Smokey Bear Reboot Takes Warm and Fuzzy to a Whole New Level

The new man-in-a-furry-suit-and-big-ass-jeans incarnation of Smokey Bear is all about huggin' and lovin' strangers he meets in the woods. These days, who isn't? (Well, OK, Purity Bear for one.) Draftfcb in Los Angeles created this integrated Smokey campaign for the Ad Council and the U.S. Forest Service, and as always, the goal is conveying information on how to prevent forest fires. There are TV and radio spots, as well as print, outdoor and digital elements, including the hashtag #SmokeyBearHugs. Past versions of the iconic bear—and there have been many since the character was introduced in 1944—would cry, nag, lecture or simply stare down campers while brandishing a shovel to make a point about fire safety. (The recent CGI Smokey was a preachy douche.) Now, Huggy Smokey Bear literally embraces those who act responsibly, holding them lovingly in his ursine arms. At least he doesn't grin and bare it. The hugees mostly look uncomfortable and make weird faces. Perhaps they're mortified to be in such goofy PSAs.

CREDITS
Campaign: Smokey Bear/Wildfire Prevention

Client: The Advertising Council
Senior Vice President, Group Campaign Director: Michelle Hillman
Vice President, Campaign Director: Amy Gibson-Grant
Campaign Manager: Ricki Kaplan
Assistant Campaign Manager: Kristin Ellis

Client: U.S. Forest Service
Fire Prevention Program Manager: Helene Cleveland
Acting Fire Prevention Program Manager: Gwen Beavans

Client: National Association of State Foresters
Director of Communications: Genevieve O’Sullivan

Agency: Draftfcb, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Eric Springer
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Michael Bryce
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Jeff Maerov
Copywriter: Nick Micale
Art Director: Patrick Moore
Vice President, Executive Producer: Thomas Anderson
Producer: Jeffrey Perino
Executive Vice President, Group Management Director: Yolanda Cassity
Vice President, Management Director: Leila Cesario
Account Executive: Jennifer Levin

Production: Park Pictures
Directors: Terri Timely (Ian Kibbey, Corey Creasy)
Creative Consultant: Lance Acord
Executive Producer, Owner: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: Valerie Romer

Editing: Butcher
Editor: Teddy Gersten
Assistant Editor: Leah Turner
Producer: Chrissy Hamilton
Executive Producer: Rob Van

Effects: D Train (Smokey)
Creative Director: Ben Gibbs
Effects Supervisor: Jan Cillers
Producer: Shelby Wong
Coordinator: Chelsea Brewer

Effects: Alterian (Smokey)
Creature Effects, Smokey Suit Designer: Tony Gardner

    

Kmart Ad Turns Schoolyard Taunts of ‘Yo Mama’ Into Compliments

Draftfcb stages a spirited, brand-centric schoolyard game of "Yo Mama" to tout Kmart's free back-to-school layaway plan in this new commercial. "Yo mama get that hoodie at Kmart?" "Yeah, dawg." "Well, yo mama must have cavities, 'cuz that hoodie is sweeeeeeeet!" "Oh yeah, well, yo mama's like a tasty cheese plate, 'cuz she saved a bunch of cheddar on them Kmart jeans!" Etc. Some commenters claim the spot perpetuates stereotypes, or else they object to the street slang. I don't think this ad merits that level of sociological scrutiny. Unlike Kmart's previous silly spots, "Ship My Pants" and "Big Gas Savings," this new effort doesn't seem destined to generate millions of YouTube views. (It's topped 80,000 in its first week.) Still, the kids earn high marks for their enormous energy and over-the-top line deliveries. They elevate material that might have flunked out otherwise. "Ship My Pants." Ha! That never gets old!

    

Advertising: New Smokey Bear Gives Hugs, Not Just Warnings

The venerable bear is now less an authority figure than a paragon of positive reinforcement who embraces people who show they know how to avoid causing fires.

    

And Now, An Update on DFCB SoCal, Part II

Here’s an update to our update from last week. We just had a chat with Rahul Roy to get some clarification on a new wave of tips we’ve received this week regarding the state of Draftfcb’s Southern California operations. First and foremost, Roy, the nearly 10-year DFCB vet who was promoted three weeks ago to managing director of said region for the agency, tells us that the new, Venice, CA-based operation will now be known as Draftfcb LA.

