Hasta La Creative!

McDonald’s really wants people to think it cares about community. But go figure, not everyone is convinced.

The brand’s new ad from Leo Burnett, which aired Sunday during NFL games and on the Golden Globe Awards, focuses on McDonald’s franchises that have, over the past 20 years, used their roadside signs to support, celebrate or otherwise acknowledge local and national events, both happy and tragic—everything from 9/11 to the homecoming of troops to a nearby base to Boston’s spirit in the wake of the marathon bombing to the 30th wedding anniversary of a couple who’ve celebrated every year of marriage at a McDonald’s. (The campaign includes a Tumblr page that explains some of the more specific examples.)

The centerpiece spot, part of a broader brand refresh that began with the quite well-liked “Archenemies” ad, got a less-than-enthusiastic response on Twitter during NBC’s Globes telecast.“McDonald’s is presenting itself as the face of corporate kindness? PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES A LIVING WAGE,” said one detractor, in a post retweeted more than 80 times. Said another, “@McDonalds I just threw up in my mouth watching your commercial… Desperate attempt to rescue your image.”

To be fair, some viewers enjoyed the spot. “This McDonald’s marquee sign is fantastic!” tweeted the handle of Des Moines radio station Star 102.5. But the backlash around the fair pay debate is predictable, given the high profile of the recent Fight for 15 protests. And that makes a sign like “Keep Jobs in Toledo” seem kind of tone deaf, even if it technically refers to a nearby factory at risk of closure.

Plus, the soundtrack—a children’s choir covering indie pop band Fun’s “Carry On”—makes such a clumsy grab for the audience’s heartstrings that it’s hard not to think of crocodile tears. In the words of another viewer, “I’m not lovin’ it.”

See more of the Twitter reaction below. What do you think of the ad?

 
LOVIN’ IT

Call me a chump, but I loved that McDonald’s ad. #GoldebGlobes

— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) January 12, 2015

@McDonalds just won the #GoldenGlobes … that was expert. #advertising

— Scott Forshay (@scottforshay) January 12, 2015

Watch this @mcdonalds ad from @dlwahl1 @susancredle @leoburnett everyone. It’s brilliant. http://t.co/ohH0n87HS4

— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) January 11, 2015

Best work from @McDonalds in a long time–well done @dlwahl1& team and @LeoBurnett: McDonald’s: Signs: http://t.co/Y3YO4eBD78 via @YouTube

— Jim Stengel (@JimStengel) January 11, 2015

 
NOT LOVIN’ IT

That @McDonald‘s commercial is shameless, vulgar, tasteless, cynical, crass. In other words, as bad as the food. #GoldenGlobes

— Harold Itzkowitz (@HaroldItz) January 12, 2015

Can’t stop thinking about how weird and gross that McDonald’s ad is.

— Zach Floyd (@floyding) January 12, 2015

This McDonald’s ad is like everything I’ve ever had to tell my clients “NO YOU HAVE NO STAKE IN THIS CONVERSATION, BIG BRAND!” Barf.

— dulce calor (@dulcecalor) January 12, 2015

McDonald’s has reached a new, delusional level of grandeur with their “marquee” commercial.

— Greg Shumchenia (@GregShum) January 11, 2015

I really feel we can all come together as a country over how offensively manipulative and cynical that McDonald’s ad is.

— Erika Hall (@mulegirl) January 11, 2015

McVitie’s Victoria, the British biscuits brand, has been using puppies, kittens, tarsiers and owls in ads over the past year. Now, Grey London expands the baby-animal menagerie dramatically for McVitie’s first Christmas ad in 30 years.

The 60-second ad shows a family’s understandable surprise when Dad opens a box of McVitie’s Victoria biscuits and a bunch of adorable animals crawl out of the pack. The interlopers include an Alaskan Malamute puppy, a micro piglet, a Persian kitten, a baby rabbit, a duckling, a ginger kitten, a Pug puppy, a baby hedgehog, a baby reindeer and a tiny narwhal hiding in the punch bowl.

Turns out they’re talented animals, too, as they join together to sing a Christmassy rendition of the ’80s hit “Only You” by Yaz (or Yazoo, as they were known in the U.K.).

The spot breaks Thursday night on British TV. As in past ads, the baby animals are meant to reflect the cuddly, snuggly feeling you get when you open a box of McVitie’s.

“We’re delighted to introduce the latest additions to our McVitie’s Sweeet family, and hope that it brings chocolatey cheer to biscuit loving households across the UK for the festive season,” says marketing director Sarah Heynen.

CREDITS
Cient: McVitie’s
Marketing Director, United Biscuits: Sarah Heynen
Creative Agency: Grey London
Creative Director: Hollie Newton
Copywriter: Hollie Newton
Art Director: Hollie Newton
Account Team: Nicola Wardell, Kate Ilott
Agency Producer:  Thea Evely
Assistant Agency Producer: Jen Gillen
Creative Producer: Lucy Dunn
Planner: Daniel Sherrard
Media Agency: MEC
Media Planner: Nicola Tracey
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Randy Krallman
Editor: Mark Edinoff at Work
Production Company Producer: Gustav Geldenhuys
Designer: Chris Chapman
DoP: Jean Noel Mustonen
Postproduction: Framestore
Soundtrack Composer: Vince Clarke
Audio Postproduction: Wave

And your massive brand Twitter fail of the day goes to … Dave & Buster’s!

