Christmas is coming, and along with it comes the worst part of the year: ironic ugly sweater parties. Formerly the sole domain of grandmothers and Bill Cosby, ugly sweaters are some kind of awkward hipster mating plumage now, so it's only ill-fitting that Coke Zero has capitalized on it with the Coke Zero Sweater Generator, built by Droga5. You design a sweater with minimal Coke branding, and it goes into an online gallery where other people can vote on the best/worst designs. The top 100 will be made and sent to their creators, who will probably model them on Facebook. Above is the one I made.
Bedsider.org, a free online resource for birth control, has teamed up with BET Networks to target African-American women ages 18-29 through a series of TV spots from Havas Worldwide portraying painfully awkward discussions about sex and birth control with family and friends. The idea is cool. Talking about sex can be awful, but checking out a website about sex and birth control is awkward free, as long as you're not in a library or synagogue or elementary school.
The three spots feature a young woman having cringe-worthy conversations with 1) her grandmother, 2) her boyfriend and 3) her mother.
A little old lady delivers the line "Oh, you're very supple" to her visibly uncomfortable granddaughter in the best of the three ads. The spot featuring the IUD conversation with the boyfriend doesn't do it (pun!) for me. You guys are having sex, but you can't ask your boyfriend to tell his dog to stop humping your leg? Strange. The video featuring the daughter—wrapped in a towel, fresh out of the shower—and the overeager mother is the weirdest of the three. The line "We should talk, like, vagina to vagina" is seriously grossing me out.
Bedsider's goal is to make us all cringe; mission accomplished. I've maxed out my quota for hearing the word "vagina" today. Nobody talk to me until tomorrow.
CREDITS Bedsider 2013 Awkward Campaign
Agency: Havas Worldwide New York Chief Creative Officer Global Brands: Lee Garfinkel Chief Creative Officer: Darren Moran Executive Creative Director: Lisa Rettig-Falcone Creative Director: Jeremy Pippenger Art Director: Thomas Shim Copywriter: Catherine Eccardt Global Chief Content Officer: Vin Farrell Integrated Producer: Candice Vernon Group Account Director: Tamara Goodman Account Executive: Alexandra Litzman Senior Content Strategist: Shawn Shahani Strategy and Analytics: Chris Lake
TV Production Company: Director: Clay Williams EP: Scott Howard Producer: Debbie Tietjen DP: Stefan Czapsky
Editorial:Mackenzie Cutler EP: Sasha Hirschfeld Producer: Evan Meeker Editor: Dave Anderson Telecine: Company 3 NY Colorist: Tim Masick
One of the most anti-feminist songs of the 1980s, "Girls" by the Beastie Boys, is recast as an empowering theme for young women in a new toy ad looking to break gender stereotypes.
The spot is a holiday promotion for GoldieBlox, a construction-themed board game that nearly doubled its Kickstarter goal in 2012. Game developer Debbie Sterling designed GoldieBlox to combine young girls' love of reading and characters with the engineering themes of toys typically more popular with boys, like Legos and erector sets. To that end, the ad features a massive Rube Goldberg scenario, designed by OK Go contraption collaborator Brett Doar. As the machine's workings unravel, the girls sing modified Beastie Boys lyrics: "It's time to change/We deserve to see a range/'Cause all our toys look just the same/And we would like to use our brains."
And this is just the start of what could be a crazy few months for GoldieBlox, as the company is one of four finalists angling for a free Super Bowl ad paid for by Intuit as part of a small-business contest.
CREDITS Client: GoldieBlox Title: "Princess Machine" GoldieBlox CEO: Debbie Sterling GoldieBlox Creative Director: Beau Lewis GoldieBlox Machine Creative Director: Brett Doar Production Company: The Academy Director: Sean Pecknold Co-Director: Zia Mohajerjasbi Executive Producer: Harry Calbom Production Designer: Jason Puccinelli Editor: James Lipetzky (Foundation Content) Assistant Editor: Jesse Richard (Foundation Content) Post Producer: Stacy Paris (Foundation Content) Line Producer: Mark Campbell Production Supervisor: Sarah Archuleta Steadicam: Ari Robbins First Assistant Cameraman: Canh Nguyen Gaffer: Osha Mattei Key Grip: Michael Moeller Swing: Bobby Bradshaw Prop Master: Eric Lathrop Art Intern: Chris Hannemann Stylist: Alina Harden Location Manager: John Schaunessy Music: Pico Sound Animation: Ed Skudder, Lynn Wang, Mike Holm
You've undoubtedly seen them: the saccharine-slathered headlines of Upworthy.com, promising you'll "never see the world the same again" after watching some YouTube video about bullied kids or racism or whatever. Now you can create your own must-click words of wisdom with the Upworthy Generator, which combines random emotional video screen grabs with cobbled cliches for results like "Try Not to Let Your Jaw Hit the Floor When You Hear These Twelve Words."
