Hasta La Creative!

To quote the great Johnny Rotten during the Sex Pistols’ original finale, “ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Well, yes we have. After chasing this shit for days on end, the news has slipped through the cracks. Eh, whatever, bring on the long weekend and here’s a statement. Nothing more to add.

“As many people in our industry know, Microsoft moved to a roster agency model back in November and on Monday announced that they’ll be conducting a review of all their agencies.  Unfortunately these decisions have put us in the position where a staff reduction is necessary.  Today we’ll be releasing approximately 10% of our staff across our US offices.  While these cuts won’t in any way diminish our ability to serve our current accounts nor go after new opportunities, this is an incredibly difficult decision to make as it affects our colleagues who have made many contributions to CP+B over the years.  We will do all we can to help them transition to new opportunities and hope that with new business growth, many of them will be back with us soon. “

 

Steve Erich

President

CP+B”

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Last October/November, CP+B helped launch Xbox One with a series of TV spots designed to show off how with the next-gen system “games and entertainment are no longer separated.” Well, following a series of Playstation 4 ads that positioned that system as the one “For the Players,” CP+B and Xbox One return serve with a new television spot reminding viewers that, oh yeah, “first and foremost, Xbox One is a gaming console.”

The new effort, entitled “Lost,” focuses on the realism of Xbox One’s graphics, imagining them as so realistic that a young man playing Ryse: Son of Rome actually believes he’s sustaining injuries. That, or the dude is just tripping balls, in which case he should probably play something a little less intense. The spot concludes with the somehow familiar sounding tagline, “If it was any more real, it would be real.”

As mentioned, “Lost” does feel like a direct response to the PS4 ads that position it as the system for gamers, which makes a lot of sense for Microsoft. The Redmond, WA giant may have overestimated the appeal of the whole “gaming and entertainment in one” selling point, and now it seems they can’t let Sony claim the “For the Players” crown without a fight. It will be interesting to see how the advertising battles for the two systems play out as both fight to win the next-gen console war. With the systems selling at a pretty close rate, it doesn’t look like things will let up any time soon. and perhaps that’s a good thing. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Crispin Porter + Bogusky is making some management shifts at the dawn of 2014. Among the moves the Boulder-based, MDC-owned agency is the promotion of 10-year vet Steve Erich to president. In addition to Erich (pictured), who most recently served as partner/managing director at CP+B, the agency has also appointed Mike Saunter, a Warner Music/EMI alum, to chief operating officer while also moving one of its four original partners, Jeff Steinhour,  to the role of vice-chairman.

As for new prez Erich, after joining CP+B in 2004 to help relaunch the Burger King biz, the exec moved up the ladder to partner in 2008 and subsequently was appointed managing director two years ago. CP+B CEO Andrew Keller says in a statement, “Steve is a rare combination of incredible intelligence, reliability and great market knowledge with a proven ability to lead, unify and inspire both his team and our clients. Mike’s financial expertise and his experience in the music industry, a creative industry that is overflowing with opportunities yet in the midst of profound changes – as is our industry, will be invaluable to us. And Jeff is a key to continuing our culture, what makes us great and what continues to be the heartbeat of CP+B.”

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Wow, figured the encroaching holidays would be a slow time but just got official word that Rob Reilly, 10-year vet and partner/worldwide chief creative officer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky is leaving the agency to “pursue new ventures.” According to the Crispin camp, which also lost UX lead Matt Walsh recently, the creative department has been restructured as a result of Reilly’s departure, which will now all allow all of its camps including Boulder, L.A. Miami, London and Gothenburg to have “increased autonomy.”  The “restructuring,” which follows Reilly leaving along with his wife, 16-year CP+B vet and managing director/partner Laura Bowles, was concocted by Reilly, CEO Andrew Keller and CP+B chairman, Chuck Porter. From the announce,  executive director of creative development Evan Fry  (who rejoined CP+B over a year ago) and director of art & design Dave Swartz (the CD who we most recently noted in this Roman Coppola-directed Microsoft effort) will help guide the new creative structure while still reporting to Keller.

So, what does CP+B CEO Andrew Keller have to add? Well, in a statement, he says, “I am extraordinarily lucky to have Rob and Laura as friends and to have worked with them as partners through some of the most exciting and courageous times at CP+B. This structure really speaks to the immediate needs of our clients and our vision for meeting those needs. This is an incredibly exciting step in delivering outstanding creative work to our clients.”

