As the world oohs and ahhs over Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, Oreo is here to remind you that all babies are special, whether or not they’re born into royalty. A nice message from The Martin Agency to the one demographic that can’t even chew solid food.
Showing crazy trick shots is a pretty good way of getting viral video views, as we’ve seen in branded efforts from Wheaties (bowling), McDonald’s (soccer)—and of course, that old, fake-as-hell Michael Jordan and Larry Bird ad “Nothing But Net.”
Now there’s a new kid in town, Peter Bamforth—a YouTuber who makes “videos about anything and everything.” But he’s particularly adept at trick shots. His “EPIC Ping Pong Trick Shots” video from 2011 got 300,000 views.
And now, he’s returned with more trick shots—starring Oreo cookies.
It’s a pretty impressive feat, not only because of the level of inventiveness in materials, but also for the patience this kid must have. Check it out below.
This Trebor Mints ad from Wieden & Kennedy London has a bit of that 1990s Gushers weirdness to it, either as a tribute to nostalgic thirtysomethings or just for shiggles.
It opens with a teen admitting to his father that he prefers soft mints to their harder contemporaries, which makes his dad go all Malory Archer and crush his whiskey glass out of anger. Weird how that never cuts anyone’s hand on TV.
And it only gets stranger from there.
Though the concept is hardly revolutionary, they kept the weirdness to one element of the ad that mostly delivers, so it works. For my own sanity, I won’t get into the Punnett square logistics that resulted in minty dad’s human son. No sense asking questions I don’t want answered.
CREDITS
Client: Trebor
Marketing Manager, Gum & Candy, Mondelez: Elena Germani
Senior Brand Manager, Mondelez: Elena Mallo
Project Name: “Choose Your Trebor”
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
Creative Directors: Kim Papworth
Creative team: Max Batten & Ben Shaffrey
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson / Iain Tait
Agency Executive Producer: Danielle Stewart
Group Account Director: Andrew Kay
Account Director: Hanne Haugen
Head of Planning: Beth Bentley
Planning Director: Georgia Challis
TV Producer: Lou Hake
Creative Producer: Danny Wallace
Designer: Michael Bow
Production Company: Hungryman
Director: Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Matt Buels
Producer: Camilla Cullen
Director of Photography: Bob Pendar-Hughes
Editorial Company: Work Post
Editor: Rachel Spann
Post Producer: Josh Robinson, The Mill
VFX Supervisor: Dan Adams, The Mill
Music+Sound Company: Wave
Sound Designer: Dugal Macdiarmid
Producer: Rebecca Boswell
Mix Company: Wave
Mixer: Dugal Macdiarmid
Producer: Rebecca Boswell
Somebody get this kid a bike! (And snowshoes, while you’re at it.)
Orri, the plucky little dude in this fanciful 90-second ad from Wieden + Kennedy London introducing Arla’s Skyr Icelandic yogurt to the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands, really has it rough. Most of the action takes place in 1968, as the boy braves storms and covers vast distances, always on foot, to deliver messages that arrive via his remote village’s only telephone. (Often, these communications are of a less-than-urgent nature, such as, “Your trousers are ready for collection.”)
Does he even draw a salary? Or get tips?
On the plus side, Orri enjoys heaping bowls of Skyr to power his travels.
The low-key, humorous film, W+K’s first work for the brand, is expertly directed by Dougal Wilson, who placed two spots (“Monty the Penguin” for John Lewis and “Adventure Awaits” for Lurpak) among Adweek’s top 10 ads of 2014.
This Skyr ad, “The Messenger,” really delivers, subtly touting the brand as a hearty snack or meal while keeping viewers engaged and smiling. W+K’s Thom Whitaker, who wrote and art directed the work with Danielle Noël, chatted with us about the commercial:
Where did the idea come from?
Skyr’s full of protein, so we wanted to tell a story of extraordinary Icelandic strength, but one which people weren’t familiar with or had heard before. We’d heard about young Icelandic kids working as telephone messengers back in the ’60s—which we thought could be the perfect story to tell.
