Amazingly, comedians Craig Robinson and Jake Johnson had yet to appear in any major films, shows or campaigns together before this week.
That all changed with the release of these inaugural clips in W+K Portland‘s new campaign for client Dodge. The theme is simple: no one can touch Robinson’s new Dart — even his equally famous and strangely nosy neighbor.
Commonwealth/McCann Detroit is launching a new campaign for Chevrolet called “The New Us” featuring eight new spots that will run during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.
At the heart of the new campaign is the 60 second brand anthem “#TheNew Us,” which will debut tonight during the Opening Ceremonies. The spot “blends real-life events, news clips, and social media to show that even though the world is constantly changing, the things that matter most remain the same.” Most notably, the spot shows a gay wedding ceremony over the narration, “Like the old love, the new love starts with a kiss,” in a well-timed show of support for gay rights (Take that, Putin).
“Perhaps more than any other event, the Winter Games represents the global values that unite us,” explained Tim Mahoney, ?chief marketing officer, Global Chevrolet and Global GM Marketing Operations. “In this context, we saw an opportunity to extend the Find New Roads story by showing how Chevrolet is helping consumers try new things and break new ground.”
For the social media aspect of the campaign, Chevrolet is asking consumers, “What’s #TheNew to you?” (which is kind of awkwardly phrased, no?) and encouraging them to share their own stories.
The other television spots in the campaign highlight how new technologies in select Chevy models improve consumers’ lives. One of these spots, “The New Family” for the Chevy Traverse, contains a refreshing mix of unorthodox families (including multiple gay couples) with the positive message, “While what it means to be a family hasn’t changed, what a family looks like has.” It’s a genuinely nice message, and a great way to show solidarity with American LGBT athletes competing in the games. You can check out “The New Family” below, along with “The New World” for Chevy Cruze and campaign credits after the jump. continued…
Lorraine Bracco (she of The Sopranos and Goodfellas fame, of course) lends her familiar voice to Deutsch LA’s new holiday spot for Netflix, and predictably, makes the ad work.
In the spot, “Tree Topper,” Bracco voices the part of the smiling porcelain tree topper that has been part of the McDermott family for 34 years. Through the tree topper we see the wild antics of the McDermott boys, as well as Christmas cooking failures and Uncle Luther’s fake snow. Despite the occasional difficulties living with the McDermott family, Bracco’s tree topper enjoys when the family curls up to enjoy watching something on Netflix.
It’s not the most original of concepts, but Bracco makes it work. Her voice is not only recognizable, but dramatic and expressive. This helps make the idea of a sentient tree topper seem less ridiculous, and even imbues the character with emotion and personality. It helps make the spot not seem overly sentimental, and her delivery of the spots’ final line really brings out just the right amount of curmudgeon from Bracco’s character. While celebrity voice acting is so often an afterthought used as an easy cash-in, Deutsch LA hits the mark by casting Bracco for “Tree Topper.” Hopefully other agencies are taking notes. Credits after the jump. continued…
Dodge and Paramount have joined forces in a co-branded campaign from W+K launching the new 2014 Dodge Durango featuring Ron Burgundy (of Anchorman and the upcoming Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, but you already knew that).
The campaign, which spans television, print, digital and social media, debuted October 5th online and on television. Be prepared to see it everywhere.
“With the personal involvement of Will Ferrell, our writer / director Adam McKay, the comedy team at Funny or Die, and the Dodge creative team at Wieden+Kennedy, we were able to create a truly epic partnership,” says CMO of Paramount Picture Josh Greenstein in a statement. But are the spots actually funny? Some of them — they really very widely in quality. Each of the spots takes advantage of the 70s aesthetic in the Anchorman films, taking place in a colorful, very 70s auto showroom. The first spot, “Horsepower” is a bit of a letdown. It resurrects the tired “comparing horse power to an actual horse” theme commonly used in spots for powerful vehicles.
The staring contest with the horse at the end is almost worth a chuckle though. “Glove Compartment” is a lot better: it features Ron Burgundy toting the Durango’s glove compartment, which can hold “two turkey sandwiches or seventy packs of gum.” Another spot finds Burgundy struggling with a script that touts the Durango’s “m.p.g.” performance. The highlight is definitely “Ballroom Dancers,” featured above, which has a comically angry showdown between Burgundy and dancers that he thinks may “live in the rafters.” A lot of this is stuff that only Ferrell could get away with delivering, and only about half of the time is the writing worthy of his talent, but when it works it works. Plus, it will whet people’s appetites for the Anchorman sequel, which is kind of the point.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues debuts in theaters December 20th. Credits and additional video after the jump. continued…
Hot Sauce. Skip to My Lou. Main Event. Kevin. The park league nickname has always been a valued tradition in the realm of streetball, meaningful monikers passed down from the basketball gods that can become legend, a la Dr. J or Pee Wee Kirkland. Kevin Durant, for all of his NBA greatness, has yet to merge his skills with an equally skillful nickname. Yes, there’s KD and the Durantula (and perhaps the best one via Jalen Rose, who resurrected the name Iceberg Slim), but it just doesn’t feel right yet.
For the latest Nike effort from W+K Portland, which was created in partnership with Foot Locker, the agency decided to take Durant’s lack of nicknameness and build an ad around it. The sixty-second spot, which features comedian Hannibal Buress as MC, is the coming-out party for Kevin “Kevin” Durant. Buress runs through pre-game introductions and calls out intricate nicknames for random guys like Don Juan Have a Picnic by the Pond, but when he gets to Durant, the crowd goes silent. Kevin Kevin: It’s funny because it’s true. Credits after the jump.
What about the trucker who just had to sit there while a waitress poured fake coffee into an overflowing mug? Or the egg on top of a diner table? The guy swimming with sharks? The wind-up brain toy? The geeky guy playing with a giant ball of yarn? Aloe vera tissues? Yes, all of these things are in the same “Retrain Your Brain” Virgin Mobile commercial, created by Mother NY. The spot is certainly unique, but that doesn’t mean it will get customers to switch from other carriers to Virgin Mobile.
“Retrain Your Brain” was birthed out of focus group findings that suggested customers wouldn’t switch mobile companies even if they were specifically told how much money they could save. So, Mother and Virgin Mobile decided to go with Brazilian triplets, Colonel Meow, and The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.
Could it be that most customers just aren’t suited for short-term pay-as-you-go phone plans? (Shh, don’t tell Virgin Mobile). Regardless, the spot looks like a surrealist drug sequence from a bad student film. If you’re going to include Brazilian triplets, you might as well use them. Credits after the jump.
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