Dunkin' Donuts "#KEEPON Anthem" (2016) :30 (USA)

Every day is a gift. A new day. To do something. Amazing. Keep on dreaming. Working. Winning. Losing. Playing. Learning. Loving. Keep on. Being You. #KeepOn

*Eye roll*

? IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE ?

Yeah but what does life have to do with donuts?

? AND NIGHTS OUT IN THE RAIN I LOVE IT JUST THE SAME ?

Big type spewing cliche affirmations and random images. Why is there a kid with a bionic arm?

? IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. SO OPEN UP YOUR MIND WHILE WE STILL HAVE SOME TIME ?

WTF. While we still have some time? We’d have more time if we didn’t eat donuts, I’ll tell you that much. And then we go from a tech start up working late nights to a woman in the army looking at a laptop with a cup of coffee.

? IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE ?

And after some fitful product shots of drinks and kids making donut eyes, we end on an all female garage band. This is the new Dunkin Donuts. Spewing greeting card philosophy. This ad could be for breakfast cereal. Or McDonald’s. Or 7-11. Or a local artisanal donut shop that always has a line around the block. This ad could be for any competitor. But worse this ad could be for an-y-thing. Insurance. Heart medication. A car. You name it. By taking out any feature or benefit to the product Dunkin’ Donuts has made itself absolutely irrelevant. And what’s worse, by assuming their demographic is literally everyone, it feels like they’ve don’t really know who their audience is.

Dunkin’ Donuts has always been a working class brand. Its most iconic and longest running campaign starred Fred The Baker. A working class employee whose catch phrase was “Time to make the donuts,” which he always said cheerily in the morning. And then at the end of the evening, he’d stumble in weary and shaken saying “I made the donuts.” For the past decade America has been running on Dunkin’ Donuts. Who was America in this context? The working-class. Now this shift to “everyone,” complete with anthem tries to appeal to everyone and comes out flavorless and focused-grouped to death, right down to the hashtag. #KeepOn? I’m good, thanks.

Outshine "It's in our nature" (2016) :30 (USA)

Outshine isn’t a movement or a fad. They’re just tasty snacks that are natural.That’s good. because they’re popsicles. And popsicles don’t need a movement or manifesto. Like, ever.

Johnsonville "Jeff and his forest friends" (2016) 1:00 (USA)

Jeff is an employee at Johnsonville and because Johnsonville does everything there, including commercials. In this case, Jess enjoys the forest with his talking animals who are very keen to know more about Johnsonville. He’s all too keen to respond. When an inquisitive wolf asked how come he knows how to talk to animals he says “books,” and that gets a round of laughter form the animal forest. Commercials made the Johnsonville way are cute. If you strip away the forest creatures and read this on paper though, it would be nothing but 50 seconds of product. So let that be a lesson– you can say anything and peoplpe will listen just as long as it comes from a talking animal.

Johnsonville "Responsibilities" (2016) :30 (USA)

Johnsonville is a family-owned company and the people are responsible for everything, including the commercials. This formulaic campaign is redeemed somewhat by the aw-shucks Midwestern sensibilities of the employees. But make no mistake, it’s still a formula. But hey, at least it gets out the word that they are a family owned company.

Johnsonville "Regular speed chase by Brett" (2016) 1:00 (USA)

In Brett’s Johnsonville commercial, there’s a car chase with all kinds of cars. But they are all trying to chase down the Johnsonville semi. So the truck drivers realized they left the grill on again and there’s nothing to do but stop and feed everyone. So everybody ends up eating Johnsonville Brats. Oh, and there’s an explosion. Commercials mae my Johnsonville employees are made the Johnsonville way. Have to say I’m way more intrigued by Brett letting it slip that they have grills on their semis.
They have grills on their trucks.
This is a waaaaaaaaaay bigger idea.

Firehouse Subs "Innovation" (2016) :30 (USA)

Let’s celebrate all manner of innovation that has made our life better like the crescent wrench and the uh, labradoodle? And steam! Because steam makes turkey and cheddar cheese extra yummy when it’s steamed. Give a man meat and he can make you a sandwich, but if you give him a steamer he’s gonna make one hell of a tasty sub fit for a firefighter. Silliness abounds, yes. But now I’m hungry. Well played, Firehouse Subs.