Created by digital content mastermind Mike Lacher, who penned McSweeney's beloved article "I'm Comic Sans, Asshole," the Upworthy Generator mocks just about all the stereotypes you'll find in the site's overly optimistic presentation style. Lacher, a man all too familiar with headline trappings from his days as a creative director for BuzzFeed and creator of that site's Pepsi-branded "Listiclock," nails Upworthy's recurring themes of wisdom from children, popular icons fallen from grace, emotional righteousness and David-versus-Goliath battles against bullies/authority/oppression.
A few of my personal favorites, randomly created by the Upworthy Generator: • Think Things Used to Be Better When You Were a Kid? Maybe You Should Listen to This Disgraced Former Model. • That Moment When an Oscar Winner Doesn't Accept Bullying. • Here Is What Happens When a Beauty Queen Gets Real About the Biggest Problem in America. • Try Not to Shout With Rage When You Hear the Eighth Word. • Watch a Bullied Veteran Become an Inspiration With Five Words. • What This Transgender Mother of Three Did Is Genius.
Arrghh … can't breathe … too much cuteness! TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles crafted these 60 seconds of adorable hi-jinks as part of Best Friends Animal Society's pro bono campaign to raise awareness for pet adoptions, a cause near and dear to the heart of legendary adman and agency chairman Lee Clow. The clip shows Instagram photos of four rescued pets—Lil Bub, Nala Cat and two pups named Ginny and Tuna—who each enjoy various measures of Internet fame. Ginny's got a space helmet. She's a widdle dog-stronaut! Sorry. This stuff's face-meltingly cute. And I don't even like cats. But I'll make an exception here. Clow says, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get people to see that the smart, cool and socially responsible thing to do is to rescue a pet rather than buy them from a breeder or a pet store?" Fair enough. Plus, if they had pets, folks wouldn't act all catty like that woman in the Tenth Life Rescue spot from a few months back.
Few things are more perilous and panic-inducing than getting separated from your companions in an Ikea—an experience that some young filmmakers have now captured in a perfect parody of the trailer for Gravity.
"If I don't make it … promise you'll keep shopping," pleads the Sandra Bullock stand-in, wandering the desolate consumer wasteland and cowering in the throes of Ikeaphobia. "Promise you'll find everything else on the list."
With her cellphone battery almost drained, will she make it? Will they be reunited? Will the self-serve area even have half the stuff they just spent nine hours picking out? My blood pressure rises just imagining such a nightmare.
UN Women sparked a global debate last month, surprising even the group itself, when their modest print campaign, The Autocomplete Truth, went viral across the Web. Now, the organization and agency Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai are back with a video extension of the campaign, as they hinted at in a recent interview with AdFreak. The clip is mostly a collection of great moments in the history of female empowerment, and I was a bit disappointed to see just one of the Google autocomplete examples at the end. It feels like this could have been an opportunity to truly expand the campaign, showing new examples of search suggestions worldwide or even just highlighting the countless blog posts, articles and online conversations generated by the print ads. Still, it's good to see UN Women building on that initial success and creating something—including the hashtag #womenshould—that gives fans more content and context to share.
Here's one for the file on unexpected PSAs: Exploding chipmunks that warn you against purchasing bootleg electrical goods. U.K. charity Electric Safety Council is using a gruesome, two-minute mock documentary to push Christmas shoppers to buy "genuine goods" that are less likely to cause violent electrical fires. It's fun, if a bit of a head-scratcher—begging for attention by striking the right mix of stupidity and shock value (yes, we're taking the bait) but also trivializing the cause it's meant to spotlight by making the punch line so absurd. Yes, the group needs people not to ignore an easily overlooked problem, but it also needs them to take it seriously. Then again, maybe it'll get lucky and draw fire from PETA—the kind of charity troll that's able to make an exploding-rodent tactic look sane by comparison. Agency: Code Computerlove. Via The Drum.