To advertise its Taco Tuesday, the restaurant chain made a joke that pretty clearly went over the line, prompting incredulity from its Twitter followers. “I hate tacos, said no Juan ever,” the tweet read.

Obviously, this isn’t the first time a brand has tweeted out something outrageous—in this case, racist. But the question remains: How does this kind of stuff make it into the actual world?

See some of the reaction to the tweet below. As of 1:40 p.m. ET, the tweet is still live—40 minutes after it was posted. Apology surely coming soon.

UPDATE: The tweet was deleted at around 1:41 p.m. ET.
 

Is the Frito Bandito your social media intern? RT @DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters

— Merry WarOnXmas (@MaryHartmanx2) November 18, 2014

@DaveandBusters @QueenOfShebaN Dave and Busters ‘come for the crappy food and games. Stay for the blatant racism!’

— Kloipy (@Kloipy) November 18, 2014

This. Is. Racist. RT: @DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters

— clarke (@radicalhearts) November 18, 2014

@DaveandBusters what the fuck

— Nick Liam Holmes (@therealnickliam) November 18, 2014

Delete Your Account @DaveandBusters

— jaromir blogr (@andymoney69) November 18, 2014

.@DaveandBusters time to log off

— Rich Gobblerts (@rich_roberts) November 18, 2014

Delete your twitter. RT @DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday

— Michele Catalano (@inthefade) November 18, 2014

Lmao who thought this was acceptable??? RT @DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters

— Brown, Mike (@SquidP) November 18, 2014

Now THAT is just a bad tweet for a company. RT @DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters

— Jacob Rosen (@WFNYJacob) November 18, 2014

“@DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters” wow yall just said fuvk it Huh

— AfroSamurai (@NaijaNupe_) November 18, 2014

lmfaooooo who’s losing their job today? “@DaveandBusters: “I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters”

— Teni Belcher (@CrazyNerdyCool) November 18, 2014

Someone at @DaveandBusters is about to be in trouble. pic.twitter.com/MiRipdDf9t

— Michael Lo Sauro (@michaellosauro) November 18, 2014

Just deactivate now and save yourselves RT @DaveandBusters: “”I hate tacos” said no Juan ever #TacoTuesday #DaveandBusters”

— Andre (@andredoesthings) November 18, 2014

Newcastle has tapped Wil Wheaton as its latest anti-advertising star, enlisting the actor and Internet folk hero for a couple of amusing online videos introducing a new Scotch Ale.

Wheaton does an amusing job of delivering the pitch under duress, as the Droga5 production is self-consciously faux-low-budget. He’s also a well-known home-brew geek, and mixes some knowledge in with the humor.

“Newcastle Scotch Ale is a well-balanced, malt-forward brew with a delightful velvety finish,” he says in the press release. “Basically, Newcastle and Caledonian made a kick-ass beer that does not suck.”

The Scotch Ale is the first in a series of what Newcastle is calling “collaboration edition” beers made in partnership with some of Europe’s finest and oldest breweries. This first partnership is with its Edinburgh-based sister brewery Caledonian.

“One of our dreams is to get rid of the ‘intimidation’ factor that prevents so many people from foregoing boring ‘yellow beer’ and enjoying more interesting brews,” says Brett Steen, brand manager for Newcastle Brown Ale. “Wil is an inviting and knowledgeable guy, and we’re stoked that he’s taking this herculean effort of humor and wisdom onto himself so we don’t have to.”

It’s an accepted truism that the food in fast-food ads looks nothing like the food in real life. But can it be made to look that way? Is it possible to transform a regular McDonald’s burger into food-porn perfection using only a couple of iPads and an iPhone??

That the challenge the guys at DigitalRev TV set for themselves. And they do a pretty decent job of replicating actual McDonald’s product shots. Though you wouldn’t want to run extreme close-ups of their creation, like they do in France.

Check out the process below, and skip to 3:00, where the action really starts.

Via Design Taxi.

If you thought there was no way to top a Paris Hilton-Hannah Ferguson slow-motion car-washing, sex-eating burger-palooza, you’d be wrong, Carl’s Jr. want to tell bros.

Supermodels and celebutantes don’t have the market cornered, after all, on using their scantily clad bums, stripper moves and garden hoses to hawk fast food. Along comes Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Carl Brutananadilewski, a husky, hirsute late-night star, to show everybody how it’s done.

Just don’t eat that burger before you see the new commercial, airing online and during Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, where Aqua Teen Hunger Force anchors the block and Carl regularly heckles his neighbors Meatwad, Master Shake and Frylock.

Though lacking in the bronzed beauty and sex appeal of the burger joint’s former brand ambassadors—Padma Lakshmi, Heidi Klum and Kate Upton among them—Carl “brings a certain willingness to the role and a unique interpretation of fresh baked buns,” said Steve Lemley, svp of field marketing and media at Carl’s Jr. and sister chain Hardee’s.