Why go this route with the creative?
Because of Iceland’s tradition for Viking sagas, it felt right to create our own epic story for this Icelandic yogurt. We wanted to go back to the old tradition of classic storytelling—a bit like the old Stella Artois work.
Skyr has got a pretty wide appeal. It’s very much Scandinavia’s answer to Greek yogurt, and in Iceland it’s part of everyone’s daily diet, so we thought the story of the little boy was universal enough for everybody to enjoy.
Why keep the product mostly in the background?
We wanted to weave Skyr into the story in the natural way, while giving as much screen time as possible to the boy’s epic journey, so that the final payoff becomes even stronger.
Some have likened the approach to Wes Anderson. Agree or disagree?
It does have a bit of a Wes Anderson vibe to it, but that wasn’t really intentional. The brightly colored houses and the retro wardrobe might have something to do with it. We should have set the titles in Futura!
Any amusing anecdotes from the shoot?
The lighthouse scene was pretty interesting—a full-on Icelandic storm was battering the cliffs and it felt like we could be swept away at any second. I don’t think we’ve ever been so happy with a first take.
Skyr’s got more work coming out soon?
Short films [not by Dougal Wilson] are out next week on YouTube and Facebook and are called “Skyr Guides.” They’re also from W+K, but Toby Moore and Selena McKenzie are the brains behind them, not us [Thom and Danielle].
They’re basically two short portraits of modern-day Icelanders who exhibit the same sort of strength as Orri does in our film: Kolla, a cyclist who braves the Icelandic climate every day, and Joi, a modern-day Viking who’s a doorman at one of Reykjavik’s oldest nightclubs and who’s not averse to putting Skyr on his steak. They’re all about introducing us Brits to Skyr—the history of it, what it’s good with, how it’s pronounced.
CREDITS
Client: Arla Foods
Project Name: Arla Skyr
Media Channels: TV, OOH, DOOH, Online Films
Lead Client Name: Sam Dolan
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
Creative Directors: Dave Day, Larry Seftel
Copywriter: Thom Whitaker, Danielle Noel
Art Director: Thom Whitaker, Danielle Noel
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson / Iain Tait
Agency Executive Producer: Danielle Stewart
Group Account Director: Katherine Napier
Account Director: Will Hunt
Account Manager: Maria Kofoed
Head of Planning: Beth Bentley
Planning Director: Theo Izzard-Brown
Planner: Rachel Hamburger
TV Producer: Matthew Ellingham
Creative Producer: Michael Winek
Production Company: Blink
Director: Dougal Wilson
Executive Producer: James Studholme
Line Producer: Ewen Brown
Director of Photography: Karl Oskarsson
Editorial Company: Final Cut
Editor: Joe Guest
Post Producer: Julie Evans
Post Executive Producer: Julie Evans
VFX Company: MPC
VFX Supervisor: Bill McNamara
Flame Artist: Tom Harding
VFX Producer: Julie Evans
Colourist: Jean-Clément Soret
Titles/Graphics: MPC
Music+Sound Company: Alex Baranowski
Composer: Alex Baranowski
Sound Designer: Anthony Moore
Producer: Becs Bell
Mix Company: Factory
Mixer: Anthony Moore
Producer: Becs Bell
Online Films:
Art Director: Toby Moore, Selena McKenzie
Copywriter: Toby Moore, Selena McKenzie
TV Producer: Greg Hemes
Production Company: TrueNorth
Editorial Company: WracK
Print Production:
Art Director: Thom Whitaker, Danielle Noel, Kelly Satchell
Copywriter: Thom Whitaker, Danielle Noel
Head of Design: Karen Jane
If famous ad agencies were ice cream brands, what flavors would they be?
Aditya Hariharan and Joshua Namdar, a pair of students at the Miami Ad School in New York, took a swing at visualizing the answer with Agency Scoops, a Tumblr that features mockups of ice cream names and package designs for well-known agencies, themed around their more famous campaigns.