During their career, both Reilly and Bowles led CP+B accounts including Domino’s, Burger King and more. As for Bowles, the MD moved up the charts during her career at CP+B from content supervisor to VP/account director to her most recent role as partner/managing director, working with other clients including Hotels.com and on new biz efforts. Sources say the parting was on good terms but we no word as to what Reilly and Bowles are up to next.

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Last year, Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant faced off in an ad for Turkish Airlines, competing for a young fan’s attention. The ad, “Legends on Board,” became a gigantic viral success, now with over 105 million views on YouTube.

For better or for worse (definitely for worse), 2013 might as well be the “Year of the Selfie.” The ubiquitous word found its way into the vocabulary of everyone from grade schoolers to their grandparents and was even named Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year. If you’re sick of hearing people jump at every opportunity to use this word, we’re with you. At any rate, it’s undeniable that the selfie has won itself a lasting position in our culture.

In an attempt to recapture the success of last year’s “Legends on Board” spot, CP+B has brought back the Bryant Vs. Messi formula, this time positioning the two in a “Selfie Shootout” in which each attempts to one-up the other with self-shot photos in exotic locations. The spot is the first ad CP+B put together for Turkish Airlines since winning ad duties for the airline back in September, and it’s a fine first effort. Without giving too much away I can say that Bryant and Messi both jump through hoops to one-up each other, and their photos get more and more exotic and over-the-top as the minute long spot progresses. CP+B manage to work something of a surprise ending into “The Selfie Shootout,” incorporating another Internet photo phenomenon.

Can “The Selfie Shootout” hope to match the success of “Legends on Board”? We would say yes. The entertaining ad incorporates the selfie phenomenon, has a much larger production budget than Alametifarika’s work last year, and is designed to jumpstart conversation. “The Selfie Shootout,” which was uploaded to YouTube yesterday, has already surpassed the 5 million view mark, and is certainly not showing any signs of slowing down. Its combination of star power, humor, and topical references make it just about unstoppable. Make no mistake, people will be talking about this one for some time. Our reservations about the overuse of “selfie” aside, we can’t blame them. “The Selfie Shootout” is just plain fun. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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With the Xbox One’s November 22nd launch date looming ever nearer, CP+B’s marketing blitz for Microsoft’s next-gen system continues with two new spots. Coming on the heels of the “Invitation” spot released late last month, the two new short spots highlight the system’s diverse capabilities while otherwise taking different approaches.

The first spot, “Retirement Home,” features recently retired NFL linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Urlacher asks Lewis if he’s having any trouble adjusting to retirement as both watch football and play Madden 25 at the same time. Lewis claims not to be having any adjustment issues, but his actions say otherwise. It’s a funny little spot that will appeal to the (sizable) segment of the Xbox crowd who have always wished they could play Madden while watching the NFL.

The second spot, “His and Hers” addresses the apparent sexism of the “Invitation” spot (in which the only female featured uses the system only to watch movies, not play games). It highlights the voice recognition system by showing a woman command the Xbox One using her voice after arriving home to find her boyfriend watching soccer. She tells the system “Xbox go to Dead Rising 3″ and begins to play. Then she starts similarly commanding her boyfriend in a similar matter, telling him to get her a beer. It’s a bit over the top, but a welcome reversal of the gender stereotypes displayed in CP+B’s “Invitation” spot.

Credits and “His & Hers” after the jump.  continued…

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Fruit of the Loom and CP+B teamed up to make sure our private parts were covered in luck. Seriously. Lucky underwear. How, you ask? Well, a few guys traveled around America, rubbing new underwear with good luck in places like the Hoover Dam in Boulder City and the Seven Star Cavern Chinatown Wishing Well in Los Angeles. The project is not scientific, but if you care about luck, the original run called for 1,000 men’s underwear and 1,000 women’s underwear. The above video shows a brief behind-the-scenes look at the hokum methods used to make the underwear lucky.

As of publication, 1718 of the 2000 pairs of lucky underwear are still available for an affordable $10 each.

