Hasta La Creative!

Young Latino consumers: They’re hip! They’re mobile! They lead active, on-the-go lifestyles!

They’re also, you know, pretty much like anybody else—though that’s something marketers rarely want to hear when they’re paying small fortunes for demographic “experts” to demystify the millennials who live at an every-growing cultural crossroads in America.

Honda pokes some fun at the marketing world’s Hispanic fixation in its newest ads from the Santa Monica-based Orci agency for the Fit. Wild-haired comedian Felipe Esparza serves as a tour guide of sorts into the world of young Latinos, only to find that they’re mostly just focused on running errands and getting to work.

“Are we going to a party?” he asks a couple from the back seat. 

“We’re…just going to the movies,” the young woman replies.

He’s also shocked to learn that instead of packing their trunk with trendy fixies, they’re just grabbing groceries. “Groceries? Rebels!” 

Agency president Andrew Orcí says the spots, shot in Spanish and English, began with the idea that brands often try to fit Hispanic consumers into specific patterns and niches, when in fact it’s a group that’s pretty much impossible to lump into a few convenient categories.

“Latino millennials are much more than what we make of them. They are a versatile bunch. They ping-pong between cultures, languages, interests and behaviors. That’s why it’s funny when you hear others trying to fit them into their box of clichés,” Orcí says.

“Felipe Esparza, as our ‘Latino expert,’ is the perfect voice to make fun of this situation. Why? Because not even a Latino can define a Latino. They simply defy all expectations.”

To help expand its reach in Canada, Netflix has released a series of new ads that play off the streaming video service’s role as a sort of cultural watering hole from which we can draw endless references.

Created by DDB Vancouver, two of the spots continue the vibe of the “Pep Talk” spot from earlier this year by showing how citing movies and shows on Netflix can help you in tough situations like asking someone to marry you or sharing a hospital patient’s prognosis. 

A third spot takes a pretty different approach, although the setup’s quite similar. I’ll let you watch without spoiling it, though.

CREDITS:

Agency: DDB Canada Vancouver
Executive Creative Directors: Dean Lee, Cosmo Campbell
Creative Directors: Dean Lee, Josh Fehr

“AIRPORT”
Associate Creative Director: Daryl Gardiner
Art Director: Daryl Gardiner
Copywriters: Daryl Gardiner, Jessica Schnurr, Geoff Vreeken

“PROPOSAL”
Associate Creative Director: Daryl Gardiner
Art Director: Daryl Gardiner
Copywriters: Daryl Gardiner, Jessica Schnurr, Geoff Vreeken

“TEST RESULTS”
Associate Creative Director: Daryl Gardiner
Art Director: Daryl Gardiner
Copywriters: Daryl Gardiner, Geoff Vreeken

Agency Producer: Karen Brown
Account Team: Patty Jones, VP Client Services Director; Roger Nairn, Account Supervisor
Project Manager: Matthew Sy
Strategy: Rob Newell

Production Company: Steam / Anonymous Content
Director: Brian Billow
Senior Executive Producer-Anonymous Content:  Eric Stern
Executive Producer-Steam:  Krista Marshall
Executive Producer-Steam:  Tony DiMarco
Director of Photography: Dion Beebe
Line Producer: Kelly King
Post-Production Company: Cycle Media http://www.cyclemedia.net/
Editor: Matthew Griffiths
Visual Effects/Animation: Peter Debay at Cycle Media http://www.cyclemedia.net/
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld at Company 3
Audio House: Vapor Music
Audio House Creative Directors: Joey Serlin, Andrew Harris
Audio House Producer: Natalie Schnurr
Casting Agency in LA: Ryan Bernstein
Casting Agency in Toronto: Andrew Hayes http://powerhousecasting.com/

Talent/Lead Roles only:
“PROPOSAL”
Jake: Chris Smith
Kate: Cali Fredrichs

“AIRPORT”
Stephen: Gary Smith
Elizabeth: Abigail Marlowe

“TEST RESULTS”
Patient: Mike Beaver
Doctor: Richard Waugh

When LeBron James had to stagger off the court last night with a heat-induced leg cramp, one brand seemed all too happy to pour a few hundred milligrams of sodium into the wound. 

Gatorade, which mocked LeBron in a series of tweets about how dehydration wouldn’t be an issue if he didn’t “drink something else,” today apologized for the posts.

