David Ortiz Is Planning for Retirement by Picking Through Papi Puns in ESPN's New Ad

With retirement looming, Red Sox designated hitter/first baseman David Ortiz is preparing for the next stage of his life the only way he knows how: By making terrible puns as he attempts to name potential business ventures.

Ortiz, who’s already founded Big Papi’s Kitchen, is the new centerpiece of the new SC@Night campaign from ESPN and 72andSunny. The campaign is built around highlighting the fans, athletes and celebrities who watch late night SportsCenter. In this video spot, Ortiz brainstorms new business names while watching Stan Verrett and Neil Everett reel off zingers, much to the chagrin of Eduardo Rodriguez and David Price.

 

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Check Out Sonos' First Storefront, a Glowing Shrine to Music and Home Acoustics

For its first brick-and-mortar store, located in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, Sonos is showing customers how its products could both sound—and feel—in their homes.

The acoustics of a physical space have a huge effect on music being played in it, a fact that, while unsurprising, is often overlooked. With this in mind, the speaker marketer filled its brand new space with special pods meant to mimic residential listening environments, including studies, living rooms and kitchens.

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Two Men, and One Cocaine Bear, Just Made Kentucky's Strangest Local Ad Ever

Cocaine Bear wants you to visit the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall. Lumber on down, y’all!

Or at the very least, check out the 175-pound stuffed creature (aka, Pablo EscoBear)—which perished 31 years ago after ingesting 40 kilos of cocaine that fell from a plane in a botched smuggling operation—in the goofy TV commercial below.

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YouTube Music's Latest Ad Campaign Is an Infectious Ode to the Diversity of Music Lovers

To promote YouTube Music, which launched in the U.S. in November, YouTube is putting the spotlight on its biggest competitive advantage—its diversity. 

Sure, Spotify has musical diversity. But YouTube is the No. 1 streaming music site in the world, which means it’s got an especially diverse user base. And it’s those people, and their unique and personal tastes, that the brand is focusing on. 

Working with Lance Acord, the director behind a slew of hits including the NFL’s Super Bowl babies choir, YouTube has released a series of ads that embody the private moments in a day that music transforms into something special, even personally revealing. 

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Donald Trump Is Making Out With Ted Cruz on This Billboard Outside the GOP Convention

All delegates, superdelegates, former college basketball coaches and garden variety political junkies attending next week’s Republican National Convention will be greeted by an unusual and unavoidable sight: Sen. Ted Cruz going in for a passionate kiss with presumptive presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. 

A non-profit advocacy group called Planting Peace placed the ad directly outside the entrance to the convention at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena as a “message to the GOP.”

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Caribou Coffee Made It Snow in Minneapolis Last Week for a Cool Iced Coffee Stunt

Snow fell last Friday in Minneapolis, even though the temperature was over 70 degrees.

Of course, it was all just part of an ad campaign.

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Ikea Made This Surreal, Mesmerizing Ad to Promote an Intriguing Upcoming Product Line

Follow the rolling ball!

There’s no furniture in this artsy ad for Swedish furniture store Ikea, but there is an attractive glass orb that rolls clack-clack-clack across the parquet floor of an empty, sun-splashed, high-ceilinged apartment—so that’s something.

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This Frank Ad About Restroom Laws Will Run During Trump's Convention Speech

The Republican National Convention is coming up, and it’s already causing social patter: While some notable names have opted not to attend—including the two former Presidents Bush and ex-hopefuls like McCain and Romney—others are planning on crashing the party. 

On the night Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination, a coalition of equal rights groups will run a commercial critiquing laws that limit which public restrooms transgender people can use. It will air on Fox News—surprise!—during Trump’s speech. 

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Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein Just Made Their Own Anti-Donald Trump Ad

Some of the top creatives in the ad business have been weighing in on this year’s loony presidential election—and predictably, they haven’t been lining up with Trump.

