DDB Canada crafted a new campaign for Sony, promoting its Hi-Res Audio collection via two 30-second broadcast spots.
The ads aim for a weird sort of humor, with each showing people working out their ears in preparation of the intense experience they’ll get from Sony’s products. In practice, this ends up looking a bit creepy, as in “Ear Crunches.” The spot opens on a man as he takes off his cowboy hat and, with the aid of some special effects, begins some vigorous ear crunches. “Ear Workout” (featured after the jump) is more or less the same concept, with each spot ending with the tagline “Get Your Ears Ready” before showing the range of products in Sony’s Hi-Res Audio collection. Strange as the approach may be, it’s refreshing to see audio equipment advertised for sounding good rather than as a fashion accessory worn by celebrity athletes. Still, it would have been nice if DDB Canada could have mixed up the formula a bit more between the two ads. (more…)
DARE Vancouver has launched an emotionally affecting campaign for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF) entitled “A Sick Child Affects Everyone.”
The camapaign utilizes voiceover narrative and simple scenes to focus on the emotional impact of a sick child on loved ones. It’s hard to imagine someone not being impacted by these spots, which are very relatable and seriously depressing. The campaign is intended to “raise general awareness of the hospital and its great needs” and it certainly doesn’t pull any punches in doing so, putting viewers in the uncomfortable position of a teen who is about to hear that her sister was just in a serious accident, a man whose child has been sick for the past six months, or a man who is in the waiting room while his four-year-old niece undergoes cardiac surgery. These are seriously painful moments that DARE Vancouver utilizes to stress the importance of the cause, and they don’t make for easy viewing.
“For a family with a sick child, the struggle can be overwhelming and all consuming, said DARE Vancouver creative director Addie Gillespie. “We wanted to shed light on those moments when everything changes and a family most needs the support of those around them. We also wanted to make the spots relatable – we can all imagine the intense pain these families are feeling and how helpless we might feel in the same situation.”
Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…
People like crunchy cereal. Oatmeal Crisp is a cereal that is crunchy. Cossette took this idea and handed it to a bunch of deranged copy writers who escaped from a mental institution. The result is their batshit crazy new campaign, “Competition Crunch.”
The four spots that comprise the campaign all feature varying degrees of absurd, random humor. Think of recent Old Spice campaigns for a point of reference, though that only gives you the basic idea. For whatever reason, Oatmeal Crisp’s spokesman is a Scottish dude in a kilt, who introduces “Competition Crunch.” Each spot features a new opponent for Oatmeal Crisp — a hungry tortoise, a ginger wedding, an elitist marionette, and romantic robots. That should give you some idea of the kind of crazy we’re talking about. This is filed in our “What The…?” category for a reason.
The spot featured above (my favorite), “Hungry Tortoise Vs. Oatmeal Crisp” presents a hungry tortoise, for absolutely no apparent reason on a Japanese game show, eating a crunchy head of lettuce. Our Scottish spokesman admits that the hungry tortoise eating a head of lettuce is very crunchy, but it’s no match for Oatmeal Crisp. Believe it or not, this is on the less crazy side of the campaign. Out of all the spots, it comes the closest to making sense.The only tamer spot might be the “Romantic Robot” spot, in which two romantically inclined robots make a toast and break their glasses.
On the crazier side, we have “Elitist Marionette” and “Ginger Wedding.” What can even be said about these? “Elitist Marionette” centers around — you guessed it — an elitist marionette who flaunts his “100% Egyptian cotton” strings, and his overall superiority to a second marionette. Then the puppeteer controlling him loses his cool and repeatedly stomps on him. Yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds. “Ginger Wedding” almost matches its mishigas, when a wedding of gingerbread people is interrupted by the Aflack duck, who massacres the congregation. If you’ve ever wanted to hear a church full of screaming gingerbread people, this is probably your only opportunity.
These spots are worth a chuckle and/or befuddled stare, but I’m not sure what they’ll do to sell Oatmeal Crisp. Check out “Ginger Wedding” below, and “Elitist Marionette” (along with credits) after the jump. continued…
Anomaly has launched a new MINI Roller Coaster spot as part of their NOT NORMAL campaign for the automaker’s Canadian division.
The ad features people riding atop a customized version of the BMW-owned brand, strapped in to a roller coaster car attached to the MINI’s roof, screaming, holding cotton candy, and generally acting as if they’re on a looping coaster and not a British vehicle obeying the speed limit. Onlookers, meanwhile, wonder what the hell is wrong with these people. The genesis for this idea, ostensibly, is to show that the MINI is “not normal,” and the people treating a ride on the MINI as if they were at Six Flags certainly could be described as such (although they may have crossed over into “crazy”). I realize there are safety concerns involved, but I have to wonder if maybe they could have done a little more to make the ride on the MINI seem exciting (you know, like a roller coaster) and less like some kind of experimental therapy. But maybe that’s just me.
If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your car’s roof into a roller coaster car, you should definitely check out the “making of” video after the jump (along with credits). We’re pretty sure you’ll get pulled over for that one, though.
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