The narrator of the video mentions infusing “legitimate luck” into the fabric, which is stupidly ambitious, since there’s nothing legitimate about luck. That’s the point. But there’s something charming about the earnest dedication and effort Fruit of the Loom put into the project. Plus, the underwear is inexpensive and  soft, so if you don’t care for superstition, there’s always functionality to fall back on. Credits after the jump.

continued…

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I may be something of a Sony loyalist, but I’ve got to admit CP+B’s new spot “Invitation” makes the Xbox One shine. Even some of Sony’s biggest fanboys might concede it looks a lot better than the recent PS4 spot.

Directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley, the commercial vet who recently helmed the R&B-inflected DirecTV spot starring the Manning bros (and who earned an Emmy nod for Grey Poupon’s “The Chase,” also from CP+B),  “Invitation” features users invited into the world of several different games, and one movie. The spot opens with a giant robot warrior crashing a business meeting and making a “come here” gesture to a man giving a presentation. Then we see soccer player Steven Gerrard inviting a fan down from the stands. Spock invites a girl along for some sci-fi adventures. A sports car parks itself in front of some dude’s car and opens its door for him. (This is the automotive equivalent of “come here” apparently.) A zombie attempts to cajole a student in a library to join him, loses an arm, and then tells him to come along with the other arm.

Emphasizing the immersive nature of the next-gen platform, the spot announces, “This is an invitation to a new generation: where your games and entertainment are no longer separated, but together, in one.” Showing Xbox One users utilizing the system’s voice activation to launch games like Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, and the movie Star Trek: Enter Darkness gives fans an idea of what they can expect on launch day. The spot also shows users making use of the motion sensitive Kinect. You know, the camera that might be spying on you.

Mixing live action with just the right amount of actual gameplay, “Invitation” is slickly produced and should have Xbox fanboys chomping at the bit for the console’s Nov. 22 release date. My biggest problem with the spot is that the one woman featured uses the Xbox One not for gaming, but to watch a movie. Aside from this perpetuation of the gaming industry’s prevailing sexism (which most people won’t even notice), it’s a really solid ad. The whole “invitation” approach works to emphasize both the immersive nature of the system and the all-in-one entertainment value it offers. The $499 starting price, however, is less inviting. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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Ever have that dream where you look down and realize you're wearing only your underwear? Not me. That dream's for losers. The people in Crispin Porter + Bogusky's first work for Fruit of Loom don't seem to mind it, though. In fact, they've never felt better.

One ad features a pit crew at a racetrack working in their boxers, as jokey narration assures us, "This crew's not having to recalibrate their own nuts and bolts in front of 20 million fans." In another, stuntwoman Mickey Facchinello, clad in bra and panties, leaps from exploding buildings and over exploding cars while shooting a ninja-commando movie, as we're warned, "Do not attempt unless you’re a professional on a closed course wearing the right underwear." Ha ha, "professional" is such a funny word. The "Start Happy" tagline reinforces the message that beginning with the right underwear makes everything better.

In a related promotion, the brand is offering free underwear to thousands of LinkedIn users who find new employment in October. (They might consider wearing proper business attire over those freebies on the first day, just in case.) 

The accent throughout is on comfort, never a bad strategy for the category, though the goofy Fruit of the Loom mascots are sorely missed. (Rock on, Giant Singing Apple—I love you, man!) The new stuff is certainly fun and fresh—one hopes it's fresh, at any rate. Still, it doesn't quite scale the dizzying heights of Paul Smith's recent underwear endeavor.

After a mastectomy, breast cancer patients are left with scars, and, in many cases, no nipples. These consequences of the operation can’t always be aided by reconstructive surgery — which is an expensive option at any rate. P.INK, which we’ve covered in the past, is a post-mastectomy support platform offering a different solution to women left with body image issues after a mastectomy: tattoos.

P.INK has been educating women about the potential of tattoos to help them take creative control of their post-op bodies with their Pinterest boards.Today, P.INK launched an online crowdfunding campaign to finance the tattoos of ten breast cancer survivors at an event called P.INK Day October 21st in Brookyln. The event, scheduled to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, will feature ten of the country’s top tattoo artists inking scar coverage and nipple replacement tattoos for ten breast cancer survivors.

“This is an investment in art,” says Noel Franus, one of the creatives at CP+B who helped launched the non-profit. “Public contributions will help commission beautiful work  that will serve as a personal and permanent celebration of life.”

Donations are open starting today, at the P.INK Day Indiegogo campaign site. P.INK hopes that the inaugural P.INK Day at Saved Tattoo studio in Brookyln will be just the first of many to come.

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