Hasta La Creative!

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.
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On the field, Calvin Johnson earns his “Megatron” nickname by dominating defenses with a robotic efficiency. He’s bigger, faster, stronger, and at times, it looks like a Transformer is playing against humans. However, off the field, and more specifically, in the ESPN offices, Johnson uses his transforming powers to trick a different kind of opponent (for anyone who cares and watches too much ESPN, it’s Kevin Negandhi).

The latest “This is Sportscenter” ad is par for the course: short, funny, and off-beat. The work comes once again from W+K New York (which has been handling SportsCenter work for nearly two decades), an agency that has no problem taking sports material and making it accessible to audiences. And for Megatron, he may want to think about outsourcing his Transformer duties over to Diddy, or Johnson, or whatever Nike wants to call him.

Credits after the jump.

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In light of the “no homo” press conference from Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, this new Boost Mobile basketball spot from 180LA may strike some sensitive nerves. However, the humor is handled with enough subtlety to tiptoe around accusations of offensiveness. There’s also a really well-timed nuts joke that might make you chuckle if you are into such sectors of comedy.

In the commercial, one unlucky defender gets posterized on in a pick-up basketball game, and to make things worse, his face gets an up-close view of the sweaty dunker’s crotch. For those who aren’t basketball aficionados, there was actually a name for such a move – balls on your head – that became popular in the 1990s when young NBA players like Darius Miles would dunk on a guy. After the dunk, the player would run down the court celebrating like this (I’m not making this up). Whether Boost Mobile knows it or not, they are bringing back forgotten basketball treasure. The commercial is probably making some subconscious statement about the intersection of black, gay, and youth cultures, but as a consumer product, it’s really just funny. You see, Tyler, the Creator, it’s possible to make an effective ad without relying on stereotypes. Credits after the jump.

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