Hasta La Creative!

This one’s been making the rounds for awhile, but we figured we’d add our two cents since it involves the ruining of a classic Beach Boys track. BBDO New York employs the Beach Boy’s “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” for their latest AT&T campaign. In the debut spot, “Sing Anthem” people in everyday situations randomly start singing the song as if they’re on Glee or something.

To be fair, BBDO does a passable job of connecting the song to AT&T’s message of helping “people and things speak the same language” and a good job of illustrating the point visually. But people of various walks of life (including an operatic news reporter) randomly bursting into song is a lot to swallow, and that the song is a personal favorite makes it even harder to take. The spot, which BBDO collaborated with Biscuit Filmoworks and editorial company Rock Paper Scissors to make, is part of a broader campaign that employs “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” as a theme song in each of its commericals. Thankfully, “Sing Anthem” is the only one of these to turn everyday life into a cheesy impromptu musical. Stick around for credits and “Sing Network” after the jump. continued…

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If you’ve been watching the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at all, chances are you’ve seen the above spot for GE by BBDO New York.

The 60 second spot, “Childlike Imagination,” portrays GE’s range of individual businesses (turbines, aviation, 3-D printing, and others) through the imagination of the daughter of a GE employee. Its artful approach marks a departure from previous GE campaigns, which tended to focus on just one of these businesses. This change of approach works well for GE. The girl imagines “underwater fans that are powered by the moon,” “airplane engines that can talk,” “hospitals you can hold in your hand,” and “trains that are friends with trees.” The imaginative concept makes for a fun, visually interesting effort designed to capture your attention. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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To promote Snickers Bites, BBDO New York went retro. Bites give hungry customers a bag full of tiny pieces of Snickers bars, a pretty big switch for the consistent candymaker. But what if Snickers had thought of the idea decades ago?

There are two spots, “Intercom” and “Leisure Suit,” that attempt to answer the question, showing goofy scenarios dated to the 70s about follies that prevented Snickers employees from making Bites many years ago. “Intercom” is clearly the better of the two, as a forgetful man with some vague decision-making responsibilities at the company tries to tell his secretary to remind him to create Bites. Unfortunately, there’s static, which the secretary blames on the Soviet Union. “Leisure Suit” is little more than 30 seconds of lazy guys in afros pretending to be stoned. There’s no reason for the laziness, and the jokes are dumb. However, the premise does lend itself to future self-contained episodes, so BBDO can always take a mulligan and create some better spots in the future. ”Leisure Suit” and credits after the jump.

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BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated”series for AT&T has been one of the most recognizable campaigns on television for a while now, offering up different variations on the “kids saying cute, funny things in a classroom discussion” theme with straight man Beck Bennett. Indeed, the campaign has been so ubiquitous and well-received that it basically landed him a spot on SNL.

The agency’s latest, Thanksgiving-themed “Pet Turkey,” while enjoyable, is not the greatest effort in the series. If you’re a fan of the approach, you’ll probably enjoy this new one; if you’re getting tired of this direction, chances are it won’t do anything to dissuade you.

“Pet Turkey” sees Bennett asking the group of kids, “What’s better on Thanksgiving?” When one boy suggests, “a pet turkey,” Bennett offers his rational take on that answer. Again, nothing new here, just more of the same approach from BBDO. Since this brand of cute funny has worked so well for them in the past, it’s understandable that they don’t see the need to change things up. But something about “Pet Turkey” makes it feel like BBDO is treading water, like the approach is finally losing steam and they need to inject “It’s Not Complicated” with some fresh ideas if they want to prolong its shelf life. Although with Bennett’s star on the rise, the campaign’s days may already be numbered.

“Pet Turkey” will debut this Sunday, November 24th and will run throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season. Credits after the jump. continued…

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After spending the last 18 months as co-chief creative officer at JWT New York, Matt MacDonald has moved on as he’s joined up with David Lubars & Co. at BBDO to take on the role of ECD on AT&T. MacDonald joined JWT NY in spring 2012 as co-CCO alongside Ryan Kutscher (whose time at the agency came to an end earlier this year) and during his stay, he led creative on several campaigns for Macy’s including the “Yes, Virginia” holiday work as well as the “Nightlife Exchange” effort for Diageo. MacDonald is slated to officially assume his ECD post at BBDO, which we’ve been told is new as it covers all the creative duties BBDO handles  for AT&T, in January.

Along with adding MacDonald to the fold, BBDO is also shaking things up a bit in its Atlanta office as the agency is relocating New York ECD Wil Boudreau to the 404 to serve in the same role. As Atlanta ECD, a position he’ll assume next week, Boudreau, who has been with BBDO for nearly a quarter-century, will oversee the agency’s entire client roster — which includes REI and Florida Dept. of Citrus — save for AT&T (that’ll be MacDonald’s turf shortly, of course). Regarding AT&T, though,  Stephen McMennamy and Alex Russell, who specifically work on the account out of Atlanta, are now being promoted to SVPs/SCDs in said office “in recognition of the contributions they have made to that business.”

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BBDO’s latest spot in its feudal Twix campaign, “Break Room,” continues to stoke the feud between left and right Twix.