That means scary but tempting mashups like “Cookies ‘N Bacon” for 360i (for its well-known clients Oreo and Oscar Meyer). Other fun visuals include one of McCann’s “Dumb Ways to Die” blobs, who’s very plausibly eaten himself into an early grave by way of chocolate ice cream (the only flavor that really matters, in the end).
It’s a nice, simple job-hunting gimmick from Hariharan and Namdar, who are looking for summer internships. The front of the cartons also feature taglines that trend toward ingratiating, with some of them perhaps less flattering than intended. (DDB Lemon Sorbet, “a slow-churned classic agency with a hint of forward thinking,” might take exception to the idea that it’s only slightly innovative, like a 55-year-old VW Beetle with a new paint job, squeaking toward the future.)
Where real ice-cream might list ingredients, these cartons feature past creative highlights for each agency, as well as recent awards. There’s even a timely nod to the Mad Men craze, with a 10th design featuring fictional agency Sterling Cooper & Partners.
Ogilvy & Mather, represented as Coca-Cola, is maybe the only one that seems a bit off the mark, in spirit. Yes, the smash hit personalized bottle campaign originally came out of Ogilvy’s Sydney offices. And the “2nd Lives” campaign from China was a head-turner. But everyone and their mother has worked for Coke, somewhere in the world, and the agency’s brand might be more strongly associated IBM or Dove.
Then again, nobody wants to eat mint chocolate microchip or soap flavored ice cream.
Anheuser-Busch InBev introduces Oculto, a new high-alcohol lager, with a roomful of men and women wearing masks inside a dark club in this spot from Mother New York.
The mood is mysterious and reminiscent of the party scene in Eyes Wide Shut. Not much happens, but Oculto’s ghoulish clear bottle appears prominently, and with good reason: It’s a cool piece of marketing in and of itself. The eye sockets of the skull light up when the beer is chilled. (Another shop, Antista Fairclough, worked on the packaging.)
Beyond this initial online ad, which was directed by Prettybird’s Melina Matsoukas and breaks Friday, the campaign includes events, social media marketing, outdoor ads and print ads, with a particular focus on the Miami market. The brand, which rolled out last month (on Friday the 13th, no less) is targeting 21- to 34-year-olds who are ambitious, free-sprited and “love the idea of a mashup,” said Harris Rabin, vp of global marketing on new brands at A-B InBev.
Oculto represents a new category for A-B—a 6 percent alcohol beer that’s infused with agave by being aged in barrels that are used to make tequila. The brewer’s marketing leaders are bullish about its prospects, though they declined to share sales expectations.
“This is obviously a big priority for the company. The level of investment is consistent with other big bets that ABI has made,” said John Steed, a marketing director at A-B InBev. Added Rabin: “For us, it’s all about unlocking the potential of nights out—those really special nights out with friends.”
If you thought Coke Zero’s drinkable billboard was impressive, Carlsberg would like to serve you some outdoor advertising with a bit more kick.
The Danish brewer, with help from ad agency Fold7 and design company Mission Media, unveiled a beer-dispensing billboard at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in London. The billboard was emblazone with the headline, “Probably the best poster in the world.” The brand was on hand to monitor the drinkers, making sure no one was under 18.
“We want to get the Carlsberg brand in front of as many beer drinkers as possible,” says Dharmesh Rana, senior brand manager at Carlsberg U.K. “To do this, we have to think differently with our approach and can’t just rely on great TV advertising.”
Tax Day isn’t usually a time for great brand creativity, but BBDO New York goes the extra mile this year with a short documentary about an Arizona woman who tried to write off a Snickers bar in 2005.
She was audited, and the authorities took a dim view of her audacity.
Also, it’s a true story. BBDO found the woman’s case online, pitched her the concept and flew to her hometown in Arizona to shoot the film.
CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Spot: “The Snickers Write-Off”
Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
Creative Director: Peter Alsante
Associate Creative Director: Matthew Zaifert
Managing Director: Kirsten Flanik
Global Account Director: Susannah Keller
Account Director: Joshua Steinman
Account Manager: Dylan Green
Account Executive: Jocelyn Choi
Director of Integrated Production: David Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Producer: Mona Lisa Farrokhnia
Music Producer: Julia Millison
Group Planning Director: Crystal Rix
Senior Planner: Alaina Crystal
Director: Evan Bernard
Director of Photography: Joseph DeSalvo
Line Producer: Koji Yahagi
Production Supervisor: Renee Haar
Projects Lead: Michael Gentile
Audio Engineer: Corey Bauman
Illustrator: Kieran Bergin
Editorial: NO6
Editor: Ryan Bukowski
Executive Producer: Corina Dennison
Producer: Malia Rose
Colorist: Stephen Picano
BBH London has made some brilliant ads for British juice brand Robinsons over the years—notably, this Wimbledon spot and, of course, the famous “Pals” ad from 2013, which really is one of the great twist-ending ads ever.
Now, agency and client are back with a fun new :60 that uses some mildly freaky CGI to illustrate the new theme “They grow up fast.”
We open on a mom, dad and baby boy. But within seconds, he’s always getting bigger and bigger, and trying to run away from them. While some of the visual effects are maybe a little creepy in an Evian-like way, there’s enough humor here that the spot works—and ends up being endearing.
The tagline is, “Play thirsty.”
The campaign launched Saturday on Britain’s Got Talent. The spot will be supported by out of home, digital outdoor and online advertising.
CREDITS
Client name and title: Helen Gorman, Brand Director
BBH Executive Creative Director: Nick Gill
BBH Creative Director: Dominic Goldman
BBH Creative Team: Nikki Lindman & Toby Brewer
BBH Business Lead: Heather Cuss
BBH Team Director: Rebecca Levy/James Rice
BBH Team Manager: Louise Long/ Joanna Rose
BBH Strategy Director: Lilli English
BBH Strategist: Damien Le Castrec
—Film Credits
BBH Producer: Natalie Parish
BBH Assistant Producer: Sarah Cooper
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Tom Tagholm
Executive Producer: Stephen Brierley
Producer: Fran Thompson
DoP: Luke Scott
VFX: MPC
VFX Producer: Amy Richardson
VFX Supervisor: Tom Harding
CG Supervisor: Carsten Keller
Grade: MPC
Colourist: Jean-Clément Soret
Editor/Editing House: Stitch
—Print Credits
BBH Producer: Katerina Gharraph
BBH Designer: Rob Wilson
Animation: Smoke & Mirrors
For a campaign that’s five years old, Snickers’ “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” is having quite the creative renaissance this year.
The Super Bowl ad was fantastic (as was the New York City billboard that teased it). The Medusa ad on the back cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue was inspired. And now, we get a very fun campaign in which the brand got video bloggers all over the world to post intentionally bad videos—pretending they recorded them while they were hungry, and thus weren’t themselves.
The “You’re Not YouTube” campaign launched simultaneously in eight countries and included 13 popular “how-to” vloggers on YouTube. In each video, it’s clear something is wrong as the usually sure-footed hosts appear completely off their game.
For example, in the one U.S.-based video, style and motivational guru Jessica Harlow, who’s usually so put together, apathetically shows fans how to “let yourself go.”
U.S.
There are two videos from Puerto Rico. In one, high-energy comedian Alex Diaz demonstrates yoga-inspired relaxation techniques. In the other, political commentator Jay Fonseca totally switches gears and offers step-by-step instructions on how to make hand-made floral scrapbooks.
Puerto Rico
The others vloggers are from the U.K., UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Brazil. You can check out their videos below.
“Vloggers are such dynamic content creators, it’s quite interesting—and funny—to see what happens when hunger strikes and their faculties fail them,” says Allison Miazga-Bedrick, Snickers brand director. “Between them the international vloggers in this campaign have over 7 million subscribers, generating huge global reach for this innovative digital extension of our campaign.”