The Irvine branch, meanwhile, will serve as a field office that will still house administration, creative and account folks among others. From what Roy tells us, his goal is that by no later than August 1, the Venice office will house 80 percent of SoCal staff and the Irvine office, 20, though there’s some flexibility for folks in the latter. Roy says that if they want to stay in Irvine, they can stay put but the idea is to be in the Venice office two days a week.

As far as the cuts last week in the West Coast, numbers weren’t disclosed, but despite what tipsters are telling us, Roy says the staff count in Southern California remains north of 30. During it’s Taco Bell heyday a few years ago, max staff count in Irvine was at 60 according to the exec. While we’re the on the subject, Roy says that Draftfcb LA currently has three “huge” creative projects in the works for its main client. We’re not sure if there will be a part III to this saga at the end of next week, but we’ll post if so.

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DFCB Montreal Asks Hockey Fans to Slapshot Support for Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens bowed out in the first round of the NHL Playoffs this year, losing 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators. Making things worse: Montreal was a No. 2 seed that lost to a No. 7 seed. It turns out that a recent interactive outdoor experience near the Bell Centre not only gave fans a chance to show off their slapshots, but it also could’ve improved the product on the ice. How many mediocre sports movies have been started this way? A team underachieves, a fan of that team goes through some transformative process and gets to reveal supernatural talent. Rookie of the Year, anyone?

The interactive setup comes from DraftFCB Montreal, MEC Canada, Thinkingbox, and Coors Light. During the first round of the playoffs, 299 fans had the chance to hit a slapshot and watch the computerized result on a huge screen with customized graphics. The idea isn’t all that different from a radar gun at a minor league baseball game, albeit with some super-duper technology. Fans were encouraged to share their experiences on social media (again, not all that different in today’s world). But hey, it’s beer and hockey for Canadians, so you get the idea nobody thought too hard about it and just had fun…until their team lost.

Credits after the jump.

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Draftfcb NY Welcomes Florio Along with Jordan as GCD

A week after announcing the hiring of BBDO NY alum Kevin Jordan as group creative director, Draftfcb New York has found a second person to assume said title. In a memo sent to staff around noon yesterday, DFCB NY CCO  Javi Campopiano revealed that the agency has brought on Renata Florio as a fellow GCD. The newest hire, who indulged us in a Super Bowl quickfire Q+A this year, most recently served as CCO at Grey Group’s Hispanic agency unit, Wing. We’re checking to see what accounts each new GCD will be working on, but in the meantime, you can read Campopiano’s note below to find our more about the pair if interested.

“Hi all,

You might have already met them in some corner of our offices but in case you haven’t, let’s officially say hello and welcome to Kevin Jordan and Renata Florio, our newest creative department SVPs and group creative directors.

Kevin was most recently at BBDO New York, where he was responsible for remarkable campaigns for AT&T and GE. Before that, he worked at Havas Worldwide where he was one of the creatives behind the highly successful and awarded Dos Equis “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign. (He insists that the idea is somehow based on himself. We’ll soon see.)

Before Renata came to the U.S. to be the creative leader at Grey’s Hispanic marketing agency called Wing in September of 2011, she worked at some of the best agencies in her native Brazil, including  BBDO, StrawberryFrog, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis and DM9DDB, where she was part of the team that helped the shop to be “Agency of the Year” at Cannes. She’s been a part of some of the most recognized campaigns of the past few years, including the mega-awarded “Windows” for FedEx. Her experience in the U.S. general market includes campaigns for clients like Red Lobster, Radio Shack and P&G.

So let’s say welcome and boas-vindas (pronounce bowushbeendus) to both of them.

More to come soon.

Javi”

 

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AD/’Ghost Owl’ Sprays Some Cool Onto Draftfcb SF

I bet your office lobby – if you have an office lobby – doesn’t look as artistic as the new and improved office lobby for Draftfcb SF. One of the agency’s art directors brought in local graffiti artist Ghost Owl to freshen up the lobby with a staggering wallscape. As ad folks often do, Draftfcb SF turned non-client work, and in this case, office redecoration, into a creative endeavor. There’s a short video showing how Ghost Owl worked his ghost magic with the spray cans, a cool watch if you want to see how he layers and shades colors up close. A bumpy hip-hop beat plays over the clip, completing the woozy old-school West Coast feel. I’d be willing to bet that E-40 approves of this Bay Area collaboration.

