Hasta La Creative!

Snickers and BBDO New York have followed up their brilliant “Brady Bunch” Super Bowl ad with an inspired print piece—taking over the back cover of Sports Illustrated’s new Swimsuit Issue with this fantastic “You’re not your when you hungry” ad.

Hannah Davis, of course, is on the front cover of the magazine. But on the back is a much less traditionally attractive female—Medusa, in fact, whom models apparently act like when they haven’t had a Snickers in a while.

Cynics will suggest models are always hungry, and wouldn’t be caught dead rectifying that fact by wolfing down a Snickers bar in public. But leaving aside the issues of verisimilitude, this is a pretty great ad and media placement. The recasting of Sports Illustrated as “Super Irritated” is a particularly nice touch.

See the front cover, and credits for the Snickers ad, below.

Front cover:

CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Ad: Medusa

Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Office, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
Senior Creative Director: Danilo Boer
Senior Creative Director: Grant Smith
Executive Art Producer: Betsy Jablow
Account Director: Josh Steinman
Account Manager: Dylan Green
Planner: Alaina Crystal

Photographer: Vincent Dixon

CGI: Parker & Biley
Production Company: Jake Mills Productions

For a company no one actually likes, people sure are interested in McDonald’s food. This interest often takes shape as vulgar curiosity and conjecture about specific menu items. I still remember thinking their burgers were made from vat-grown mutant cows with no bones or central nervous system, for instance.

I say this because McDonald’s is finally capitalizing on the myths surrounding its Big Mac secret sauce by selling bottles of it for the first time. Creatively titled “Big Mac Special Sauce,” which sounds more interesting than “1000 Island Dressing Variant,” the legendary burger enhancer will be sold in a limited run of 200 bottles.

As with all bewilderingly valuable things, the first bottle is being sold on eBay in Australia, with proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Bidding started at 99 cents Australia but is now up to $23,000—or almost U.S. $18,000. (And no, you can’t pay with lovin’. There is hope for the impecunious, though, as some McDonald’s locations in Australia will reportedly be selling tiny tubs of the stuff for just 50 cents this month.)

It’s an interesting move. People have been replicating the sauce themselves for decades, so there’s clearly a market for it. And the campaign will surely succeed when measured in not-entirely-genuine Facebook posts about it.

It would be funnier and more interesting if it were Jack In The Box doing it, though.

Via Design Taxi.

Brands will gather in their social-media war rooms tonight, still attempting to top Oreo’s lightning-in-a-bottle template for real-time Super Bowl marketing. But in a sense, they’ve already lost. That’s because whackadoodle snack brand Totino’s Pizza, already well known for its absurd antics, live-tweeted the Super Bowl last night.

At first, many thought it was an accident—that perhaps their tweets auto-published on the wrong day. But it soon became clear that it was a big joke. And behind all the terrible-on-purpose spelling errors and clichéd phrasing was a sophisticated, hilarious, snark-laden mockery of the entire process—showing us just how ridiculous and sometimes phoned-in “real-time” marketing can be.

If every brand and their mother can release their Super Bowl ads ahead of the game, why not fake-leak your (largely pre-planned) game tweets, too?

Take a look below at Totino’s rollicking (and at times super weird) take on the state of social media marketing—and how you can exploit the Super Bowl before it even happens.

Sitting down to watch #TheBigGame? We (Pizza Rolls) are as well. Tweet along with us because we’re #delicious #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 31, 2015

Golly, that sure is a greeeeeen field! #sparts #TheBigGame #footsball

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 31, 2015

Haha, neat! Sport events with irregularly shaped balls sure are #exciting and #exciteful! #sparts #TheBigGame

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 31, 2015

How CUTE are these refs, tho? #TheBigGame #sparts #stripes

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 31, 2015

Nothing more exciting than #livetweeting #thebiggame! Did you see that guy just now? I was like, WOW! #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) January 31, 2015

Did you see that coin toss?! WOW! This game’s already action-packed! #sportshappenings #sparts #fancy

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

Woah hey, haha! Who let a baby on the field?! Keep it together guys, you’re professional #football players! #TheBigGame #Sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

OH MY GOSH did you hear that #football announcer accidentally say “Pom Grady?” it’s like HAHA that’s not his name! #TheBigGame #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

boy howdy, that commercial was funny and informational! Guess I’ve got some buyin’ to do! #commerce #america #TheBigGame #sparts #USA

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

My favorite colors I’ve seen in #TheBigGame so far: blue, green, red, magenta, orange, brown, darker brown. #football #sparts #colors

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

Aren’t live #sparts way more fun when we can #share the #memories together? #TheBigGame

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

I think my favorite thing about the #halftimeshow is that it does a real nice job of splitting #TheBigGame in half. #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

WOW you guys, I can’t imagine not being here #live for all this #sparts action! #magical #TheBigGame #football

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

don’t touch that dial, #sparts fans! I hear they’re gonna point the fireworks DOWN this year! #TheBigGame #football #boom #splosion

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

there is exactly as much touching of #butts as I was hoping there would be in #TheBigGame of #football that’s happening.