U.K.
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Turkey
Lebanon
Brazil
CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Campaign: “You’re Not YouTube”
Creative Originator: AMV BBDO, London
Copywriter, AMV BBDO : Diccon Driver
Art Director, AMV BBDO: Alan Wilson
Creative Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York: Peter Kain
Associate Creative Director, BBDO New York: Matt Herr
Associate Creative Director, BBDO New York: Justin Bilicki
Group Planning Director, BBDO New York: Crystal Rix
Senior Planner, BBDO New York: Alaina Crystal
Managing Director, BBDO New York: Kirsten Flanik
Global Account Director, BBDO New York: Susannah Keller
Account Director, BBDO New York: Joshua Steinman
Account Manager, BBDO New York: Tani Corbacho
Account Executive, BBDO New York: Jocelyn Choi
Media Agency: Digitas
Media Supervisor: Chad Lewis
Media Planner: Martha Williams
Multi-Channel Network: Maker Studios
Director / Editor: Cody Buesing
Executive Producer: Michael Reilly
Producer: Austin Bening
Director of Photography: Steven DiCasa
Production Designer: Samantha Hawkins
Hair & Makeup Artist: Thadius Lajara
Sound Mixer: Luke Tilghman
Production Coordinator: Rita Warkov
Production Assistant: Audrey Ketchell
New Belgium Brewing peddles its Slow Ride Session pale ale in a series of silly Web shorts created by production house Strike Anywhere.
Dr. Don, a mellow therapist with a bushy upper lip, advises patients to relax and enjoy life as he serves them beer during slow rides on a fantastical bicycle-couch contraption. Is this guy licensed? To practice therapy or drive that thing? It’s probably best not to ask.
The pleasingly perky films, which began appearing a few months back, top out at around three minutes, and the performances by sketch comedy vets, at times clearly ad libbing, give the spots an extra kick. Ditto the retro elevator/lounge soundtrack (like something from an oh-so-groovy ’60s romp) and the rear-projection effects, which are goofy but not intrusive.
Still, it’s a thin concept, and after episodes with a bickering couple on their first date, bickering roommates and a millennial bickering with his boomer boss, the comedy starts to fall a bit flat. Also, Dr. Don’s chill-out mantra, while on-brand, wouldn’t feel out of place for a purveyor of the wacky tobacky. (What exactly are you hopped up on, dude?)
Ah well, it’s all about the “mobile therapy couch,” which steals the show every time. There’s even a laid-back video that shows you how to build one of your own. Alas, the instructions make assembling Ikea furniture look like child’s play. (It’s also difficult to follow what the hosts are saying in the clip shot outdoors on a windy day).
After attempting that DIY project, you just might need therapy. Or a couple sixes to take the edge off, at the very least.
Wheaties is cementing its status as the breakfast of old people with a blustery new campaign featuring 1948 footage of bowling star Andy Varipapa, who died more than 30 years ago.
Six black-and-white ads, each 15 seconds long, show Varipapa throwing impressive bowling tricks, while a smug voiceover offers pointers on how much better it is to be a grandpa than some modern-day pansy.
They’re charming in a grating sort of way—Varipapa’s on-screen persona is great, hammy without being too cheesy. But then one of the spots has to come along and rant about $5 microwave turkey bacon egg wrap frittata. (Whatever those are. Is that supposed to be a dig at Starbucks? Doesn’t Wheaties know McDonald’s is the breakfast villain du jour? Also, the whole no-allergies thing makes Grandpa seem like some kind of proto-Scientologist).
The ads have been airing on ESPN as part of a sponsorship of a Professional Bowling Association tournament, so it’s not much of a stretch that the audience might want to be like Varipapa (high-waisted, pleated pants and all). And he is a nice alternate to higher-profile champions like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, even if the clips take throwback smarm to new heights (cheerful grandpas are, in general, pretty easy to love, even when rough around the edges).