Credits after the jump.

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Here’s a Quick Update on the State of DFCB SoCal

Well, despite what tipsters and those we know have been saying ad nauseum over the last few days, we’ve been told by parties involved that “any suggestion” that Draftfcb’s West Coast SoCal operation is no longer working with Taco Bell “is wrong” (Seattle and SF offices are not in play here). After all, the agency did just bust out this ad campaign this week for the fast-food chain for better or worse. But anyhow, the Draft camp has updated its announce from two weeks ago regarding the revamping of its SoCal agency structure, offering the statement below:

“Last month we announced that Rahul Roy would be taking on expanded responsibilities as the managing director of our operations in southern California.  He is partnering with Eric Springer and Michael Bryce, former creative partners at Deutsch L.A. who joined the agency several months ago as chief creative officer and executive creative director respectively, to revamp our operations there.  While we will keep a small service office in Irvine, we are shifting the heart of our business to new offices in L.A. so that we can tap into a deeper talent pool for the benefit of clients like Taco Bell while attracting new business.

Our latest new hire is Sandip Vadher, who has joined the agency as SVP, group planning director; he succeeds Ken Muench. Sandip had most recently held the same role at Pitch. He has deep QSR experience, working with clients like Burger King and McDonald’s over the years.  His keen strategic thinking has also benefited clients and brands like Microsoft, Target, Coke Zero and Samsung.

While a number of our Orange County people are now assigned to work in L.A., the decision to retool our operations in southern California means that we also need to part ways with some talented people. They were informed of this decision Wednesday. We are doing all we can to provide a smooth transition to those who are affected; we deeply appreciate their contributions to our agency. In the long run, we believe these strategic shifts should fortify our business in Southern California.”

We’ve inquired about number of staff affected and headcount as a result of Draftfcb’s SoCal restructuring. We’ll keep you posted.

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Taco Bell is Excited About Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, Therefore You Must Be, Too

Hey, did you know that Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos tacos now come in a Cool Ranch variety? Of course you did, and you and your 20-something-year-old friends are probably celebrating in a parking lot or pool hall right now according to this spot from DraftFCB. “By golly, what a wonderful new offering,” you thought to yourself. “I should throw a Doritos bag containing a taco to my similarly aged friend across town. That is what I shall do.” And then you did.

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Solar Panel Inside Nivea Print Ad Generates Power to Charge Your Cellphone

A print ad that uses solar power to charge cellphones? At long last, mankind's prayers have been answered! Giovanni + Draftfcb in São Paulo, Brazil, developed the ad, which includes a wafer-thin solar panel and phone plug, to promote the Nivea Sun line of skincare products. It ran in Brazilian magazine Veja Rio, and there's a sun-soaked beach video that shows the device in action. Of course, the ad is mainly a gimmick to generate publicity through media coverage, which we're pleased to provide, though the work also suggests that adding novel functionality to traditional campaigns could be a smart way to stir things up. What will they think of next—a billboard that generates drinking water out of thin air?

    

Anúncio impresso da NIVEA carrega bateria de celular através de energia solar

Com a proposta de permitir que as pessoas aproveitem cada minuto do sol, sem sair da praia pra nada, a NIVEA criou um anúncio carregador de celular. Promovendo sua linha de protetores, Sun, a peça capta energia solar e transfere para a bateria do smartphone através de uma entrada USB.

Criado pela Draftfcb, foram oito meses de desenvolvimento no total: seis para produzir uma placa solar tão fina quanto o papel, e mais dois para conseguir imprimir o material.