In the spot, a worker in the left Twix factory wonders what a right Twix tastes like. As he takes a bite, a camera zooms in on him and a tube ejects him from the factory, presumably to the right Twix factory. Viewers are encouraged to “Try both. Pick a side.” I’d like to see a more in-depth discussion of the differences between the left and right Twix factories. Are the factory conditions really all that different? Is one more sanitary than the other? Who started this feud? Come on Twix, give us something to work with here.

This fight-stoking campaign seems flat out irresponsible. Why do you have to give us something to fight about, Twix? This could lead to ongoing feuds that rival the east coast vs. west coast battles of the 90s. Can’t we all just get along? Credits after the jump.  continued…

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It seems like there’s an awful lot of Back to the Future nostalgia invading the Internet these days, with posts about the series on sites like Reddit leading to listicles about the trilogy on nostalgia-aggregators like Buzzfeed which then go viral on Facebook and eventually find themselves on large emails your mom sends to her friends and CC’s you on for some reason. And, what with it being 2013 and all,  where advertising campaigns are becoming increasingly informed by memes, we get GE and BBDO NY using the “1.21 gigawatts” thing to sell you technology or something. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads to perdition; we just fly there through space and time.

And yet, nostalgia has a way of endearing you to things in a way totally out of your control. Call it manipulation, call it “effective advertising” using one of the oldest tricks in the book. Any way or slice it, it’s hard as even a casual fan of the series not to get a little giddy when you see what are ostensibly Marty McFly’s Nikes pop out of a souped-up Delorean. While Pepperidge Farm dares us to remember a time when people died of dystentary and snakebites like in Oregon Trail, Back to the Future‘s original audience has aged to the point where brands see the 1980s as a way to get consumers on board 30-something years later.

In fact, I hope this becomes a whole campaign where GE powers David Bowie‘s castle from Labyrinth, E.T.‘s glowing finger, and the computer from Weird Science. And, though it wouldn’t make much sense, maybe Michael J. Fox could narrate those spots too. Maybe in another 30 years, GE will power the ships from Avatar and Robin Thicke can provide us with his own deep-voiced VO. Trust me, it will make sense by then. Credits after the jump.

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Not only should you fear James Harden‘s beard, but now you should fear his voice, too. There’s a long history of athletes who want to be rappers/singers, and that history stars and ends with this awesomely terrible Deion Sanders single from 1994. Luckily, Harden’s leap into the music industry is all in good fun on behalf of Foot Locker. BBDO New York has been pumping out quality NBA-related spots for the brand in the past, and “Harden Soul” is no different. It’s crisp, funny, and capable of appreciating the offbeat moment of humor.

Basketball fans may also recognize sharpshooter Stephen Curry as the voice of reason, begging Harden to give up the strain on his vocal cords. But, as Harden says, “I just had the best year of my career, I gotta keep things fresh.” For those interested in things that are kept extra fresh, Foot Locker also released a full version of “Harden Soul” on Youtube (you can listen after the jump). Watch out for the lyrical genius of lines like, “I wear my shirt open/so you see my chest…I keep my stock open/so you can invest.” Almost worthy of a Grammy.

Credits after the jump.

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BBDO New York and Foot Locker know that Clippers forward/dunker Blake Griffin is a commercial machine – Subway, Kia, Jordan Brand to rattle off a few quickly. So for their latest joint venture, “The Endorser,” the creatives decided to physically hook up Griffin to a machine called The Endorser as if he were programmed to place products. For some Lob City support, Clippers point guard/whiner Chris Paul steps in as a foil to turn off the machine and show us the difference between Real Blake and Robot Blake.

The spot is another smart and self-aware sports bit that takes advantage of an athlete’s public persona through subversion. Griffin is usually stone-faced or arrogantly posturing on the court after huge dunks, but he’s built up a quiet niche as a funnyman on television. Just see this Grantland piece from March that discusses why Blake’s comedy is more complex than you might think. The only issue with Blake is overexposure, like, when his sponsorship brands debut separate commercials within the same week. His Jordan “Blake and Drain” spot, which alludes to MJ and Spike Lee ads from twenty years ago, is even better than the Footlocker commercial. And for that reason, “The Endorser” might get lost in the ever-expanding Blake Griffin commercial merry-go-round. Credits after the jump.

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Betty White, Joe Pesci, Robin Williams, and… Kenny G. Aside from picking the most odds-and-sods group of entertainers out there, Snickers and BBDO New York have a knack for choosing celebrities with just enough relevance for the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign. The title for best Snickers jokester is a toss-up between White’s roughhousing football player and Pesci’s whiny wingman. The latest spot, “Cards,” won’t top its predecessors, mainly because Kenny G doesn’t speak throughout the whole clip, but you can always lose yourself in his patented melancholy saxophoning.

It’s strange to think that the first ad with White came out over three years ago, but these spots seem to have enough social support to keep on kicking, even as the celebrities get less celebratory. Maybe for the next one, BBDO could get all four celebs in one room at the same time – a group of hungry people who all need to eat Snickers. That way, we could get Pesci to look at Kenny G and unleash a “Who is this fuckin’ guy?” tirade. Everybody wins, even Kenny G, since he’d be in two commercials in the past decade instead of one. Credits after the jump.

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