Unfortunately, they make us want black coffee more than Wheaties.
Here’s a simple and fun McDonald’s campaign from Leo Burnett Dubai promoting the fast-food chain’s delivery service, showing various characters receiving exactly what they love in a McDonald’s bag. (Not McDonald’s food, mind you, though you get the point.)
And that’s a key that the robot is getting, people. A key.
Via Adeevee.
More ads and credits below.
CREDITS
Client: McDonald’s
Agency: Leo Burnett Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Executive Creative Director: Andre Nassar
Creative Director: Rondon Fernandes
Art Director: Daniel Salles, Robison Mattei, Victor Toyofuku
Copywriter: Wayne Fernandes
Head Of Art: Bruno Bomediano
There’s going to be some heavyweight marketing around the May 2 welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. And Butterfinger is jumping early into Pacquiao’s corner.
The Nestlé brand on Wednesday sent out an April Fools’ Day press release saying its Butterfinger Cups brand was betting a million on Pacquiao. Now, AdFreak confirms (as Pacquiao will do in a tweet shortly) that the bet is actually a million Butterfinger Cups. If Pacquiao emerges victorious on May 2, Butterfinger will offer 1 million of its peanut butter cups in a nationwide payout at ButterfingerCups.com.
The announcement kicks off a month-long “Get In Our Corner” campaign.
“We’re such fans of what Manny represents and love that he has such a great sense of humor to join us in our April Fools’ Day fun and launch the ‘Get In Our Corner’ campaign,” says Fabiola del Rio, Butterfinger brand manager. “We want fans to get in our corner with Manny and help us celebrate this different kind of competitor.”
Advertising craft doesn’t get more delicate than this. Check out TBWAHakuhodo’s 3-D printed ice cubes, created for Japan’s Suntory Whisky.
The agency used what’s called a CNC router to carve the designs, which ranged from the Statue of Liberty to the Sphinx to Batman and everything in between. (There even appears to be, perhaps presciently, a Cannes Lion in the mix.)
Miwako Fujiwara of TBWAHakuhodo said the CNC router was chilled at -7 degrees Celsius to keep the ice from melting. The agency used an app called Autodesk 123D to capture the 3-D images and prep them for printing. “A touch of chilled whiskey polishes the surface of the ice and gives a beautiful shine to the sculpture,” Fujiwara added.
The campaign was launched in 2014 and just won a Branded Content & Entertainment Lotus trophy at the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival in Thailand.
Lots more images, along with credits, below.
CREDITS
Client: Suntory
Campaign: “3D on the Rocks”
Agency: TBWA HAKUHODO+HAKUHODO
Executive Creative Director+Creative Director+Planner: Kazoo Sato
Copywriter +Planner: Takahiro Hosoda, Nobuhiro Arai
Art Director+Designer: Yo Kimura, Yuki Tokuno
Creative Technologist: Masashi Matsukura
Producer: Kaoru Otani
Assistant Producer: Fusae Yoshikawa
PR: Kayoko Asano, Miwako Fujiwara
Production: TOKYO+mount inc.+amana
Movie:
Director: Eiji Tanigawa(TOKYO)
Camera: Senzo Ueno(TOKYO)
Light: Masachio Nishida
Art: Midoriko Nemoto(TAIYO KIKAKU?
Ice: Motoharu Kato(Yamane Ice)
Sizzle: Noriko Saotome(GRAND)
Video Engenner: Satoshi Igarashi
Producer: Toshiyuki Takei(TOKYO)
Assistant Producer: Masayoshi Takayanagi(TOKYO)
Production Manager: Makoto Takahashi(TOKYO)
Production Manager Assistant: Rintaro Kozasa(TAIYO KIKAKU??
OFFLINE Editor: Ryuichi Hasegawa(puzzle)
ONLINE Editor: Akira Nishibu(IMAGE STUDIO109)
Multi Audio: Yuta Sato(IMAGE STUDIO109)
Sound Effects: Norio Kobayashi(ONPa)
Music:
Executive Producer: Audioforce
Producer: DANIC
Composer: Steve Sidwell
Web:
Planner: Im Jeong-ho, Takeshiro Umetsu(mount inc.)