Nivea

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Having Shipped Its Pants, Kmart Now Offers You ‘Big Gas Savings’

Kmart's "Ship My Pants" ad was a major success, to the tune of 17 million YouTube views and counting. But can Draftfcb turn almost-profanity into a running gag for the retailer? It attempts to do so with this follow-up spot, "Big Gas Savings," which features some big-gas humor indeed. It even features the same family from "Ship My Pants," and once again the kid gets the best line. (In the earlier spot, he blurted out, "I can't wait to ship my pants, Dad." Here, he shouts, "Dad, look at that big gas truck!") It's not quite as funny as the original, perhaps, but it seems destined to get similarly big-gas numbers on YouTube. And if nothing else, the #biggassavings hashtag clinches it. Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Kmart
Chief Marketing Officer: Andrew Stein
Vice President, Creative: Mark Andeer

Agency: Draftfcb
Chief Creative Officer: Todd Tilford
Executive Creative Director: Jon Flannery
Creative Director, Copywriter: Berk Wasserman
Creative Director: Todd Durston
Group Executive Producer, Agency Producer: Chris Bing

Production Company: Bob Industries
Executive Producers: T.K. Knowles, John O'Grady, Chuck Ryant
Producer: Brian Etting
Director: Zach Math

    

DFCB, Kmart Continue to Make Puns, Offer ‘Big Gas Savings’

When DraftFCB and Kmart released their spot “Ship My Pants” last month, it was lauded far and wide as shot of adrenaline for both the retail brand and the Chicago office of the agency. Sure, it was silly, considering the spot’s entire charm rested on the fact that “ship” can sound like “shit,” but it was still a funny and delightfully unexpected execution for brand not known for taking risks.

After “Ship My Pants” racked up a whopping 17 million+  YouTube views, it would be foolish to switch up a formula that’s proven itself on such a grand scale. So, we now have “Big Gas Savings,” a new spot which tries to recreate the lightning-in-a-bottle success of its predecessor. Now first off,  it lacks the unexpectedness of “Ship My Pants,” not to mention that “gas” and “ass” is a bit further of a reach than “ship” and “shit.” And, of course, “shit” is a far funnier word than “ass.” Also, advertising discounts on gas might not be the best way to get people into your store. In other words, no, this doesn’t live up to “Ship My Pants,” but really could it?

Kmart was left with two options here when it became clear that they had to stick to an execution they knew would bring in viewers. The first, which they went with, was to use a different swear word. The second, which may have worked better, was to continue going with “shit” and come up with new jokes. This isn’t to say that “Big Gas Savings,” isn’t better than 90 percent of ads out there. In fact, it’s still a very enjoyable watch. It’s impossible to hit it out of the park with every swing, and a single sure isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Credits after the jump.

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Advertising Student Ships His Pants to Kmart’s Agency, Lands Internship

If you can ship your pants skillfully and creatively, you have a good chance of working at Kmart's ad agency, Draftfcb. The agency said today that it has brought in a new intern in large part because of his pants-shipping abilities. Alf Zapata shipped his actual pants and résumé to Draftfcb's recruiting department. That got him an interview; his "portfolio, witty humor and enthusiasm" got him the internship, the agency says. This raises the possibility that you could get an internship at Y&R in New York simply by apologizing and then acting superior. More images below.

    

Sharpie: Uma história, duas pontas

Na temporada pré-Cannes, as campanhas impressas voltam a chamar nossa atenção. Mesmo que nunca vejam as páginas de uma revista, claro.

Essa aqui é uma boa idéia e ótima execução da Draftfcb para a Sharpie, uma caneta com duas pontas e espessuras diferentes. As peças contam as mesmas histórias, mas uma mais detalhada que a outra.

Tem a chegada do homem à Lua – que na versão em detalhes brinca com a teoria conspiratória filmada por Stanley Kubrick; a criação do Facebook por Mark Zuckerberg, com uma visão menos romântica da que foi mostrada no filme; e a festinha do príncipe Harry em Las Vegas.

A campanha assina com “One story. Two points.” Clique nas peças para ampliar.

Sharpie

Sharpie
Sharpie

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DraftFCB Finds Success with Felines, Cash Prizes

DraftFCB Chicago has invoked the cuteness theory for their latest Del Monte Foods work, which suggests that people will always respond positively to cats or babies. The Facebook campaign lets users personalize a digital cat avatar with pet photos and create a jingle. Aside from the obvious cooing and awwing, those who play along could win a $100 daily prize or a $10,000 grand prize. I can almost hear the creaky bones of cat ladies crunching as they try to get up from their rocking chairs and walk to their computers without stepping on one of their 47 cats.

