Hasta La Creative!

If you’ve been watching the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at all, chances are you’ve seen the above spot for GE by BBDO New York.

The 60 second spot, “Childlike Imagination,” portrays GE’s range of individual businesses (turbines, aviation, 3-D printing, and others) through the imagination of the daughter of a GE employee. Its artful approach marks a departure from previous GE campaigns, which tended to focus on just one of these businesses. This change of approach works well for GE. The girl imagines “underwater fans that are powered by the moon,” “airplane engines that can talk,” “hospitals you can hold in your hand,” and “trains that are friends with trees.” The imaginative concept makes for a fun, visually interesting effort designed to capture your attention. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated”series for AT&T has been one of the most recognizable campaigns on television for a while now, offering up different variations on the “kids saying cute, funny things in a classroom discussion” theme with straight man Beck Bennett. Indeed, the campaign has been so ubiquitous and well-received that it basically landed him a spot on SNL.

The agency’s latest, Thanksgiving-themed “Pet Turkey,” while enjoyable, is not the greatest effort in the series. If you’re a fan of the approach, you’ll probably enjoy this new one; if you’re getting tired of this direction, chances are it won’t do anything to dissuade you.

“Pet Turkey” sees Bennett asking the group of kids, “What’s better on Thanksgiving?” When one boy suggests, “a pet turkey,” Bennett offers his rational take on that answer. Again, nothing new here, just more of the same approach from BBDO. Since this brand of cute funny has worked so well for them in the past, it’s understandable that they don’t see the need to change things up. But something about “Pet Turkey” makes it feel like BBDO is treading water, like the approach is finally losing steam and they need to inject “It’s Not Complicated” with some fresh ideas if they want to prolong its shelf life. Although with Bennett’s star on the rise, the campaign’s days may already be numbered.

“Pet Turkey” will debut this Sunday, November 24th and will run throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season. Credits after the jump. continued…

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