Planner +Art Director+Technical Director+Director: Hidekazu Hayashi(mount inc.)
Director: Hiroka Hasegawa, Hideki Yoshidatsu(mount inc.)
HTML coding: Hideki Yoshidatsu(mount inc.)
3DCG: Takeo Saito, Mika Nariya(FULVIS K.K.)
Production Manager: Ko Yoshida(mount inc.)
Graphic:
Photographer: Keisuke Minoda(acube)
Retoucher: Masahiko Furuta(RIZING)
Photo producer: Shinya Omi(amana)
I’m sure we’ve all had some unflattering theories about how Jack in the Box would achieve a Guinness World Record (“Most People Made Uncomfortable by Creepy Mascot” was my guess). But the fast-food chain recently unveiled the world’s largest coupon, made to promote its new Buttery Jack burger.
Yes, Buttery Jack sounds like one of those Dutch holiday monsters invented to scare kids, but it’s actually a quarter-pound burger with garlic herb butter melted on top. It was meant to scare adults!
Anyway, the coupon is 80 feet by 25 feet, and as you can see in the video, it took more than 12 people to carry it through Los Angeles to Hollywood’s W Hotel. A cellphone picture of the coupon counts as a coupon itself, and can be redeemed for a free burger until Wednesday. Oh God, that’s April Fools’ Day. If they have something planned for that, I don’t want to know what it is.
Can we be even more like Mike?
Gatorade’s 50th anniversary celebration continues with three spots from TBWAChiatDay, each reimagining the iconic Michael Jordan-inspired “Be Like Mike” jingle we’ve been humming for nearly a quarter century.
An impressively remastered version of the original Bayer Bess Vanderwarker ad from 1992 was unveiled last month during the NBA’s All-Star weekend. Visuals from that spot appear in these three new commercials, but each has its own unique vibe.
“Groove Like Mike,” my favorite, feels like the ’70s, with retro-cool animations and a righteously funky take on the song. “Move Like Mike” finds gym rats, inspired by footage of No. 23 playing on monitors around the place, working out and scrimmaging to subtly insistent beats. (Maybe the NBA will adopt that backboard video screen to blast ads during games.) “Dream Like Mike” shows a kid playing driveway hoops against MJ, a bold mix of “Be Like Mike” driving him to new heights.
The clips are fun, multilayered and reward multiple plays. Animal Music did a fine job with the remixes, giving all three versions a fresh sound while staying true to the spirit of the original. There’s just one problem. Now, that damn song will be stuck in my head for at least another 23 years!
CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles
Creative Director: Renato Fernandez
Art Director: Pierce Thiot
Copywriter: Scott Cleveland
Producer: Garrison Askew
Music Production Company: Animal Music
Here’s an easy way to make sure the product is the hero. Make everything else around it really, really tiny—and leave the product at regular size.
It works great in this campaign for Frooti, one of India’s oldest and most beloved mango juice brands.New York agency Sagmeister & Walsh designed a whole new visual language for the brand around this idea of a miniature world—which it then brought to life in a stop-motion commercial with help from Aaron Duffy’s agency SpecialGuest, 1stAveMachine director Marc Reisbig and animation house Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
See the spot here:
As Duffy says, the colorful spot really is an “absurdly ear- and eye-catching little film.” The spot features a miniature version of Bollywood superstar and longtime Frooti spokesman Shah Rukh Khan, who then appears in person at the end to deliver the pitch.
“The goal was to introduce the new packaging in a fresh, bold, and playful way,” Sagmeister & Walsh says of the rebranding. “We introduced four bold colors to the brand which complement the yellow of Indian mango and add a sense of playfulness across the imagery.”
See a bunch more imagery below.