The app has been so successful thus far, according to echoes from the Chicago office, that the agency’s needed to add more servers to accommodate the traffic. That means cat ladies are probably making 47 entries for each of their kittens, giving them more chances to win and less chances to ever reclaim a normal life that involves other human beings.

Credits after the jump.

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Can You Hear the Tone Hidden in This ‘Vision Test’?

Don't believe everything you see and hear in Draftfcb Toronto's deceptively clever TV and interactive poster campaign for Union Hearing Aid Centre. Known for its tricky advertising, the client's new "vision tests" display letters in successively smaller fonts in typical eye-chart fashion—but there's quite a surprise in store. Those who can read the final line of tiny type on the poster and in the commercial are told that there's probably nothing wrong with their eyesight. But they might want to visit Union and get their hearing checked, because a "really annoying, really loud high-frequency sound" has been playing throughout the test, and those with sharp ears would've reacted to it and likely sought relief before they'd finish the exam. (The hearing center ran similar spots last year.) During the eye-test phase of the TV spot, I couldn't hear the high-pitched sound; but at the end, with the ruse revealed and the tone cranked way up, making it detectable to just about everyone, the message got through loud and clear. And given how many YouTube commenters mention being annoyed by the tone through the whole spot, I suppose I probably should book an appointment. Via Media in Canada.

    

Kmart’s ‘Ship My Pants’ Ad Climbs Toward 10 Million Views, Eyes TV Run

It may not be the height of sophistication, but holy crap—Kmart's "Ship My Pants" ad is having a great run, to say the least. After just five days on YouTube, the pun-heavy spot from Draftfcb—in which Kmart shoppers are strongly encouraged to "ship their pants"—is quickly heading toward 10 million views on YouTube (it has 7.8 million currently) and is being passed around by viewers at an astounding rate of one share for every nine views, according to the viral experts at Unruly Media. With more than 800,000 shares total, it's already the second-most-shared ad of the past 30 days, eclipsed only by the "Bad Motherfucker" video from the Russian rock band Biting Elbows—which isn't really an an ad at all but counts as marketing because it's stuffed full of references to Neft vodka. Also, "Ship My Pants" seems destined to get a second big wave of publicity soon. Draftfcb—which is defending the Kmart creative business in a review that's down to three agencies—says the spot is living online only for now, but a TV run is in the works.

    

Kmart Says It’s Totally Fine If You Want to Ship Your Pants Right There

Juvenile humor reigns supreme in this new Kmart commercial from Draftfcb, featuring store workers encouraging stunned shoppers to not be shy and just go ahead and "ship your pants." The shoppers take full advantage, too. Other folks later in the spot even ship their drawers and their nighties, and one old dude even gleefully ships the bed. (The point is, Kmart is offering free shipping of anything from Kmart.com if people can't find it at the physical store.) I'm not sure I'd sign off on a commercial that's basically 30 seconds of people punning about shit, but it's sure worth a chuckle. Props, too, for going all out and including the #shipmypants hashtag. Hat tip to @arrrzzz.

CREDITS
Client: Kmart
Vice President, Marketing Planning: Andrew Stein
Vice President, Creative: Mark Andeer
Vice President, Chief Digital Marketing Officer: Bill Kiss

Agency: Draftfcb
Chief Creative Officer: Todd Tilford
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Jon Flannery
Senior Vice President, Creative Director: Howie Ronay
Vice President, Creative Director, Copywriter: Sean Burns
Agency Producer: Chris Bing

Production Company: Bob Industries
Executive Producers: T.K. Knowles, John O'Grady, Chuck Ryant
Producer: Brian Etting
Director: Zach Math

    

Rothschild Out at Draftfcb CHI

We’ve received confirmation that after less than a year at the helm as SVP/group creative director of the multicultural department at Draftfcb Chicago, Michel Rothschild is no longer with the agency. From what those in know tell us, Rothschild actually departed the agency a few weeks back (last day was 2/15 to be exact), and is relocating from the Windy City to NYC. Prior to his gig at DFCB, Rothschild freelanced for the likes of JWT and Dieste and also spent time scripting/directing clips for MTV. No word yet if there are immediate plans to replace, but we’ll let you know.

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