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

this game is so #super it makes me want to get a big #bowl of pizza rolls! haha! waiting for a commercial tho, #dontwannamissathing! #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

what #TheBigGame snax are you guys having? I’m trying lettuce and milk, just to see. #sparts #football #snackin

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

SPILLED MILK ON MY LAP brb guys let me know if I miss any awesome #football action in #TheBigGame! #sparts #crying

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

#sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

#spaaaaaaaaaaaarts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

the ceremonial meditation, wherein both teams honor the cosmic being that gave them form from chaotic #atoms in #space is my fave. #sparts

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

wow I can’t believe #TheBigGame is almost over! I’m literally crying so hard I can’t breathe, why must all good things die? #sparts #entropy

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

This is really bringing back bad memories of that time I missed the big field goal kick. Crying harder. #lacesout #sparts #TheBigGame

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

feel like I’ve got #sparts in the very heart of my soul, illuminating the #universe that is within me. Also, #tackles! #TheBigGame #Football

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

feeling #blessed to have live tweeted with America’s biggest #sparts fans tonight. Hope you have a happy #Monday tomorrow! #boo #lasagna

— Pete Zaroll (@totinos) February 1, 2015

With no shortage of new advertising coming from McDonald’s (for better or worse), it can’t come as much of a surprise that it’s joined Super Bowl lineup, too.

Following a teaser earlier in the week that suggested customers would soon have a new way to pay at McDonald’s, the chain has now unveiled the full spot from Leo Burnett—explaining the mystery currency.

Check it out below.

With this spin on the “I’m lovin’ it” idea, McDonald’s is putting its money where its mouth is. Instead of cash, it asks random patrons to pay by showing acts of love—calling their mom, hugging, doing a dance or praising their friends and family. The idea will extend to some real-world stores through Valentine’s Day.

It’s certainly a cute and wholesome idea. I hope they come to Adweek’s local McDonald’s on 4th Avenue and St. Mark’s Place, where everyone could really use some more lovin’.

I also wonder how will this go over in Nevada, one of the few places where it’s already legal to pay with lovin’.

Newcastle just released its “Band of Brands” regional Super Bowl commercial, and it turns out Jockey, Boost Mobile, Lee Jeans, Brawny and Match.com are among the recognizable brands—along with some lesser-known ones—who are sharing the cost of the ad in exchange for a mention in it.

Jockey is particularly notable cameo, since, like Newcastle, it’s a Droga5 client. If Jockey signing up was a favor to its agency, it was a worthwhile one—the briefs get a less-brief appearance (close-up product shot!) than many of the brands here.

The creative approach is amusing, too, with a couple racing around their house, trying to make every brand’s pitch in time—sometimes cutting each other off in mid-sentence, as the house gets cluttered and things get desperate.

Unlike last year, when Newcastle punked the Super Bowl with the brilliant “If We Made It” campaign, the brewer is actually buying time in regional markets to air a version of this spot.

“It’s the most exciting, most jam-packed, most fiscally responsible big game ad ever,” Newcastle says. “It’s Newcastle’s Band of Brands big game ad, featuring 37 of the universe’s best brands … and a dental office in Pittsburgh.”

Here’s the full list of brands:

AmeriMerch.com, AprilUmbrellas.com, Armstrong Flooring and Ceilings, Beanitos Chips, Blettner Engineering, Boost Mobile, Brawny Paper Towels, Charisma, Detroit Beard Collective, District 78, Dixie, East End Leisure Co., Gladiator GarageWorks, Hello Products Oral Care, Hunt’s Tomatoes, JackThreads, Jockey, Kern Group Security, Kibo Active + Leisure Wear, Krave Jerky, Las Vegas, Lee Jeans, Match.com, McClure’s Pickles, Mr. Cheese O’s, Newcastle Brown Ale, Polished Dental, Quilted Northern, Quinn Popcorn, Rosarita Beans, RO*TEL, Second Chance Custom, Sharper Image, Tessemae’s All-Natural Dressings, The Ross Farm, Vanity Fair Napkins, YP.com and Zendure Batteries.

