BBDO NY Pauses the Action for U-verse

There are an abundance (some might say an overabundance) of ads for television related products and services showing the viewer immersed in the onscreen action as a means of highlighting features, so BBDO New York’s latest spots for U-verse certainly don’t score many points for originality. Yet BBDO’s latest contributions in the category for AT&T’s U-verse get the formula right in a way not many do, thanks to deft editing and good transitions from the onscreen action to “real life.”

In “Police Drama” for example, a man is thrust into the action at a police station as a sergeant berates his officers to get leads on a case. He interrupts the sergeant, telling him, “We’ve got to move.” “That’s mu point,” the sergeant shoots back. “No, we’ve got to move to the den, my wife’s got book club in here,” he replies. He then marches through his wife’s book club crowed over to the den to finish the show. “Space Capsule” takes a similar approach with a sci-fi show on a train. It’s not anything viewers haven’t seen before, but the transitions make for a better execution than is typical for the approach. Now maybe it’s time to move on to a new idea?

“Space Capsule” and credits after the jump. (more…)

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Bacardi, OW Get Revolutionary with Rum

You rumdrinkers out there might not have known this while pounding down eight dollar shots at trendy bars, but Bacardi Rum has quite the historical significance. Think Cuban Revolution, Spanish-American War, and the Rough Riders. I don’t remember learning about any of these connections in social studies class – hmm, I wonder why, board of education? – but thanks to OppermanWeiss, “¡Vivimos!” the history of Emilio Bacardi Moreau and his company’s revolutionary roots will be on display in the coming weeks with a cinematic spin.

The above clip is the second ¡Vivimos! spot from OW and director Jake Scott, featuring a handsome and thinly mustachioed version of Emilio Bacardi Moreau set to a grainy image filter. The video does embellish a bit, making it appear as if our Bacardi hero was going to be gunned down spaghetti western style. Truthfully, or at least according to the Bacardi website, Bacardi Moreau was exiled from Cuba to North Africa twice, but who are we to nitpick with an actiony marketing campaign 115 years after the fact? Also be on the lookout for the ad in movie theaters, because Bacardi and Screen Vision partnered to put the clip on 100,000 screens across the country. And if you are really into Cuban revolutions, the brand is unrolling added content through Shazam, so everyone can also vivimos with their smartphones out.

Credits after the jump.

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