Sometimes, the best parodies are the most subtle. Case in point: This truly impressive face dub of disgraced Toronto Mayor Rob Ford onto the body of Jean-Claude Van Damme in his "Epic Split" ad for Volvo Trucks. There's really nothing to it beyond the face switch, but the effect is so perfectly executed by New York-based visual effects shop Artjail, it's plenty satisfying. "We were completely in awe of the Volvo-Van Damme 'Epic Split' spot," Artjail writes in its YouTube summary, "and remain completely in awe of Mayor Ford's epic lifestyle north of the border." Check out Artjail's demo reel after the jump and see some images of how it was done over on Fstoppers. Hat tip to Evan Travers for sending me this one.
There will be no question about who rummaged through the trash, shredded the sofa or butt-scooted across the carpet. The pet cam will tell all. But that's not really the purpose of this lightweight collar camera, the centerpiece of a digital campaign for Nature's Recipe pet food. The device is supposed to capture the world from your dog or cat's perspective, snapping photos so you can create an online scrapbook under headings like "So That's What My Shins Look Like."
The campaign, from JWT's Digitaria in San Diego, public relations firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies, media shop Starcom and social agency VaynerMedia, launched recently with online scrapbooks from bloggers and pet advocates. (Nonspoiler alert: there's lots of sky, trees and food bowls in a day in the life of a pet.)
From now until March, animal lovers can win their own collar cams and, possibly, a pet-friendly vacation as part of the "Nature's Recipe for Moments" contest. Or they could just end up with a bunch of pictures of the inside of their toilets.
And you thought the NBA guys were talented for playing "Jingle Bells" via well-timed three-pointers. Check out the Kmart studs in the retailer's crazy Christmas cross-promotion with Joe Boxer via Draftfcb in Chicago—swaying their sacks to chime out their own impressive version of the holiday standard. That's some musical junk right there. It caps an offbeat year for agency and client, stretching from "Ship My Pants" through last week's evil-filled "Boardroom" spot. Sometimes it's just better to be on the naughty list.
UPDATE: For what it's worth, Chippendales did a similar video back in 2010.
Man, this holiday season is all about forcing me to confront my unfair assumptions. Kohl's delivers with an ad that starts out with a photogenic couple decking out an apartment with lights, a tree and such. I was mentally preparing a nice Grinchy rant about it until the reveal that there's more going on than meets the eye. (Watch the video below before reading on if you don't want me to spoil the surprise.) There's still the question of how they got into this woman's apartment, but poking plot holes in an ad this touching just makes me feel like I'm lecturing Bob Cratchit to go easy on the coal.
New York is a stressful place, and Times Square isn't the most soothing of its neighborhoods. But thankfully, Draftfcb New York and the Jamaica Tourist Board recently plunked down an enormous stress ball on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets, giving New Yorkers and visitors a chance to "squeeze their burdens away." The giant ball doesn't work like a regular stress ball—you'd never get your hand around it—but perhaps you were meant to just give it a big hug, mon. In any case, its big smiling face served as a de-stresser by itself. And if all else failed, reggae artist and Jamaica native Gyptian was on hand to perform his mellow tunes for the crowd. More images, and credits, below.
CREDITS Client: Jamaica Tourist Board Agency: Draftfcb, New York Chief Creative Officer: Javier Campopiano Group Creative Director: Kevin Jordan Creative Directors: Bruno Acanfora, Ariel Abramovici Associate Creative Director: Lucas Bongioanni Group Management Director: Wendy Glass Account Supervisor: Ashley Hughes Account Executive: Molly Burns Producers: Joe De Franco, Susie Rofe, Daunno Jason
Baileys becomes the latest big-name marketer to place an epic holiday spot under the tree with BBH London's modern take on Tchaikovsky's seasonal ballet The Nutcracker. We're treated to a Candyland holiday ball punctuated by a lengthy and superbly choreographed dance-fight between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker Prince, which ends when Clara, the object of their affection, joins in and turns the tide in the prince's favor. (You'd think a guy called "nutcracker" could take care of himself.) The film closes with our heroine rejoining her two pals for more partying, along with the line, "Spend time with the girls this Christmas." (Celebrating the spirit of women has been a recurring Baileys theme.)
Despite its contemporary trappings—the Mouse King is ripped and tattooed; the venue looks like an "in" SoHo dance club—the spot doesn't stray far enough from its source material to feel like a true reinvention. There's no magical moment or boffo payoff. Yes, it's extremely well made, and the dancing is impressive, as are the sets, costumes and direction. Maybe it needed a bit more holiday warmth? Instead, I found myself reaching for a glass of Baileys to chase away the chill.
The two-minute spot premieres Saturday during the U.K.'s first telecast of Black Swan, and there's a tie-in with that Oscar-winning film, as Benjamin Millepied, its choreographer, also designed the athletic ballet in the ad. And he's not the only notable talent involved. Royal Ballet dancers Steven McRae, Thiago Soares and Iana Salenko perform the lead roles, while Ringan Ledwidge, of "Three Little Pigs" fame, directs.