Droga5 has been doing advertising for Hillary. And now, Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein—the co-founders of Goodby Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco—have made their own ad for this campaign season, wondering aloud whether Donald Trump is qualified to be president—over slow-motion footage of Trump infamously using a water bottle to mock Marco Rubio back in February.

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This Lingerie Brand Made Its Male Employees Wear E-Cup-Size Breasts for a Day

It’s International E-Cup Day for Men over at PrimaDonna lingerie, and the men are getting to know what it’s like to haul around an extra 6.6 pounds on their chest.

PrimaDonna specializes in luxury lingerie at larger cup sizes, from C to J (yes, it goes all the way up to J). Having E-cup-size breasts is something even I, as a women with a solid B, can’t say I fully understand the implications of. But this video of PrimaDonna’s daylong empathy exercise gives me a pretty good idea.

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Bryce Harper Sweats the Numbers in His Snazzy New Under Armour Ad (and Shoes)

Stats might be a big deal in baseball, but four-time all-star Bryce Harper wants young players to know there’s something more important—their feet.

Under Armour is out with a new campaign from Droga5 titled “It Comes from Below,” promoting the brand’s shoes. It launches this week with an ad for the Washinton Nationals’ new namesake Harper One cleats (which, naturally, the Nats’ right fielder will be wearing at Tuesday night’s All-Star Game).

In the commercial, Harper stands at the plate in an empty field, practicing his swing. The voiceover rattles off his impressive accomplishments by the numbers—precocious gains as a teenager, impressive averages, a unanimous MVP selection—all while his bat cracks against the ball again and agin, punctuating each data point.

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Fruit of the Loom Makes Better Cooling Products for Your Junk Than These Two Idiots

CP+B goes with an elaborate anti-pitch in its work for Fruit of the Loom’s new Micro-Mesh Breathable Boxer Briefs, which are intended to keep guys a little cooler below the waist.

The campaign features the ridiculous and desperate co-owners of Josh and Donny’s Supercool Superstore for Men, which was apparently the go-to place for men’s pelvic cooling products before Fruit of the Loom came along. In a series of fake ads, and on a garishly moronic website, Josh and Donny reveal that they’re going out of business—because their stupid products are no longer selling.

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These Poignant Ads Show Why You Should Be Doing Lunch With American Seniors

Who are the faces of Meals on Wheels? 

For its first national integrated campaign, created by Anomaly and supported by the Ad Council, Meals on Wheels is seeking volunteers to serve the elderly population in the U.S. The commitment isn’t big, and they’re not asking for mone. What they want is your lunch hour. 

“America, Let’s Do Lunch” puts a warm and upbeat spotlight on the people who benefit from Meals on Wheels. You’ll meet a retired school psychologist with a contagious laugh, a woman who surrounds herself with flowers, a couple who’ve knitted their wedding photo onto a pillowcase, and more. 

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Frank Ocean's Calvin Klein Ads Only Deepen Mystery Around the Enigmatic Singer

Frank Ocean. Singer, songwriter, magazine editor, underwear model.

And now, perhaps, novelist.

While fans lose their minds over whether the mysterious R&B singer’s long-anticipated second album might, possibly, just maybe be released in July, he is providing a peek into his relationship with music, boxer briefs—and more subtly, long-form fiction writing—in a new Calvin Klein campaign.

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Subaru's New Ad Revisits Some Old Ones, and Shows Why the Campaign Works So Well

Years into its ongoing and successful “Love” campaign, Subaru has been named Kelley Blue Book’s 2016 Most Trusted Brand and Best Overall Brand. And to look ahead, it’s looking back—at scenes from its most beloved Carmichael Lynch spots, in a warm commemorative message for the people who love it best … and maybe for some new drivers, too. 

“Proud to Earn Your Trust” kicks off with a throwback to “Subaru Heaven” (itself already nostalgic and heartfelt) but also features that glorious sunset shot from “Welcoming Party,” as well as moments from “Baby Driver,” “Honeymoon” and “Back Seat.”