Firehouse Subs "Ready to roll" (2016) :30 (USA)

A firefighter’s duty demands a degree of readiness. And a really long pole to slide down. Sure your pants may not be connected to your shoes like a firefighter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t eat like one. The hero of all subs indeed. This kind of takes a page from Old Spice with the visual nuttiness, but it’s not thrown in with sight gags that make it nutty for the sake of being nutty, though.

Firehouse Subs "Bells" (2016) :20 (USA)

Being a good firefighter takes– bells. With an “E.” Not an “A.” Sure, your mind wants to stay in the gutter and embrace 20 seconds of dick joke, but don’t do it. You’re better than that! Okay, maybe you’re not. Still even if you don’t possess manly firefighter bells, you can still eat like a firefighter at Firehouse Subs.

Ghirardelli "Chocolate Carving" (2016) :30 (USA)

A big story told on a mini canvas for Ghirardelli chocolate minis, using VFX to tell the story of the original San Francisco treat.

Ghirardelli "Time-lapse" (2016) :30 (USA)

They got meta in this time-lapse spot and built a Ghirardelli factory out of Ghirardelli minis. Fun use of VFX here.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch "Breakfast in the fast lane" (2016) :36 (USA)

They brought us, among other things, Squad Bowls. Now Cinnamon Toast Crunch is back with a new product: The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cruiser. So you can eat on the go. In the press release we were told we could take it for a test drive. Sounded tempting until the bit about signing a waiver and wearing protective gear. That’s a long way to go for a bowl of cereal, even if it’s on the go. Still, it’s fun to see Cinnamon Toast Crunch keep trying to capitalize on millennial trends.

Maltersers "Gran" (2016) :20 (UK)

Poor Gran……lost her hat! BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Maltesers, y’all are some sick people.

Maltesers "Leaving" (2016) :20 (UK)

All I’m going to say about this ad is, oh this ad is so fun. So very fun. “Off you go.”

Maltesers "Necklace" (2016) :20 (UK)

You know that necklace you left at mine, that was your grans, well I may have accidentally worn it and then Jamie, you know the really fit guy, spun me around on the dancefloor and…. *scatters Maltezers everywhere*.

“Snogged him though.”

“Just a snog?”

“I dunno I can’t remember”

“Oh go on, you gotta tell me!”

— I will admit, I LOLed. The shattered necklace is not as interesting as what happened after the snog.

7 Eleven "Pizza" (2016) :15 (USA)

This spot was crying out for the people say “that’s yuuuuuge.” Missed opportunity in my humble opinion. I like the way they are messing with the letter box.

7 Eleven "Shark week" (2016) :15 (USA)

Every so often people take a down and dirty retail spot and do something fun with it. This is one of those times.

7 Eleven "Cheese burger" (2016) :15 (USA)

There are now cheese burgers at 7 eleven and that’s a yuuuge deal.

Cheesecake Factory "Close Encounter" (2016) :23 (USA)

It’s okay, fry pan. You were having a dream about a microwave. Cute animation for The Cheesecake Factory who is positioning itself as taking its time to cook your meal as opposed to you know, using the microwave. This is part of The cheesecake Factory’s new animated campaign called “The Kitchen Speaks.”

The Cheesecake Factory "The New Guy" (2016) :30 (USA)

In this episode of The Cheesecake Factory’s new animated campaign, The Kitchen Speaks, a new guy shows up– in this case a grater with zero experience who announces himself with all the arrogance of a millennial with a trust fund: “I’m an artisanal tool through internships I’ve mastered in Brooklyn, Portland and another small city you’ve probably never heard of it…”
Thankfully, the other employees are having none of it and tell him to get to work on those web banners, I mean grating limes. Yeah, that’s what I meant. Limes.
Over 250 dishes made fresh every day. Just go ahead and assume the grater’s not giving it 100% though.

Moe's Southwest Grill "Waterfall" (2016) :30 (USA)

Moe’s, that Southwest joint is back with another foodscape. This time it’s for their Ancho Lime Bowl. I could totally live by a lime juice waterfall and snack on ancho chicken the rest of my life. As for Dabitch, well, I have it on good authority that she hates cilantro, so I guess if she wants to live there we’d have to make a clearing. I like how this takes food porn to a more interesting place.