Droga5, an agency that knows a thing or two about fearless creative, has designed the call for entries for the 2014 International ANDY Awards—the show's 50th anniversary—around the idea of bravery. Lines like "Brave work is always the most fun to make" and "Bravery is one concept worth stealing" will be used in banners urging creatives to submit their best and bravest work. (David Droga is this year's ANDYs jury chairman.) The agency has also designed a special ANDY award for a new category—the Bravery Award—with a statue whose head is tilted up in a nod to the future. The ANDYs are sponsored by The Advertising Club of New York. Click here to learn more about submitting work to the 2014 show.
When the 1947 India-Pakistan partition ripped the two nations apart, Baldev was forced to relocate overnight, leaving behind his best friend Yusuf. Before that, they had been inseparable, flying kites together in the square and stealing Jhajariyas from Yusuf's family shop. Decades later, Baldev's granddaughter uses Google and those few tidbits of information from her grandfather's memories to find Yusuf and arrange a heartwarming reunion for her grandfather's birthday. It's three and half minutes long, and you will want it to be longer. I seriously think Google sent out some advertising memo demanding that all its spots have to be heartwarming, tearjerking or both. Hats off to Google in India. With their recent success covering Saroo Brierley's unbelievable story and now this, it's killing me how hard they're killing it!
Click on the Closed Captioning button to read the subtitles and truly enjoy.
Halfway through Movember, Nick Offerman's mustache is so excited to be growing uncontrollably that it breaks into song and dance in this crazy-weird new spot from Made Man. For some reason, Offerman's mouth becomes tiny as he belt out the Irene Cara classic "What a Feeling" from Flashdance—the perfect song for a Stachdance. The ends of his 'stache, meanwhile, punch the air and fly around joyfully like a couple of possessed baboon arms. Movember, of course, is the annual, month-long event in which dudes get hairier to raise awareness of men's health issues.
Is it possible to have work-life balance in the advertising biz? Sure, with the right amount of self-inflicted sabotage.
That's the idea behind "The Happy Hour Virus" from Colorado agency TDA_Boulder, whose tongue-in-cheek recruiting effort encourages workaday types to fake a computer catastrophe and leave work early.
The HappyHourVirus.com site explains TDA's workplace philosophy: "We are all better employees if we achieve something called work-life balance. However, pursuing that goal is not always an easy task in today's corporate culture. Please use the Happy Hour Virus to leave work early and enjoy the company of friends, family or co-workers. We are aware that this might jeopardize your productivity the following day, but we are willing to take that risk on your behalf. And if this sounds like a philosophy you could live with, learn more about us here." That last word links to an employment application.
Visitors to the site can click a button to select one of three "crashed computer" motifs—"Kernel Panic," "Broken Monitor" or "Blue Screen of Death"—to make it seem as if technical troubles are forcing them to call it a day. I'd use one of the fake screens to help me escape from AdFreak a few hours early, but I'd still need a hacksaw to break these ankle chains.
NBA stars are a festive bunch, with great timing to boot. They need both in the league's holiday campaigns. Last year, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Joe Johnson impressively played the popular Christmas song "Carol of the Bells" just by bouncing basketballs (in a spot that soared to more than 8 million views). Now, here's the sequel—also from GS&P.
It stars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry shooting three-pointers at nets outfitted with Christmas bells—producing an even more impressive musical performance, this time of "Jingle Bells." LeBron James punctuates the song with a dunk at the end, then asks, "Please tell me the camera was on." It's a perfect spot.
Like last year's spot, this one promotes special-edition uniforms, available for sale, that 10 teams will wear on their Christmas Day games this year.
See a making-of video, plus credits, below.
CREDITS Client: NBA Spot: "Jingle Hoops"
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Executive Creative Director: Jeff Goodby Creative Directors: Nick Klinkert, Adam Reeves Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rus Chao Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Koller Producer: Benton Roman Executive Producer: Tod Puckett Director of Broadcast Production: Cindy Fluitt Account Directors: Jason Bedecarre, Janice McManemy Account Manager: Heather Morba Senior Business Affairs Manager: Julie Petruzzo
Production Company: O Positive Director: Jonathan Klein Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella Line Producer: Angie Revell Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg
Editing: Final Cut Editor: Matt Murphy Assistant Editors: Tara Wall, Nate Connella Producer: Suzy Ramirez Executive Producer: Saima Awan
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.