CREDITS
Client: Frooti
Creative Agency: Sagmeister & Walsh
ECD/Partner: Jessica Walsh
ECD/Partner: Stefan Sagmeister
Creative Agency: SpecialGuest
Co-Founder/ECD: Aaron Duffy
Business Director: Ashley McGee
Creative Director/Copywriter: Jonathan Emmerling
Creative Development: Edward Choi and Chloe Corner
Production Company: 1stAveMachine
Director: Marc Reisbig
EP/Partner: Sam Penfield
EP: Melinda Nugent
EP: Garrett Braren
Producer: Leanne Amos
Head of Production: Lisanne McDonald
Associate Producer: Christina Jang
VFX Director: John Loughlin
Editor: Jonathan Vitagliano
Compositor: Chris Russo
Colorist: Seth Ricart/Ricart and Co.
Music/SFX
Music Composer and Supervisor: Amit Trivedi
Animation/Post-Production/Online: Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
Executive Producer: John Harvatine IV
Executive Producer: Eric Towner
Executive Producer: Matt Senreich
Executive Producer: Seth Green
Supervising Producer: Janet Dimon
Producer: David Brooks
Line Producer: Barb Cimity
Production Manager: Mario De Jesus
Director of Photography: Helder Sun
Animation Director: Harry Chaskin
Animator: Matt Manning
Animator: Alfonso Estrada
Director of Character Fabrication: Tennessee Norton
Character Fabricator: Tommy Keiser
Editor: Jenny McKibben
VFX Lead: Jack Hamilton
Amsterdam is known for its famous “coffee shops,” but coffee is not the main attraction. Amsterdam-based coffee brand Moyee hopes to change that—and make the city better known for coffee as well. But it can’t avoid the pervasive influence of that other mind-altering substance entirely.
So, with help from 180 Amsterdam, it orchestrated a special taste test. Cannabis is said to heighten one’s senses of taste and smell, so it had real people (not actors) try its coffee—while under the influence.
Their reactions are colorful indeed. Check out the results below.
CREDITS
Client: Moyee Coffee
Founder: Guido van Staveren van Dijk
Creative Director: John Weich
Agency: 180 Amsterdam
President, Chief Creative Officer: Al Moseley
Creative Director: Martin Beswick
Art Director: Stephane Lecoq
Junior Copywriter: Ben Langeveld
Junior Art Director: Ingmar Larsen
Account Team: Dan Colgan
Producer: Claire Ford
Assistant Producer: Davide Janssen
Strategy Team: Paul Chauvin, Vincent Johnson
Director: Tobias Pekelharing
Executive Producer: Daphne Story
Editor: Fiona Fuchs
Postproduction: MPC Amsterdam
Audio Postproduction: Wave Amsterdam
Taco Bell is calling McDonald’s a disgusting communist pig, but McDonald’s doesn’t care, because McDonald’s still has the Big Mac. And now, the Big Mac is getting its very first lifestyle collection of merchandise for those who want something a little more meaty than what Martha Stewart can deliver.
The collection—which includes everything from clothing to wallpaper to bed sheets, all emblazoned with images of the chain’s signature sandwich—was launched Tuesday at a “McWalk” fashion show in Stockholm, Sweden. (It follows the success of Big Mac thermal underwear—at the time, a one-off product that McDonald’s Sweden made as part of its sponsorship of the Swedish Alpine and Cross Country Ski Team.)
If you’re so inclined, you can order this stuff at bigmacshop.se.
While not an April Fools joke (you’ll have to wait until next Wednesday for those), this stunt was part of a global day of McDonald’s hijinks that took place Tuesday. Called imlovinit24, it featured goofy antics from McDonald’s marketing teams in 24 cities worldwide in 24 hours.
Among the other highlights: a coffee-cup-shaped ball pit in Sydney, Australia; a giant Big Mac jigsaw puzzle in Madrid, Spain; a Joy Maze in Bucharest, Romania; a McOrchestra in Vienna; and a Ne-Yo concert in Los Angeles.
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