LeBron is the most high-profile celebrity endorser for Powerade, a fact which Gatorade’s Twitter account seemed to relish with vindictive glee after the basketball superstar had to take an early exit from Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“The person cramping wasn’t our client,” @Gatorade told a fan who mistakenly called James the brand’s No. 1 client. “Our athletes can take the heat.”

In another response to a Twitter user praising Gatorade for its topical zingers, the brand wrote: “Thanks, Randy. We’ve been hydrating all day. We never cramp.”

While the tweets remain up, the brand has issued a statement of apology.

“Our apologies for our response to fans’ tweets,” Gatorade said. “We got caught up in the heat of the battle. As a longtime partner of the Miami Heat, we support the entire team.”

Hat tip to AdLand.

@LazyBumDrew we were waiting on the sidelines, but he prefers to drink something else.

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) June 6, 2014

@OfficiallyRandy Thanks, Randy. We’ve been hydrating all day. We never cramp.

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) June 6, 2014

@AthIeteMotivate Especially during important games.

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) June 6, 2014

@CarmichaelDave This is awkward….We don’t sponsor him. #fail

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) June 6, 2014

@ryanbkoo The person cramping wasn’t our client. Our athletes can take the heat.

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) June 6, 2014

When most great spec projects make the rounds among the Internet’s creative community, it’s assumed the work will never see the light of day. Here’s a notable, wonderful exception.

Late last year, Italian designer Marco Sodano received global praise for his creative pixelation of famous paintings remade with Legos. At the time, he said he wanted to convey “the belief that every child with Lego can become a great artist like Da Vinci and Vermeer.”

This month, he posted a new gallery, this time empowered to call it simply a “campaign for Lego.” The official versions (largely similar but for the word “Imagine” embedded at the top left) were produced by agency Geometry Global in Hong Kong, with Sodano as art director.

Check out the four official executions below:

Via The Inspiration.

In the weeks since the Omnicom and Publicis Groupe megamerger fell apart, many have been asking why such a problematic union was proposed in the first place. Well now we know: It was all another agency's elaborate marketing stunt.

In an entertaining parody case study, Fred & Farid Group takes full credit for the "Omnipub" merger, an idea hatched to highlight just how far holding companies would go in their quest for world domination.

"Why not organize an epic fail with two giants? Instead of the usual David against Goliath, we made a Goliath against Goliath story. We created … 'The Impossible Wedding.'"

Setting events in motion like a Shakespearean villain, Paris-based Fred & Farid says it forged letters between Omnicom CEO John Wren and Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy, making each think the other was on board with the merger. Then the pranksters sat back and watched the hilarity ensue.

Like any good case study, #Omnipub includes some impressive metrics: 24,000 mentions, 500,000 media impressions and $100 million in wasted fees (quoted from our own coverage here at Adweek). 

So congrats to Fred & Farid for pulling off one truly epic viral prank. You got us!

Most city dwellers tend to avoid eye contact with the homeless, a fact that made one advocacy group wonder: Would you recognize your own relatives if they were living on the street?

New York City Rescue Mission partnered with agency Silver + Partner for a hidden-camera stunt that filmed people as they walked past loved ones dressed to look homeless. Later, the passersby were shown video footage of themselves walking past their relatives without a second glance. 

As you'd probably expect, no one recognized their family members. One woman even walked right past her mom, uncle and aunt.

The stunt doesn't lead to any emotional breakdowns or similar histrionics, which is somewhat refreshing at a time when "gotcha" videos focus so hard on over-the-top reactions and immediate life-changing self-reflection. But the unwitting participants clearly feel ashamed of their oversight. 

Director Jun Diaz from production house Smuggler tells Fast Company that one person who was filmed asked not to be included in the final video "because they couldn’t handle the fact that they walked by their family."

On a related website, MakeThemVisible.com, the rescue mission further humanizes the needy by sharing photographs of real homeless New Yorkers, smiling while sharing their personal passions and hobbies.

It's just like your mom always said: When life gives you a plague of rabbits, make a rabbit-pelt billboard. 

Hell Pizza in New Zealand has been grabbing international attention in recent days with a new billboard advertising its rabbit pizza. The outdoor board is made from hundreds of rabbit skins, which it makes clear by noting: "Made from real rabbit. Like this billboard."

Like several parts of the world, New Zealand suffers from an overabundance of rabbits, which can devastate crops and native ecosystems. 

"As well as being a delicious meat, and even quite cute, rabbits are unfortunately also a noted pest that is damaging to the New Zealand environment, particularly in the South Island," the pizzeria noted on its Facebook page.