Katy Perry will be Pepsi’s top act for the Super Bowl halftime show. But how much better would it be if Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious were the headliners?

Pepsi might not want you to ponder that specific question. But the soft-drink brand has gotten the former Office star and his real-life band involved in its “Hyped for Halftime” campaign. Robinson, 43, stars in a new three-part online comedy series (the first part, below, was released Wednesday) in which a male friend turns into a fairy godmother and tries to get Craig to Arizona.

Ad agency The Brooklyn Brothers created the series with Pepsi, in partnership with Comedy Central. The Brooklyn Brothers have worked with Robinson before, having created an amusing episodic 2012 campaign for New Era caps starring Robinson and Nick Offerman as Chicago White Sox and Cubs fans.

Robinson and the Nasty Delicious will deliver a live “halftime” performance on Key & Peele’s Super Bowl Comedy Special on the night of Saturday, Jan. 31. And you have to figure they’ll be in Glendale, Ariz., the following night in some capacity—maybe as an opening act.

Meanwhile, here’s more from the “Hyped for Halftime” campaign:

So, this is why Newcastle Brown Ale hired Aubrey Plaza as its 2015 Super Bowl endorser: Her perma-sarcasm and lack of energy make her the world’s worst spokeswoman—or if you like, the world’s best anti-spokeswoman.

The brewer and ad agency Droga5—who specialize in deflating marketing’s overblown self-importance—continue their march toward the industy’s most overblown, self-important night by having the Parks and Recreation actress sullenly and amusingly milk a cow. This part of the brand’s email to us sums up the approach pretty well:

You can’t make an overblown Big Game ad campaign without releasing a semi-controversial clickbait video ahead of time to prime the pump and get people “excited” about the coming advertisement. (As excited as Aubrey, even.)

Newcastle is actually buying a regional Super Bowl spot this year. In an earlier video with Plaza, it announced a plan to crowdfund that spot with a bunch of other brands.

“In exchange for a small contribution, any brand can join Newcastle’s team and have its logo and messaging featured in an actual Big Game spot,” the brand says. Today is the last day for interested companies to submit their “Band of Brands” proposal for consideration at NewcastleBandOfBrands.com.

“At first we tried to sneak our way into the Big Game by entering a popular commercial contest put on by a certain snack chip brand, but that didn’t work out for us. Now we’re trying to leverage ‘strength in numbers’ to see what that does for us,” said Priscilla Flores Dohnert, brand director for Newcastle Brown Ale.

“Everyone loves a great underdog story. What’s more ‘underdog’ than being short on cash and not having the right to advertise during the game?”

Lots of big brands are all about distilling their essence down to a single basic universal theme. For Coca-Cola, it’s happiness. McDonald’s is trying to go with loving. And now Oreo is zeroing in on the concept of play—in new ads and in consumer’s lives.

The Mondelez brand on Tuesday launches a new campaign (still under the “Wonderfilled” platform) called “Play with Oreo.” “Fans have always played with Oreo in a number of unique ways by twisting, licking, dunking, rolling, stacking and dipping the cookie. Now, the brand is on a mission to inspire imagination and play around the globe, not only with the cookie itself, but in consumer’s everyday lives,” Oreo tells us.

We’ll see how that plays out. The campaign begins with a new animated “Wonderfilled” commercial from The Martin Agency featuring music by the French electro-pop duo Yelle. The ad, which breaks next Monday in the U.S. in 15- and 30-second formats, will run in more than 40 countries, including China, the U.K., Indonesia, France and Argentina.

Also great news for Oreo fans: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the brand is rolling out Red Velvet Oreos with cream cheese-flavored centers—the first new Oreo cookie flavor since the debut of the Golden OREO. They hit store shelves on Feb. 2 for a limited time, or you can visit OREORedVelvetRope.com for a chance to get an early taste.

Credits for the TV spot below.

