Hasta La Creative!

This feels like a Friday item, but if you have a spare moment, you might want to head on over to Pinterest and check out SS+K’s Secret Santa Shop. It’s simple to use: just look through their inventory of funny gifts, choose one and click through to its order form, then fill out the form and wait for it to arrive. You’ll be the best Secret Santa at your office, with gift choices like a pickle key chain, a bottle of Jameson, and a “Ring For Sex” bell. You might want to hurry though, because a lot of the best gifts have already been claimed — including the filthy cock soap, Pumping Iron DVD, “The Nutcropolis,” and the Potty Putter. Oh well, there’s always next year.

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We’re not sure who is behind this one, but somebody has created a site that claims to sell “organic, grass-fed, free range, non-caged, small batch Christmas trees.” Check out the above video for an idea of what kind of ridiculousness to expect. It appears today is the day of Christmas parodies — unless, of course, this site is completely serious.

On the site, they calm any concerns you might have that your tree wasn’t given enough space. Each tree is given a 20 x 20 foot space so that they  can “roam free in their spaces to fulfill their spirit.” That’s nice, but how were the trees fertilized? Well, that’s completely up to you. You can choose to have your tree fertilized by “organic cat, organic dog or organic cow manure”; or, if you order your tree six months in advance, you can “bring your own organic animal to fertilize your treeling.” You’ll also be glad to know that the trees are kept on a “strict grass, water and sunlight only diet,” so you can be sure they’re pesticide free. Head on over to http://organicchristmas.co/ to choose your customized organic tree now, and let us know how that works out for you.

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ESPN has a new in-house effort promoting their NBA Christmas lineup, and Calvin Broadus has yet another name. Santa Snoop narrates the effort, which riffs off the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (better known by its first line, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”).

The NBA Christmas spot is about as straightforward as it gets, supplementing Snoop’s narration with highlights of the teams featured in the Christmas day matchups. It all works, thanks mostly to Santa Snoop’s immediately recognizable voice. Who doesn’t love to hear this this guy? He could narrate a shopping list and make it sound intriguing. Beyond that, I really like the idea of Santa Snoop. He’s probably skinny enough to actually fit down a chimney, and I imagine he brings the kind of treats Santa normally wouldn’t feel comfortable trafficking in. So keep an eye out for Santa Snoop this Christmas morning and if you’re a hoops fan, tune in to the NBA on ESPN and ABC. The opening game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Chicago Bulls tips off at noon, followed by a doubleheader on ABC (Knicks/Thunder, then Heat/Lakers), and capped off with a prime-time doubleheader on ESPN, with the San Antonio Spurs hosting the Houston Rockets at 8 p.m., followed by the Golden State Warriors hosting the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 p.m. Credits after the jump. continued…

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W+K Portland tapped some of the world’s greatest athletes for their new holiday spot touting the advantages of Nike Hyperwarm Performance Baselayer, directed by Rupert Sanders. ”Winning in a Winter Wonderland” features the talents of Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, skier Julia Mancuso, snowboarder Scotty Lago, soccer stars Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux, and former Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who now appears to be headed to Seattle. Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer also makes a brief cameo appearance.

While undeniably cheesy (hey, it’s the holidays) the spot does an admirable job at promoting the Nike Hyperwarm Performance Baselayer. People are prone to listen to endorsements from star athletes, and W+K got a wide, varied group together for the spot. They emphasize that the Nike Hyperwarm Performance Baselayer makes playing in cold, harsh conditions seem almost enjoyable by keeping you warm without restricting movement, perfectly matching the song selection. “Winning in a Winter Wonderland,” of course, changes the words of the holiday classic, which gets a bit cringe-worthy in spots but mostly comes across as cheesy holiday fun. The words are sung by the star athletes in the spot, mostly while in action, and they seem to have a lot of fun with it — which makes it hard to hate.