"For those who are concerned, we sourced these rabbit skins via a professional animal tanning company, who in turn sourced them from local meat processing companies where the skins are a regular by-product."

The pizza is made with smoked wild New Zealand rabbit, toasted pine nuts, beetroot and horopito relish, cream cheese, rosemary and fresh spring onions. 

Via Reddit.

In a world where love is patient and love is kind, one couple refused to play by the rules. This summer, they're going to the chapel and someone's going to get … buried!

OK, so it was actually last fall, and no one died in a fiery blast. But these parodies of Hollywood blockbuster posters for the marriage of David DiCicco and Rachael Batts are still epic enough to make Michael Bay consider a second career as a wedding planner.

The posters were the work of the Virginia couple's close friend, Nashville-based photographer and designer Andres Martinez. After helping them create a Casablanca-themed save-the-date card, Martinez spent about a month creating a series of posters starring DiCicco and Batts, who displayed them at their wedding reception.

"It was definitely a labor of love, for sure," Martinez tells AdFreak. "It was a fun project. There are few people I'd rather do that kind of thing for."

What makes the posters truly impressive is the attention to detail, from recreating the lighting effects of the originals to matching the body positioning as closely as possible. Martinez said it was the perfect outlet for his passion for learning how iconic images are created: "As I've been shooting more and more, I find myself going to magazines and posters and just looking at them, trying to reverse engineer what's going on in the photo."

Late last week, Martinez and the now-married couple decided to share the posters on Reddit, where they rapidly shot to the front page. But their glory was short-lived, as Reddit moderators removed the post from the front page after about an hour because they were concerned about including the full real names of the couple and their friends. 

Check out all the posters and their inspirations below:

You wouldn't think Jesus would be too concerned about his investment portfolio these days, but online trading service Kapitall has tapped Him as a spokesman anyway in a campaign featuring "revolutionary" historic figures.

In a series of spots that went live today, Jesus cracks jokes about crucifixion while Che Guevara cooks frittatas and Genghis Khan showers himself with coins. Backed by a $1 million media spend, the online ads also include Leonardo da Vinci (with nude lounging boy toy) and Cleopatra (with frond-waving boy toy).

But clearly it's the depiction of Jesus that's bound to arouse the most consternation. In a second spot, not yet posted, Jesus says he learned about Kapitall when God found the site and yelled "JESUS CHRIST!"

"Kapitall, and our newly launched advertising campaign, is about being revolutionary," Kapitall CMO Pascal Ehrsam tells AdFreak in an email. "The brand campaign is not meant to be offensive, but to give a nod to some of history's notable icons. Comprising many ethnicities and religions, Kapitall is made up of people from all over the world. We have great respect and admiration for all, even as we strive to entertain."

The campaign was created by agency Swell, with media planning handled by PM Digital. It will run through the summer on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo and Gawker Network, generating an estimated 50 million impressions per month.

Check out the first Jesus spot below and more from the campaign after the jump.

It's been almost a year since we've seen Terry Crews psychotically scream his way through an Old Spice sales pitch. So, to make up for lost time, we get twice the Terry in one spot. 

"Get Shaved in the Face" is the newest oddity from Wieden + Kennedy, which first tapped Crews in 2010 for a series of over-the-top spots directed by comedy duo Tim & Eric. In this installment, Crews faces the existential dilemma of whether to shave off a facial hair that appears to be his micro-clone.

While Isaiah Mustafa is still the most iconic Old Spice guy, Crews seems to be the brand's personality of choice over the long term. He's gone from advertising Odor Blocker Body Wash to shaving cream—and here he's fronting Old Spice's newest foray into grooming hardware. Thanks to a partnership with Braun, you can now buy an Old Spice Hair Clipper ($49.99), Beard & Head Trimmer ($49.99), Wet & Dry Shave & Trim ($59.99), Shaver ($69.99) and Wet & Dry Shaver ($79.99).

They're apparently the perfect devices for committing anthropomorphic follicide—you know, in case that's an issue for you.

CREDITS
Client: Old Spice
Project: "Get Shaved in the Face"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley
Copywriter: Andy Laugenour
Art Director: Matt Sorrell
Broadcast Producer: Jennifer Hundis
Director of Broadcast Production: Ben Grylewicz
Account Team: Georgina Gooley, Nick Pirtle, Michael Dalton, Jessica Monsey
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples

Production Company: Gifted Youth
Direction, Editing, Visual Effects: Fatal Farm
Sound Mix: Charlie Keating, Joint Editorial