Hasta La Creative!

McCann New York teamed up with production company Private School Entertainment to create a gun safety PSA for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence entitled “Conversations.”

The 30-second spot, directed by David Kerr, was first introduced in Pittsburgh as part of a pilot project but is just now being aired nationally. It examines the kinds of awkward conversations parents have with other parents. “My son…playing…you know…” one mother awkwardly fumbles to another at the opening of the spot. Rather than finish the sentence, the ad skips to the same women engaging in other unfinished awkward conversations such as “The boys got into some of Frank’s old…magazines.” At the end of the spot a voiceover delivers the message, “Awkward conversations come with being a parent, but one might save your child’s life. Ask if there’s an unlocked gun in the house before sending your child over to play.”

The ad functions as a sort of follow up to another gun safety PSA from McCann: the sex-toy battle of “Playthings.” Not only is the style of awkward humor reminiscent of that spot, the actresses used (Iris Almario and Anna Vocino) are also the same. Interestingly, that ad was initially created for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and filmed at the same time as “Conversations,” but the group turned it down, fearing it was too provocative. Dan Gross, president of the Brady Center, told The New York Times that the Brady Center then offered it up to another gun-safety organization, Evolve. Evolve had great success with the video, which eventually racked up over 6 million views on YouTube.  (more…)

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Considering game 7 is tonight, let’s just call this timely. This McDonald’s commercial from Arnold featuring Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James (sort of) isn’t exactly new, but it’s taken on some belated relevance following the headbandless fourth quarter performance from King James in last night’s NBA Finals Game 6. Once you get over the fact that Stephen A. is in a commercial, and the fact that the typical ESPN #embracedebate could be replaced in this case with #embracerecedinghairlines, you’ll see that the “greatest of all time” discussion usually reserved for LeBron vs. Michael Jordan discussions has been morphed, with good spirits, into a battle between chicken nuggets and hamburgers.

In a second local spot, Stephen A. apparently used the hashtag #headbandontootight in relation to LeBron’s fondness for fatty fried chicken and accidentally struck viral marketing gold for Arnold Worldwide. Nevermind that LeBron probably hasn’t had a chicken nugget in 8 years – when the timing is right, the timing is right.

Credits after the jump.

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