The campaign features both a one minute and thirty second version of the spot, as well as a digital takeover and social media elements.”Winning in a Winter Wonderland” premiered during college football’s Big Ten NCAA Championship game and will run throughout the holiday season. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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As far as titles go, Good [for goodness sake] Part II #evengooder is up there, and by up there, I’m not sure if I mean awesome or terrible. It’s definitely up there, though. All of this philanthropic goodness comes from The Glenn Group, specifically Diego Sabogal, a graphic designer and artist, who is creating original holiday cards that anyone can bid on, starting at $50, during a December 9 auction. All of the proceeds will be donated to feed hungry people in Nevada.

The Part II #evengooder campaign owes last year’s original Good [for goodness sake] some credit. The 2013 auction raised $1,000 in one day. This year, bidders will be able to target their sights on custom sets of holiday cards and prints, including Santa and Rudolph dressed in yellow Breaking Bad jumpsuits while cooking meth in the desert. For goodness sake, that’s good. You can do some early bidding on items here. Screengrab below:

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BBDO NY’s new holiday campaign for Champs Sports helps kids hack their wish lists into their parents’ browsers, through fake viral videos and a browser extension that turns all banner ads into ads for their wish list. The campaign is a mix of sneaky and clever, and kids whose wish lists are full of Champs merchandise should be happy about this one.

The 56 second video promoting the campaign (see above) features Jon Gruden, who introduces himself as a “football coach, TV personality, and overall tough guy.” Gruden always gets what he wants for Christmas, because all he really wants are pork rinds. He appeals to kids to make sure their parents see their wish list via “Hard Hinting,” so they don’t end up getting a clarinet, instead of the Jordan Retro 1 they asked for. (Hey, what’s wrong with the clarinet?) Gruden then goes on to describe Champs Sports’ two methods of Hard Hinting: viral video hacks and banner ad takeovers.

Although Champs Sports does have products for girls, this ad is clearly aimed squarely at the young male, sports fan market (the only audience that doesn’t find Jon Gruden overwhelmingly obnoxious). You have to wonder a little bit about targeting such a specific demographic, but then I suppose that audience accounts for a lot of Champs’ business this time of year. It just might have made sense to do so in a way that wasn’t so alienating to everybody else. While the hacking your wishlist to get your parents attention schtick is pretty clever (and I’m sure kids will appreciate it), I imagine a few parents will feel it crosses the line. And they’re the ones ultimately doing the shopping, right?

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From our distant view, it appears that the agency holiday party scene is a bit quieter this year than most. Then again, maybe we’ve just lost our luster, but this little note from a notable agency was sent our way from a seemingly distressed soul who prefaced his or her tip with “Christmas is cancelled at <redacted>.” We’re not sure if things are more low-key this year, but is your agency sending memos like this? Perhaps our tipster is being a bit oversensitive, but feel free to chime in.

“This is to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and, as it coincides, Chanukah.

To remind, we are closed tomorrow and Friday  in observance. As the roads are slick  and storms persist please use your discretion in departing this afternoon, but safety first is the primary concern.

You may have noticed that we have yet to send a Hold the Date for the Holiday Party. Given how short the post-Thanksgiving period will be, only three weeks, we’d like to postpone the party until later, in 2014 when we hope to have some good things to share and time to enjoy it.

So for now, rest up over  Thanksgiving, know that we’ll have a sprint to the finish line and after the  break can return to a New Year and a chance to celebrate the possibilities.

Happy Thanksgiving.”

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Nonprofit collaborative thinkLA has a fun social media campaign promoting their Holiday Gala this Thursday, Dec. 5. The campaign features LA ad executives — like Joe Baratelli (featured above), EVP/CCO at RPA (well, actually, it’s all RPA at the moment)– sharing their favorite holiday memories in 15 second long videos. We’ve included a few of our favorites, but you can check out the rest here, or follow thinkLA on Facebook or Twitter. The videos are a quick, fun way to get in the holiday spirit, if that’s your sort of thing. And this is all being done for a good cause.