CREDITS
Client: OREO (Mondelez International, Inc.)
VP, Global Biscuit Category: Jason Levine
VP, Brand Strategy and Communications: Jill Baskin
Senior Director, OREO & Chips Ahoy!: Janda Lukin
OREO Global Brand Manager: Flavio Ackel
OREO Sr Associate Brand Manager: Kerri McCarthy

Agency: The Martin Agency
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
SVP/Executive Creative Director: Jorge Calleja
VP/Creative Director: David Muhlenfeld
VP/Creative Director: Magnus Hierta
VP/Group Planning Director: John Gibson
Strategic Planner: Gigi Jordan
EVP/Worldwide Acct Director: John Campbell
SVP/Group Acct Director: Darren Foot
VP/Account Director: Leslie Hodgin
VP/Account Director: Britta Dougherty
Account Supervisor: Molly Holmes
EVP/Managing Director Production & Development: Steve Humble
Producer: Heather Tanton
Junior Producer: Maggie Shifflett
Group Project Management Supervisor: Giao Roever
Business Affairs Supervisor: Juanita McInteer

Production Company: Brand New School
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Managing Director: Devin Brook
Head of Production: Julie Shevach
Producer: Johnna MacArthur
Designer: Andrés Rivera
Designer: Jeffrey Welk
Designer: Jungeun Kim
Designer: Lindsey Mayer-Beug
Designer: Serge Kirsanov
CG Director: Russ Wootton
2D Lead: Mark French
Technical Director: Dan Bradham
3D Animator: Carmine Laietta
3D Animator: Jon Burke
3D Animator: Spyridon Serbos
3D Animator: Sam Crees
3D Artist & Cell Animator: Jeff Bryson
3D Artist & Cell Animator: Morten Christensen
3D Lighting: Michael Lampe
3D Lighting: Sylvia Apostol
3D Modeler: Atsuki Hirose
3D Modeler: Scott Denton
3D Modeler: Young Lee
3D Rigger: Jason Bikofsky
3D Rigger: Jonah Austin
2D Compositor: Jeen Lee
2D Compositor: Jeff (Dragon) Billon
Storyboard Artist: Fred Fassberger
Storyboard Artist: Tung Chow
Assistant Editor: Tyler Byrnes

Music Composition & Lyrics: David Muhlenfeld, English Major

Music Production & Mix: Duotone
Engineer: Aaron Mirman
Producer: Lissa Farquhar
Executive Producer: David Leinheardt

Final Master: The Lodge
Voiceover talent: Yelle
Music Supervision: Aaron Mercer, Wool&Tusk

Public Relations: Weber Shandwick
Media: Media Vest
Social: 360i

Deutsch LA unleashes some potent adorbs for Dr Pepper in this ad starring a super-shaggy “mop dog”—a Hungarian herding pooch known as a Puli with a dreadlock-style corded coat.

Try as it might, our lovable hero just can’t seem to fit in. The stray hitches a ride with a Dr Pepper delivery dude, played by Domingo Molina, who memorably essayed a villain in early episodes of Breaking Bad, and they head for the pound. Will the guy keep the misfit pooch, validating the brand’s new tagline, “Always be one of a kind,” and giving us a three-hanky happy ending? C’mon, Krazy-8, what’s your play?

This stuff is hokey and sentimental, manipulative in the extreme—one more example of a brand taking the easiest route to play on consumers’ emotions. (Why not just drive the beast to the Super Bowl so it can frolic with the cuddly canine commercial stars from Anheuser-Busch and Go Daddy?)

That said, director Simon McQuoid of Imperial Woodpecker unfurls the tale, and the tail, with understated aplomb. And that scrappy scamp is so darn cute … sniff … I can barely see the screen as I type this.

Oh man, that mop dog will wring every last tear from your eyes.

Following in the footsteps of other omnipresent consumer brands with something arty to prove, Pepsi MAX made a huge mess with mousetraps and Ping-Pong balls for a video it calls “Chain Reaction.”

With the help of London filmmakers HarrimanSteel, a perfect grid of mousetraps was laid out, with a Ping-Pong ball balanced on each one. After all that work, a single ball was launched under some of the most dramatic lighting I’ve ever seen to upset the whole display. The ball then rolls down a big science-museum funnel into another Ping-Pong ball/mousetrap installation, this one with colored spheres.

All this happens to the beat of music that sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks’ take on dubstep, and I don’t know how to feel about that at all.

I shouldn’t like the more pretentious visual choices being made here, but I do, because it’s fun to watch huge companies clutch their pearls at the thought of being a constant, low-humming presence in the back of consumers’ minds. I’m not sure it justifies the filmmakers hugging at the end like they’ve landed a rover on Mars, though.