho ’70s beer commercials that’s as goofy as all outdoors.”
Of course it is. Parodies are fun. But seriously, if an eagle brings a mountain man a Dr Pepper TEN in the woods, does it drive men in suburban office parks to sample? Of course it does. Manly men save calories on their drink so they can put them into the blue cheese burger that Miss Alabama loves to devour.
The post Dr Pepper Ten Is The Manliest Way To Drink Diet Soda appeared first on AdPulp.
Chevrolet Silverado is sweet country music to pickup truck drivers’ ears. Today, the music is all the sweeter with Nashville singer-songrwiter Will Hoge on the job.
Hoge’s song, “Strong” was picked up by the brand and now it’s the centerpiece of their new ad campaign.
The 60-second version of the above ad ran frequently this weekend, during college and pro football games. Word is, future ads from McCann/Commonwealth in Detroit will focus on the features of the Silverado, including its class-leading V-8 fuel economy and towing capability.
Cars guys love specs, while ad guys love emotional bonds.
This time the ad guys won. Here’s a new entry in the campaign:
I love the pacing here, and the copy. With so much action and commotion swirling around us, on TV and in our own family rooms, commercials can help ground ground us, and this one does so in a nice way.
Chevy calls truck drivers to action with “Find New Roads.” Yet the commercial itself is nostalgic. Find new roads like your dad did when you were growing up, it seems to say.
The post Today on TV: Chevy Silverado Is Will Hoge “Strong” appeared first on AdPulp.
Polar is the Brazilian beer for conversationalists. The brand has kindly developed a beer cooler that blocks cell and mobile internet signals, so people can talk again.
It’s a strange world when a beer brand has to develop technology to encourage real time, face-to-face conversation. It’s enough to make a grown man want a beer and a buddy to talk to whist quaffing said suds.
The post Today on TV: In Brazil It’s Handsets Down And Beers Up appeared first on AdPulp.
Carl’s Jr. and 72andsunny have a great thing going. They do “food porn” really well, and now have a patent on the “stuff a sandwich in your sexy face” thing.
Hey, they’re able to make fast food look good on TV and that’s an accomplishment. Not one that needs another stupid award, but an accomplishment nevertheless.
I’m thinking you’d like to see your own TV spot in this space. Am I right?
We get worked over pretty good by PR people in the employ of various ad agencies. Some of it I welcome, most of it I reject. My thought is this: thousands of agencies are doing work in the shadows, heads down, noses to the grindstone. These shops don’t bother to promote their work. Their websites are always out of date. The agency blog is in tatters. We all know who we’re talking about.
If you see yourself in the above description, bust out for a second. Send a link to your latest spot or campaign. We’ll only rip it to shreds when made to do so by our evil twins. The rest of the time, we’ll repost it to Facebook. From their the cream rises to the blog. See above.
The post Today on TV: #EatLikeYouMeanIt At Carl’s Jr. appeared first on AdPulp.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