According to the parties involved, the LA advertising community and thinkLA put together the second largest T0ys for Tots drive in Southern California (around 1,000 toys). Toy collection bins are making the rounds at agencies this week, and will continue collecting toys until December 17th. But the biggest Toys for Tots push will come during the Holiday Gala this Thursday. So check out the holiday videos (Lisa Herdman and J. Barbush are featured after the jump), and if you’re in Southern California this Thursday head on over to the Holiday Gala with something to donate to Toys for Tots. We hear thinkLA throws a great party, so why wouldn’t you? continued…

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The friendly folks over at Lowe Campbell Ewald, who were named AOR for LifeLock last month, would like to wish you a happy holiday by sharing “How to pick up the right turkey this Thanksgiving.”

In the above video, the Campbell Ewald folks share turkey pick-up lines in a Thanksgiving-themed display of cringe-humor. Many of them are alterations on oft-heard bad pick-up lines, such as “Your drumsticks must be tired, because you’ve been running through my mind all day.” and “Are you a Tennessee turkey? Because you’re the only ten I see.” It helps add to the goofiness that the employees involved are all wearing turkey hats. (Where can we get those?) My personal favorite might be the straightforward, “I’m gonna gobble, gobble, gobble you up,” mostly for the great delivery. I think you probably get the idea: if you found any of those worth a chuckle you’ll probably enjoy the video. Some of these could border on sexual harassment, so be careful when employing these lines on the turkeys in your life.

The worst of the pick-up lines featured is probably, “You’re no side dish, you’re my main course.” Well, of course the turkey is the main course. That’s how Thanksgiving works. This bothers me far more than it should, but don’t let that dissuade you from watching Lowe Campbell Ewald’s 1:16 of Thanksgiving goofiness. And if that’s not enough holiday humor for you, check out Firehouse’s “Happy Twerky Day” and let us know which you liked better. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

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It seems that the fight for the craziest, most absurd holiday ad is in full force, with McGarryBowen Chicago being the latest agency to throw their hat in the ring with three new spots for Sears that introduce us to “The Denskies.”

While Draftcb’s currently causing controversy with its Joe Boxer jingle for Kmart (and let’s not forget the earlier Satan/Genghis Khan layaway spot), McGarryBowen makes that holiday effort seem tame in comparison to its “Squirrel Revolt” ad. It wouldn’t stand out from the other two “Denskies” installments, in its “let’s be as crazy as possible” humor, were it not for the line (assuming I’m hearing this correctly), “Oh god, it’s mating with my mouth.”

The aforementioned spot (which you can watch above, though you probably shouldn’t) begins with Papa Denskie explaining to his wife that he’s trained “those pesky squirrels” to cut coupons. Everything, though, soon goes haywire, the squirrels attack the man and elicit the crazy, over-the-top response from the above paragraph. (You know, the one where the guy gets orally raped by a squirrel with a rage boner.) If people were pissed off about Kmart’s “Show Your Joe,” I can’t imagine how they’ll respond to this one.

The other two “Denskies” spots for Sears have plenty of crazy to spare as well. In “Robo Granny,” the same man builds a robotic grandmother so that the family won’t have to go visit their real, living grandmother. Predictably, chaos ensues, dragging on for way too long, with the spot clocking in at 1:23 but seeming more like a 5-minute endurance test. Meanwhile, “Medium” sees agency and client portraying their subject as some kind of crazy, possessed witch lady. I’d almost feel bad for real mediums if it weren’t for the fact that they make their living by pretending to talk to dead people (sorry, Sylvia Browne, RIP). The message from Sears this holiday season seems to be the tired “Don’t do something crazy to save time and money, shop here” approach–just with the crazy pushed well beyond the point of reason. You can check out the other two after the jump, along with credits.

continued…

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