Its storyline explores the times when people especially appreciate having a Subaru—road trips, childhood benchmarks, even accidents. It warmly concludes, “Every Subaru is built to earn your trust … because we know what you’re trusting us with,” followed by closing copy that winks to the campaign’s theme: “Love. It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru.” 

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Today Only, See the Dreamland Behind This Mysterious Oreo Storefront in L.A.

Back in February, a weird Oreo door suddenly appeared on 18th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York, promising untold wonders of cryptic cookie goodness. Now, Los Angeles gets its turn.

The cookie brand’s new Wonder Vault installation—created by 360i, Weber Shandwick and Momentum—will be open today only (Monday, July 11) at 1555 W. Sunset Blvd. from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. PDT. It’s an elaborate ad for Oreo’s new Choco Chip cookies, and it features rooms that will make adults feel like kids again, as everything within them is oversized.

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Brisk Ice Tea Is Latest Brand to Get Its Own Sneaker, and It's Pineapple Passionfruit

Ever since Lipton’s Brisk Iced Tea abandoned its inescapable ’90s “That’s Brisk, Baby!” ad campaigns from J. Walter Thompson that featured claymation celebrities, its marketing has focused almost entirely on attracting urban teens by collaborating with street artists. These campaigns have included everything from custom iced tea cans to interactive murals to Brisk Bodega pop-up shops focused on art and music and even a dedicated Tumblr blog.

To help launch one of its newest flavors, Pineapple Passionfruit, Brisk continues its run of urban-themed stunts by going after the trendy and loose-with-cash sneakerhead market.

The PepsiCo-owned brand tapped sneaker artist Dan “Mache” Gamache of Mache Custom Kicks (whose clients include the likes of LeBron James and Kanye West) to design the first-ever Brisk sneakers. But as with Nike’s recent Krispy Kreme shoes, Mache will be customizing only a few pairs of the sneakers, as the brand feels that “keeping these kicks super rare taps into the culture of sneaker hunting.” 

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This Stripped-Down, High-Tech Vehicle Could Change Auto Advertising Forever

When you’re shooting an automotive commercial, why bother using the actual car being advertised? That’s so 2015. 

Wouldn’t it save time, money and effort to employ a motorized, highly malleable rig that could transform into virtually any car on the planet? A rig you could use over and over to stand in for different makes and models? 

Production and visual effects company The Mill—working in tandem with JemFX, Performance Filmworks and Keslow Camera—won a coveted Innovation Lion at Cannes last month (one of only nine such Lions bestowed) for developing such a vehicle.

It’s called the Blackbird. At the push of a button, it can change its length by four feet and its width by 10 inches, as well as alter its wheels and suspension. This allows the rig to mimic just about any chassis design—plus, its programmable electric motor lets it adopt a wide range of driving characteristics. 

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Midas Subjects Its Own Mechanics to the Most Advanced Lie Detector Test in the World

Perhaps unsurprisingly, six out of 10 Spaniards think mechanics are liars, according to the Spanish Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). The country’s economic crisis has only exacerbated that belief. 

Midas, though, claims to have built its reputation on transparency and sincerity. To give that notion salience, Proximity Madrid subjected its mechanics to a Minority Report-style lie detector test. 

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Jonah Hill's Brilliantly Awkward Sneaker Ad Might Be His Best Act Yet

Jonah Hill may have perfected the art of the intentionally awful ad.

The Hollywood star anchors this two-minute infomercial for London-based skateboarding brand Palace. The video—by MPC Creative and directors Lev Tanju, Stuart Bentley and Stuart Hammond—packs in as much awkward humor as possible, complete with bad dubs, cheesy green screening and batshit rambling sales pitches. 

The centerpiece is an upcoming sneaker collaboration between the shop and “some sportswear company called Reebok”—or “Ree-boke,” as Hill hilariously pronounces it. 

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