The animated character is willing to wear a physique-inappropriate banana hammock, in other words, and writhe around on a Dodge Spyder while chomping a burger and slapping his ass.

The spot, written and produced by Aqua Teen Hunger Force creators with assists from 72andSunny and Initiative, promotes the chain’s bread, baked fresh in stores, which makes its buns “denser and a little sweeter” than competitors’ products, according to the press release.

Make that connection between the food and Carl’s lumpy posterior at your own risk.

Hungry yet?

More sweet. Less scary. That’s the promotional campaign, not the ingredient list.

The perennial Easter favorite Peeps continue to try to become a year-round candy with these “peepified” illustrations for Halloween. The simple, colorful drawings are part of an ongoing campaign dubbed “Every day is a holiday,” launched earlier this year to introduce Peeps Minis, diminutive flavored versions of the original chicks. (They’re less than half the size of the flagship product, and come in bags, not the traditional cellophane-front flat boxes).

The airy sugar dumplings, made by confectioner Just Born, haul in an estimated 70 percent of their business at Easter and only a fraction on other holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. There are ghost and pumpkin Peeps on shelves now, but they’ve never moved as briskly as springtime’s puffy chicks and bunnies.

The campaign for Peeps Minis, from New York ad agency The Terri & Sandi Solution, has included digital images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with Peeps-centric drawings for obscure holidays like Mutt’s Day, Make Someone Laugh Day and National Singing Telegram Day. Fifteen-second TV ads celebrate National Take Your Pants for a Walk Day, Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day and other “holidays.” (Go ahead, Google them).

And about those ingredients: mainly sugar, corn syrup and gelatin. Boo!

You thought Coca-Cola was getting personal when it rolled out 250 bottle labels featuring people’s first names. Well, Diet Coke just went and individualized 2 million bottle designs.

Coca-Coca Israel created the campaign, with help from Gefen Team, Q Digital and HP Indigo. (In fact, it was Indigo, which was founded in Israel, that helped Coke solve the enormous production challenges around the “Shake a Coke” campaign when it first rolled out in Australia in 2011.) For the Diet Coke project, a special algorithm led to a unique design technique that allowed millions of designs to be completely auto-generated.

The resulting product conveys to “to Diet Coke lovers that they are extraordinary by creating unique one-of-a-kind extraordinary bottles,” said Alon Zamir, vp of marketing for Coca-Cola Israel. (Dr Pepper, whose whole campaign is built around being one of a kind, is going to be pissed about this.)

The concept nicely extended to the ad campaign, which featured hundreds of uniquely designed billboards, as well as point-of-sale stunts that sold T-shirts and other merchandise featuring your specific bottle design.

The genius of “Share a Coke,” of course, was how personalized it felt, rather than how personalized it actually was. (Your first name isn’t exactly unique, after all—and if it is, it wasn’t on a Coke bottle.) Still, the Diet Coke idea is a conceptual and executional triumph—the designs look fantastic, on top of it all—and a brilliant stunt, even if it won’t generate the same level of buzz.

Check out more images below, along with a case study video showing the process.

Via PSFK.

The industry is rapidly changing, but one thing remains the same: Literally the only thing that gets agency people to fill out their timesheets consistently is free beer.

The latest example comes from Minneapolis, where Colle+McVoy has built a wondrous machine called the TapServer—a “multi-keg beer deployment system” that uses RFID and custom-written software to verify whether you’ve stopped being a lazy git, finished your timesheets and earned your free pint. (According to the agency, the technology used includes “several Arduinos, a Node-based server, solenoids and a Raspberry Pi.” For all we know, so could the beer.)

Check out more pics below. And yes, similar things have been done before, including the beer fridge at JWT agency Casa in Brazil that unlocks only when timesheets are done.

If you’re the type of jet-setter who flies a seaplane to a Scottish estate so you can put on a tuxedo and have a drink with a handful of your posh friends, David Beckham would like you to buy some of his new whisky.

The recently retired soccer icon stars in this glitzy launch ad for Haig Club, a single grain scotch that Beckham produced with liquor giant Diageo and American Idol creator Simon Fuller. Filmmaker Guy Ritchie, a friend of Beckham’s—who directed him in this H&M ad last year—directed this one, too (and makes a cameo as the fisherman under the bridge).

It’s worth watching mostly for the gorgeous scenery (shot in the Scottish Highlands, at locations like Glen Affric). The people are pretty, too. Alt-J’s “Left-Hand Free” serves as the soundtrack. The storyline is thin, leaving you free to focus on the lush trappings—not unlike a fashion or perfume ad. That’s all the more appropriate, given that the bottle looks like it should hold something you splash on your person, not pour down your gullet.

Regardless, you should also be ready to drink it at the Great Wall, Easter Island, the Egyptian pyramids and Antarctica, among other places. In other words, get your travel budget in order—and don’t forget to bring your point-and-shoot camera, because everyone still uses those.