Hasta La Creative!

Playstation teamed up with MOFILM for the latest installment in the ongoing “Greatness Awaits” campaign promoting the PS4, which debuted during Sunday Night Football’s San Francisco 49ers vs. Denver Broncos’ game.

While last year’s installment from BBH New York at least felt like it tweaked the formula a little bit, the latest iteration of “Greatness Awaits” struggles to differentiate itself from its past. The 60-second “Friendly Competition” opens with two buddies throwing it down on the basketball court. “What do you got?” asks one friend. “I’ve got Kevin Durant,” the other replies, and morphs into the gaming version of the NBA star. From here, the friends find themselves thrown into a series of games in a now very familiar formula, set to Daft Punk’s “Contact,” ending with Destiny and the “Greatness Awaits” tagline. Maybe it’s just that it’s been used so much, both in and out of this particular campaign, but the approach now feels somewhat stale and “Friendly Competition” does little to expand upon or revitalize it. (more…)

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Arnold Worldwide tapped actress/comedian Grace Helbig, who recently starred in the film Camp Takota, for a 1:47 ad.

The long form ad sees Helbig extolling the virtues of St. Ives’ new “Fresh Hydration Lotion Spray” — which was just released on February 25th — with her brand of manic humor. St. Ives’ new spot plays off the inherent ridiculousness of lotion ads, amping things up to 11 and letting Gerbig riff of that and generally run around like a lunatic. After using the spray, Helbig is whisked away to the magic “land of St. Ives,” a sort of tropical paradise. She tracks down a waterfall made out of lotion, at which time the apparent psychedelic effects of the spray wear off and she’s transported back to her house.

Whether or not you like the new St. Ives spot, which Helbig describes as “wonderfully stupid,” will depend in large part on how you feel about Helbig’s brand of humor. Her fans, who must make up a sizable portion of the video’s 100,000-plus views, will undoubtedly find the spot endearing (and just may purchase the product on her recommendation), while those who find Helbig’s personality grating won’t find anything to enjoy here. As the YouTube views indicate, the spot is certainly getting some eyes on it. Helbig has also garnered attention for the new product by mentioning it on her YouTube series, and even posting a behind-the-scenes video on her channel that has garnered more views than the ad itself. Stick around for that behind-the-scenes video, along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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