Hasta La Creative!

Droga5 enlisted New York rapper Nas in its latest spot for Hennessy, entitled “The Ride..”

Nas‘ association with the brand dates back to his classic 1994 debut Illmatic, where the brand is mentioned on the very first track. He signed a deal with the company at the beginning of last year to appear in the latest iteration of its “Wild Rabbit” campaign, which finally comes to life with “The Ride.”

The 60-second spot channels Nas‘ own past with a re-worked version of the song “New York State of Mind” from his debut. Over Nas‘ recitation of the re-imagined lyrics he steps on a subway car and is seemingly transported back in time to the 80s, with time progressing over the course of the ad so that when he emerges from the car later, he is back in the present day. A newspaper headline reading “Panic on Wall Street” at one point signifies a transition to the modern era. It’s all very slick and stylish, with plenty of attention to detail lavished on the concept. The spot ends with Nas walking toward a stage after uttering the line “It was only right that I was born to use mics,” and the text “I tell the stories that need to be told” appearing onscreen, followed by the “What’s your Wild Rabbit?” tagline. (more…)

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Earlier this month, Droga5 released the spot “Car Wash” as part of its “Get A Taste” campaign for Diet Coke. Now the agency is rolling out a new 30-second ad starring Taylor Swift and a whole lot of kittens.

In the spot, entitled “Kittens,” Swift is playing with a kitten when she takes a sip of Diet Coke and all of a sudden there are two kittens. She takes another sip and there’s an entire table full of kittens, and before the end of the spot the entire room is filled as the singer/songwriter is engulfed in a swarm of feline cuteness. “What if life tasted as good as Diet Coke?” says text at the end of the ad, before Swift works in a quick plug for her new album. Since everyone with a soul likes kittens, this one is sure to be a hit. Add in Swift’s star power, and a preview of a new track featured exclusively in the ad until the release of her new album on October 27th, and this is all but guaranteed millions of views.

The ad was launched online today and will make its broadcast debut this Friday. As part of the campaign, Diet Coke is also giving fans a chance to win “concert tickets and a flyaway trip for two to an upcoming performance through iHeartRadio.com, RyanSeacrest.com and other sites.” The brand is also sponsoring Swift’s co-host appearance on “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” on October 30th, the first time a celebrity co-hosts the entire program as well as the first time it is presented by a single brand. (more…)

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Droga5 has a new ad for Diet Coke taking the beverage to a somewhat unusual setting: the car wash.

A girl pops open a bottle of Diet Coke while going through a car wash. Instantly, the car wash is transformed, as a choreographed scene unfolds in front of her eyes. Dancers in yellow outfits similar to car wash scrubbers mingle with others in white bubble dresses, while everyone drinks Diet Coke (obviously) in a lavish, hallucinatory party scene. This enjoyable eye candy is followed by the nonsensical line, “What if life tasted as good as Diet Coke?” as the girl returns to reality, followed by the new “Get a Taste” tagline. The new ad, the latest in the “Get a Taste” campaign, will run tonight during Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy (a 15-second version will debut next week). Another broadcast spot featuring Taylor Swift will launch later this month. (more…)

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W+K New York has a new campaign for ESPN, promoting the network’s coverage of college football and stoking fans’ excitement for the first year of the college football playoffs.

The campaign, entitled “Who’s In?” will run from the start of the season until a National Champion is crowned in January. “Different Ways In” (featured above), the campaign’s debut spot, launches today across ESPN’s networks and digital properties. Narrated by Burt Reynolds, the 60-second spot manages to cram in references to 20 different schools, as well as cameos from Jerry Jones, Jimmy Kimmel, Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Sam Bradford and JJ Watt. That’s not a bad way to stoke excitement from fans of different schools for the FBS College Football Season on ESPN, which begins Wednesday, August 27. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Michael Jordan is back (this time, thankfully, sans Hitler mustache) for Hanes in a new spot by The Martin Agency.

The 30-second spot is Jordan’s first appearance in a Hanes television commercial since 2010, and also marks his 25th year as Hanes spokesperson. In the spot, entitled, “Golf Test,” Jordan mocks his partner’s truly awful golf game. “Golf Test” promotes Hanes’ X-Temp t-shirts and briefs, which “speeds evaporation to help keep you cool and dry,” preventing such conditions as swamp ass, marsh balls, raw taint and pit stains. The spot handles the “bad golf” approach well enough, although by now it’s become a routine schtick in ads and feels a bit tired. Still, all anyone will talk about is the return of Jordan, and it’s good to see him back.

The campaign also features a digital video series with Vine-sensation Logan Paul traveling around the country attempting dares (supposedly) proposed by fans. We’ve included the teaser for that initiative, along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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Unilever, the international conglomerate producing over 400 products, hasn’t always had a sterling environmental and social record. In 2007, Greenpeace targeted the corporation for the deforestation of Indonesian rainforests linked to its sources of palm oil. The UN Environmental Programme called palm oil plantations the leading cause of deforestation in Indonesia. Then, in 2011, Unilver partnered with Proctor and Gamble in a European washing powder price-fixing scheme. About the best thing you could say about Unilever was “at least they’re not Nestlé.”

But in recent years Unilever has been doing a lot to change public perception and at least appear to work toward sustainability. They were a founding member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and in 2012 announced that its sustainable palm oil target would be reached three years ahead of schedule, as well as promising “100% palm oil from certified traceable sources by 2020.” But a report issued last week by the International Labor Rights Forum and Sawit Watch found ”flagrant disregard for human rights at some of the very plantations the RSPO certifies as ‘sustainable.’” These human rights violations included “labor trafficking, child labor, unprotected work with hazardous chemicals, and long-term abuse of temporary contracts.”

So here we are a week later, on Universal Children’s Day, and Unilver has a new campaign called “Project Sunlight,” which it describes in a press release as appealing to everyone, but particularly parents, “encouraging them to join what Unilever sees as a growing community of people who want to make the world a better place for children and future generations” and “a new initiative to motivate millions of people to adopt more sustainable lifestyles.”

At the center of Ogilvy London’s campaign is the video, directed by Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris, and scored with the worst Pixies cover you’ve ever heard, ”Why Bring A Child Into This World?.” which answers that question by stating that our grandchildren will live in a better place than we do. It’s a slick, well-produced 4:26 clip charged with sentimentality and promise, especially if you’re a new or expectant parent.

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